rOcKS @ 'West Side Story' (LONG)

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:18pm

WEST SIDE STORY is probably my favorite musical of all time. I wore out my VHS tape of the film (really) and love the Special Edition DVD Box Set from a few years ago. The music is incomparable (the best score of all time, in my mind), the book is very strong (although not Laurents' best work), and the choreography (when not screwed with too much) is simply incredible.

Last night, I caught the show after months and months of anticipation and excitement and I have to say (while I enjoyed it and it's certainly the best musical revival of the year thus far --I'm seeing HAIR tomorrow--) it was a letdown on one major front: the (male) performances.

I really disliked Matt Cavenaugh as Tony. I thought he was not only pretty miscast but he was just not taking charge of the stage like a leading man should. Also I found his singing to be way too quiet for a theater as huge as the Palace. Not that he should be belting to the rafters but someone should tell him he's not doing A CATERED AFFAIR anymore. I also didn't like the fact that he didn't sustain many of the notes and he was struggling a bit with the higher notes (many people around me complained his voice was too nasally and to some degree, I have to agree). He's a very talented guy but I just didn't buy him as Tony. He seems to play all of his roles the same way...and it's boring me.

I enjoyed Josefina Scaglione's performance but didn't find it to be absolutely brilliant as many said she was in D.C. She's a very, very good Maria and has a gorgeous voice but she needs a little more time to get completely comfortable in the role and once that happens, she'll be fantastic. I have to say, her final monologue was really wonderful.

Cody Green just does not cut it as Riff. A pretty weak actor I didn't feel the emotional punch I should have felt when --SPOILER-- he was killed --END SPOILER--. He's a great, great dancer but he's not the strongest actor or singer and can't really pull the role off the way it should be pulled off.

Outshining everyone, giving a performance that will (at this point in time at least) surely nab her the Tony Award is Karen Olivo. She went from being bland and milquetoast in IN THE HEIGHTS to giving such a layered, gorgeous, stunningly well-calculated performance in WEST SIDE STORY and it must be recognized. She was the only actor who I felt really fit the role and ran with it. The rape scene left me cringing and hysterically crying. The second it was over, I took a deep breath and simply couldn't imagine anyone being more worthy of the Tony Award.

The rest of the cast is fine enough (they're all very good dancers, but at times are really not hitting the marks of the brilliant choreography that they should be hitting hard) with the female ensemble from "Siento Hermosa" and Curtis Holbrook standing out. George Akram was so-so as Bernardo, a somewhat underwritten role.

With mediocre lead performances, a revival like this simply can't achieve the greatness it should. And it saddened me quite a lot.

I liked Laurents' direction (it's nowhere near the brilliance he achieved last year with GYPSY but it's still good enough and will probably nab him a Tony nomination again) but found it to be trying to hard at times to be both respectful of previous productions but still be modern and fresh. The Spanish did NOT work at all for me in the first act but it really packed an emotional punch in the second, especially during "A Boy Like That." It didn't feel organic to me up until that point.

I hated the costumes, really loved the sets (finally a show takes full advantage of the huge Palace stage...and in a way that works!), triple loved the orchestrations (the score sounded as gorgeous as ever), and thought the lights were fine enough.

The whole show (especially a lot during the middle of the first act) just isn't elevated to the level a show with such brilliant material should be. I don't know exactly where to place the blame yet but I have to say I think the main problems lie in the casting, at least of the two men. Riff carries a lot of the first act (and you feel it with this production because Green just isn't that good) and Tony carries a lot of the second (ditto). When the women take charge, however, the stage is ablaze.

The final fifteen-twenty minutes (wherein the ladies finally take charge) left me literally shaking and crying. When the show works, it really works and when it doesn't, you just kind of seem to drift off in the brilliant material, forgetting about the current production itself. It's hardly the mediocre-at-best mess that GUYS AND DOLLS is or that PAL JOEY was but it's still not that great revival of such a great show that I had hoped.

Random thought but does Laurents have a thing for casting people that he knows have potential to fulfill the roles they are cast in even if they are not necesarrily living up to that potential? See LuPone's transformation from very dissatisfying to pretty damn remarkable with the City Center --> Broadway transfer of GYPSY. I think Green and Cavenaugh have the potential to be better than they are (although not quite incredible as they both are somewhat miscast) but are not there yet.

Like I said, the material is just so undeniably incredible that a solid (if somewhat dissatisfying on certain levels) production can't ruin it. PAL JOEY and GUYS AND DOLLS were much worse. Get your tickets if you want to see it though, the theater was packed and I'm sure it will be a hot ticket in the coming months. Is it worth full-price? For the material and two strong female performances, undeniably. But for this specific production and a few casting issues on the male side, it's flawed but still (so far) the best revival of the year by far.

*** out of ****



Updated On: 3/5/09 at 03:18 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:28pm

Interesting how you, like others, can be moved to tears and deeply disappointed at the same time.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:30pm

Like I said, I was moved to tears because of A) the material and B) the female performances (I cried when --SPOILER-- Tony was shot --END SPOILER-- because of Scaglione's monologue delivery and during the rape scene because Olivo was just mind-blowing).

I wasn't deeply disappointed at all. That's how I would describe my feelings about GUYS AND DOLLS and PAL JOEY. And this is not anywhere near as bad as those productions.
Updated On: 3/5/09 at 03:30 PM

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:42pm

How was "Somewhere" with a kid singing it?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:46pm

And no Nightmare.

[Kevn520]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:46pm

I saw this for a second time last night. This I had my parents with me. After the first act ended, my mom honestly wanted to leave. She was absolutely bored out of her mind anytime Matt C. was on stage singing. She felt like Tonight dragged on for an eternity because of him. My dad didn't think he was that good in the role. After the second viewing, I have to agree with them.

