Ivo van Hove

is “an American masterpiece,” says Ivo van Hove, director of the latest Broadway revival, opening February 20. Van Hove hopes his vision will show the musical in “all its cruelty and devastation, but also all (2016) and (2015) has scaled back from the original production, keeping the stage bare and the story “raw.” He focuses on the cultural differences between the characters and the violent world they live in. “There’s this fear of authority, be it police, be it the social system.” In a major departure from the show’s classic staging, van Hove’s take on also has all-new choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker; in fact, of the musical’s four Broadway productions, only van Hove’s does not feature Jerome Robbins’ signature dance moves. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the script. “I kept the script the way it was, because I love the harshness of it.”