WEST SIDE STORY B'way '80

[@MrEgerman]

That transition to the dance always gives me the chills.

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Perhaps my favorite moment in the staging.

[@fl1606]

I’d say 12:39 is my favorite. The flow of energy, the management of density... the transition to filling the stage with what feels like perpetual motion and optimism, then the effortless, seamless transition back to open space. I can watch this again and again and again (and again).

[@brklynrox]

Debbie is just on another level. Her spins are faster and tighter. Her kicks are higher. Languid and supple body movements. Other worldly.

[@kallen868]

Amazing! 😍

[@FreedomFighter2112]

She is the greatest dancer I've ever seen

[@lonellfletcher]

She just explodes off the dance floor and looks like she could dance forever. Her energy and skill were in another dimension.

[@pejr1982]

Debbie Allen Deserved a Tony for this performance.... awesome!!!

[@kallen868]

Incredible! 😍

[@lonellfletcher]

Still can’t believe she didn’t win

[@mulvaney6067]

jesus christ debbie allen is a powerhouse

[@michaellazzeri2069]

My then wife Mary & I saw this incredible production. In fact, I still have my program ! it was fantastic --------every minute. --------MJL, 76 y/o

[@fl1606]

The scherzo is one of my favorite musical pieces ever, and the choreography is so fluid, natural and iconic. I watch this over and over. And the dance at the gym? One of the best Broadway dance numbers ever. The staging, the flow, the energy, everything. Robbins was such a genius. A true artistic treasure.

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Couldn't agree more.

[@flagler88]

Credit should be given to Peter Gennaro as well. Robbins did all the Jets choreography and Peter did all the Sharks (including America) Robbins wanted it this way to give a different flavour to the oppossing gangs and their women.

[@Darenkelg]

Nothing will beat this choreography version of America. Argue with the wall

[@AsiaMs]

Debbie Allen was FIRE!! Unbelievable speed, precision, articulation, and natural flow. I've never seen this danced better.

[@rbianca1]

I love the idea of America in the 1961 film, men verses women, but I wish they included all the dancing for the women. Of course the number would have ended up being 10 minutes long, but it would have been worth it.

[@lulamidgeable]

That must have been an amazing production. Very dramatic and moving, the actor/dancers/singers on top of their form.

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

It was the last time the show was produced in NY in Jerome Robbins' lifetime, and he supervised this one strictly.

[@DavidAsset78]

What a terrific find! I saw this production pre-Broadway at the Kennedy Center, and I remember Debbie Allen being the stand-out. Thanks for uploading this video!

[@ritatitotu]

this one really seems to be the best version of the musical, I wish I could see a complete recording of it

[@mitchellivers]

That's the angelic voice of Harolyn Blackwell singing "Somewhere," several years before her phenomenal opera career.

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Thank you for confirming that; I wasn't sure she was in this production through the end of the run. Blackwell briefly returned to Broadway in the '97 "Candide."

[@kennethwayne6857]

@@auroraspiderwoman5886 In 'Candide' she was reunited with Brent Barrett. I believe they were the understudies for Tony and Maria in this production.

[@apsny261]

My parents took me to see this in May 1980 for my 15th birthday and I still have the program. The dance at the gym far exceeded the movie version imho. Then I found out that Jerome Robbins was fired from the movie version and sent his assistant to direct that scene. Rita Moreno said in the American Masters documentary on Robbins that the movie version of the dance at the gym was not quite as good without Robbins’ direction because he was such a task master and perfectionist and he wasn’t there for the filming of that scene. Then seeing the 1980 revival with him as director/choreographer it makes sense. The feeling I had then was like watching the joy of seeing children opening their presents on Christmas morning and putting it to dance! In the show I went to which was a Saturday matinee I remember seeing the streamers but also the dropping or throwing of confetti and it was magical! In the show I saw Debbie Allen and Hector Jamie Mercado as Bernardo wining the impromptu dance contest hands down! (I remember this vividly because it was the opposite of how this scene was depicted in the movie and I thought that strange, intentional, exciting and delightful at the time. (I am sorry the person filming didn’t focus on them but I’m grateful to see this clip of this show which I thought was lost to time.) In this revival It’s as if Jerome Robbins said to the audience look, here is what you missed in the movie version. (On an unrelated note veteran tv, movie and stage actor Arch Johnson graduated from the Officer Krupke role in the 1957 broadway version to the Lieutenant Shrank role in the 1980 revival version.) One of my favorite broadway musical and personal moments of all time. Thank-you for sharing this!!!🎉🎉🎉

[@kallen868]

Debbie Allen fierce as always!

[@ashareeoo]

Thank you!

[@dimdimbaby]

The new WSS (2021) took a little from this I believe. But AD put her stamp on it. Debbie's Anita is no slouch performance either. However, Spielberg's change of script for the end of this scene is more realistic and more powerful. I'm commenting on Boy Like That btw.

[@j0j0starks59]

Ariana DeBose’s A Boy Like That favors Debbie’s Allen!!🤍

[@bookboybrs90]

more musicals on the way?

[@mitchellivers]

It was shot in late 1980, not 1981. It closed in November 1980.

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

You are absolutely correct and I thank you for the correction. The video was shot in Nov. '80.

[@michaeljj43]

i love josie de guzman!!!!

[@elliottbaker-costello4051]

Anyone know who is playing Graziella in this production?

[@gray1963]

What is this tune @11:27?

[@kallen868]

It's the West Side Story ballet! 🙄

[@Marcel_Audubon]

The choreography in the new movie is so weak ... why would they dump Jerome Robbins for a derivative wannabe?

[@lonellfletcher]

I get the Robbins love but Justin Peck’s work on the remake CANNOT be dismissed as wannabe work. He’s a student of Robbins and it shows beautifully . Plus, can’t a production honor an original without repeating the same moves that already exists in several stage productions and another film?

[@Marcel_Audubon]

@@lonellfletcher should we also honor the work of Leonard Bernstein by having a Bernstein wannabe throw out his score and replace it with a competent Bernstein-esque score? It would be the same thing and the public would rightly reject it, just as they rejected the 2021 movie. "If it ain't broke ..."