I think when I saw it for the first time on Tuesday night I just so excited to finally see a production of WSS on stage. I think Wednesday allowed me to be a little more objective. I didn't like Matt C. this time around. I thought he came off as fake sometimes, acting-wise. I just expected more.

I agree wth the above about when the women take control.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:49pm

Where did you sit?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:50pm

SOMEWHERE totally worked with the kid singing it. Very moving and the dancing was pretty great during that sequence.

..and was that a question as to how it works without the NIGHTMARE?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:51pm

Row B; Center Mezzanine. Fantastic, fantastic seats. The best way to see a show at the Palace.

[Kevn520]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:53pm

I was in row F, center orchestra, but I actually want to see it from the mezzanine. I'm going to wait a while before I see this again.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 3:55pm

Yes, one of my biggest concerns about seeing it tonight is that by cutting the Nightmare from the end of the ballet, all that is left is the Utopian ideal, which I'm afraid will render the ballet pretty but extraneous.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:01pm

I didn't feel that way at all. It perfectly fit the moment (although there was, I think, a lighting malfunction after the ballet. Tony and Maria are singing the last few lines of SOMEWHERE and the stage was flooded in dark blue with only shadows of people, no spotlight on them. And as they walked forward, the spotlight caught them. I'm assuming it was a lighting error because it felt awkward to hear them sing and not see them..or anyone for that matter.)

But, no, I felt like the ballet worked very well. With the kid singing it, it really takes on a very different meaning and I thought the choice of flesh-colored costumes was the only great move that Woolard made costume-wise.

I think without the nightmare, it takes on a very different meaning and one that makes sense and doesn't feel extraneous. I quite liked it.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:03pm

Oh, and the TONIGHT QUARTET is gorgeous. Probably my favorite musical moment in the show.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:11pm

I think it's pretty laughable that people are saying Olivo (who is a strong Anita) has the Tony "in the bag" already.

Her biggest competition, Haydn Gwynne of BILLY ELLIOT, is much more of a lock.

Updated On: 3/5/09 at 04:11 PM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:12pm

A lot of the points you made are ones I made after seeing the show in DC. Though when I said it some posters saw it as a personal attack on poor Matt.

I don't dislike Matt in any way and I've liked him in other things. I, also, find him to be very nice (for a Mets fan lol). I just didn't care for him in this. I felt he wasn't filling the performance space in DC vocally the way he should.

I, also, ADORED Karen Olvio and think she's definitely Tony worthy. Her and Curtis, for me, were the standouts.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:19pm

To me, Olivo was far better than Gwynne. Gwynne is funny and is very good in the role but Olivo delivers a performance that eclipses everyone on the stage.
Updated On: 3/5/09 at 04:19 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:25pm

Oh, and the TONIGHT QUARTET is gorgeous.

Quintet, not quartet: Jets, Sharks, Tony, Maria, Anita.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:30pm

Whoops, sorry. I was counting the Sharks and Jets as one group. You're right.

I liked the Spanish singing during that song too...but like I said, I didn't feel like it really, really WORKED until "A Boy Like That."

[Kevn520]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:43pm

I don't think it was a lighting mistake, or missed cue, toward the end of Somewhere. I think it works to see them walking against the blue background, and then lit right before they start singing again.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:51pm

Really?

I thought it didn't work at all. I hope it was just a missed cue. It's a good idea in theory but in that moment, it just didn't work for me.

PS: I loved the moment right before the ballet when the stage is flooded in white and the dancers slowly come out in their flesh-colored costumes. Breathtaking.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 4:56pm

Updated On: 3/5/09 at 04:56 PM

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 5:45pm

"Outshining everyone, giving a performance that will (at this point in time at least) surely nab her the Tony Award is Karen Olivo. She went from being bland and milquetoast in IN THE HEIGHTS to giving such a layered, gorgeous, stunningly well-calculated performance in WEST SIDE STORY and it must be recognized. She was the only actor who I felt really fit the role and ran with it. The rape scene left me cringing and hysterically crying. The second it was over, I took a deep breath and simply couldn't imagine anyone being more worthy of the Tony Award. "

Huh? The only reason she stands out in this production is BECAUSE the rest of the cast is so weak. I'm not saying she's without talent, as she does a good job with the material, albeit a bit contemporary in the acting department. Plus, she just doesn't have the goods in the dance department to even consider her to "win" the TONY. Nominated, perhaps. But only because the category will most likely be small this year. I think people are heaping much too much praise on her in this show with this particular cast.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 5:52pm

I thought maybe that was why I thought she was so great but honestly, I don't feel that way. Sure the rest of the cast is alright and she's by far the best part but even if she was in a flawless revival, I have to say that she would have still stolen the show. I don't think she was great because everyone else was mediocre, she was great because she is a great Anita and did the part justice, mixing what he know and love about Anita from previous great portrayals of her while still managing to make her her own.

I really don't think she stood out because the majority of the rest of the cast was so-so. Olivo is just really fantastic, perfectly cast, and like I said makes a huge leap from being so boring and bland in IN THE HEIGHTS to this fully-developed and wonderfully calculated performance.

I mean, there's really no arguing that the rape scene is absolutely chilling. And Olivo is the main reason for that.

[obsessedjb]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 5:56pm

^ I completely agree. Thanks for you review, as always.

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 6:00pm

WE do agree on one thing: she was bland in ITH. She does fare better here and it's possible that she's just more suited for this part. That doesn't mean it's TONY worthy. The rape scene is just that: a rape scene. It should be chilling and she did justice to it. To me her performance had that " College kid comes home to star in her High School's production of WSS" feel to it. She's the most mature looking one up there and according to the bio's, one of the more experienced.