westsidestory

Is It Finally Twilight for the Theater’s Sacred Monsters?
Many of the “great men” who helped America create its classics, its institutions and its own acting style were tyrants. We need to cut them loose.

By Jesse Green

Despotic. Agonizing. Crippling. Sadistic.

Those are just some of the adjectives victims use to describe their tormentors in Isaac Butler’s jaw-dropping book “The Method.”

But the method they’re talking about isn’t a blueprint for a fascist takeover or C.I.A. interrogation. It’s a blueprint for the American theater.

“The Method,” which bears the subtitle “How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act,” is the story of how the precepts of Konstantin Stanislavski, a Russian actor, director and theorist born in 1863, were interpreted in the United States by some very vicious teachers — mostly men — whose behavior now looks outrageous to us. By comparison, Stanislavski himself was a pussycat, even though he berated his longtime leading actress, Olga Knipper, the wife of Chekhov, so cruelly she came to call him a “monster.”
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Behind The Scenes Of WEST SIDE STORY Original Recording With Sondheim & More

by Pat Cerasaro

A fascinating behind the scenes look at the legendary original cast of the iconic Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim/Arthur Laurents musical WEST SIDE STORY recording the show's classic cast album in 1957 is now available to view.

Sondheim is pictured offering advice and notes alongside notable producer Goddard Lieberson, while stars Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence sip tea in between takes in some of the shots.

Then, there is the dynamite diva herself, the one and only Chita Rivera, visibly moved by the rapturous music.

Plus, Larry Kert hits the floor of the studio to really get down while recording "Cool".

Cool, indeed!
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