Date Night at the Byrd Theatre
Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 6 p.m.
(Limited to 96 attendees; Registration information below)
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Once again it is Date Night at the Byrd. Join us for a great time at the majestic and historic Byrd Theatre. Built in 1928, on the cusp of the Great Depression, it is the epitome of glamorous Hollywood in its Golden Age. If you have never been to the Byrd, you will want to come back again and again. To start things after the preliminary wine tasting and catered menu, look forward to seeing a familiar cartoon character and a stirring performance by Bob Gullege on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ, one of the very few four manual instruments still in working order in their original location.
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A twist on the movie this year. Wine movies are hard to obtain right now as most are owned by private companies like Netflix. As such they will not release them for the viewing we need. As such we have decided to take a different route with the classic movie (and Broadway) musical. But not just any musical! “West Side Story” hit the boards of Broadway in 1957 and changed musical theater forever. With critical and popular acclaim, it took the story of Romeo and Juliet and morphed it into a gang turf battle on the means streets of NYC, the west 50’s area known as the Combat Zone. Swords and arrows became fists, switchblades, and chains. The music was composed by Leonard Bernstein, at the height of his musical career, drawing on his remarkable skills and abilities using a large genre of musical styles. A guy named Steven Sondheim (yeah, that guy, who would go on to heights unknown on Broadway) wrote the lyrics for his first time out writing a Broadway musical. Jerome Robbins provided the exceptional choreography, staging the rumbles and street swagger like modern jazz and ballet with some of the most innovative dancing ever seen on Broadway.
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After it closed on Broadway, Robert Wise, famed Hollywood film producer and director, made a movie of it, often using bold camera placement/angles of all of the original dance sequences, songs, arrangements, and settings. The movie won 11 Academy Awards. It was one of those movies that instantly was a classic, such as Casablanca, The Godfather, or Ben Hur. It was one of those movies that should never be remade.
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Transport yourself 50 years into the future, when a guy named Steven Spielberg -- yeah, that guy -- came along and said, “yes I can.” Steven’s career spanned five decades and along the way, he collected numerous Oscars and other awards for socially responsible films such as The Color Purple, Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. He singlehandedly created the
filmmaking category of “Summer Blockbuster” with an undersized boat, three crazy guys and a big fish named “Jaws. ” The rest of his work is equally impressive, as we know.
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Remake West Side Story? I thought he was crazy. In capital letters! Really!! What does Spielberg know about musicals, singing, dancing and showstopping numbers? I was dead wrong.
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It was brilliant. This film retains all of the plot, original vigor, pathos, and social confusion presented in the original productions, but it cleverly slips in the backstories of all the characters you wondered about and why they were the way they were. Using (but not overusing) some new camera technologies) he retains the spirit and many of the moves of the original dance styles but carefully resets them into new settings that amplify the sequences. Bernstein’s music score still rings modern, cool, and spot on; Sondheim’s lyrics are still cynical, biting, tender, humorous and ironic in today’s world. Shakespeare would be proud, I think. Returning from the original Wise production (as Anita – Maria’s best friend) is Rita Moreno in a different new role created by Spielberg, who gives a breathtaking performance near the end with her acting and vocal skills.
This movie opened during the Covid crisis so few people, except those in the industry, were able to view it. It received six Academy Award nominations. See it in the Byrd on one of the largest scale screens left in the USA.
The cost
May event cost: For Members - $79 if paying by check or $82 if paying online.
For Guests - $84 if paying by check or $87 if paying online.
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Online Registration: Please use this registration method whether paying by check or online; this will ensure you have a place on the attendee list). To pay by check, click HERE to download a document to use with mailing your payment.
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Deadline: Registration must be completed by May 6, 2025. No refunds after this date unless a wait list has been established.
Questions? E-mail Wreinhart@aol.com
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