Spielberg, #metoo and corona: Ivo van Hove's West Side Story does not survive crisis

It was supposed to be Ivo van Hove's big break on Broadway. And it was meant to be, but fate decided otherwise. It was announced today via US show news Variety that West Side Story, in Ivo van Hove's modern, raucous version, will not be revived. Despite a cheering reception and virtually sold-out theatres in the weeks leading up to its closure on 8 March 2020.

A big bummer, of course, but actually not entirely unexpected either. The musical was supposed to make it in 2020, but a film version will also be released later this year, directed by none other than Steven Spielberg. And then there was a #metoo thingy with one of the protagonists that just wouldn't go away from the media.

1.2 billion

According to news site Now.co.uk the musical turned over 1.2 billion during the period it played, which is unfortunately an embarrassing blunder. With an average ticket price of $110 and an auditorium capacity of 1,700 seats, the production made an average turnover of around $150,000 a night, and with eight performances a week, gross sales came to around one and a half million a week, according to this summary. Still a hefty sum, but with a full orchestra pit and a stage full of dancers and singers, the amount of shower tokens alone is astronomical. Let alone what had to be paid in fees.

More difficult, of course, was the #metoo-issue. Dancer Amar Ramasar allegedly had a history of sexual misconduct and online abuse. It was a riot that played out in 2018, but which, after the dancer was first fired, and then rehabilitated, did not disappear from the media. In The Guardian reports that a call for a boycott of West Side Story was unsuccessful, but that there was still a lot of unrest on social media. If this were to be revived, in a musical whose main producer had previously been fired for abuse of power, it would be disastrous for the reboot.

So much for Ivo van Hove's entrance on Broadway. For now, he will remain the hero of New York's marching theatre, where multi-million dollar productions like David Bowie's Lazarus are counted as 'small beer'. Things can get weird.