Posted: 12/20/19 at 9:42am
BroadwayBen said: "I went last night to see it in hopes of then seeing it again after it opens to see what the changes are. Its the morning after, and I'm still not quite sure what to think. Its bold and singular and you can't take your eyes off of it. It's like watching a master painter or sculptor at work, and its sort of mesmerizingas they go about it. Is it all successful? That's the tougher part. For as much as you're riveted, you're never really moved. The show starts as an obvioustragedy and ends like a obvioustragedy. Its the same tone all night. You don't really connect with the characters because you can't stop watching the world they are in and focus on who they are. The costuming with the video and the lighting is such that for the most part you don't know the sharks from the jets -- even after an opening that gives you massive "close ups" of each. Once they blend, they blend. The choreography is interesting,with "Cool" being the stand out. It got the biggest applause of the evening -- when we were allowed to applaud, that is. But like the rest of the show, no character is built through dance; it's all a moment-to-moment thing. I personally found most of the extreme video odd, but again, its makes an impact and you can't take your eyes away. I thought it was really weirdto the actors to have them sing, dance, act and do effective camera work. Some are more confidentthan others at being on camera, and it gets a little amateur indie backyard film at times. There were also some times that the street montages and the city scenescompletely take away from the show and you really lose the musicality of the show. The images are so big, so powerful, you have nochoice but to watch them and ignore the stage. The Anita/Maria duet is overwhelmed by what's behind it. The Krupke sequence is a video polemic that goes directly to today's politics. (That was the number where the people behind me left. From their chatter, they were related to police officers.).I think right now its sort of WSS "a play with video and music" and not WSS the musical. And you have to take it on those terms, and sometimes on those terms it is sort of thrilling. I think the biggest challenge they have right now was that at the end of the show, there wasn't a tear in the house. I think when WSS is done well, you can really feel the tragedy and that doesn't happen here. You're heart doesn't break as the kids make one mistake after another, and that was what I missed most. But when you read about the original WSS, the audiences were stunned and didn't know what to make of it, and that is alsothe case here. There's so much new to creating a musical here, that its hard to know what you're seeing sometimes, and I suppose that's a good thing. If in the original, Robbinsused dance in a way audiences had never seen in a musical before, this team is using video in the same way, and its fascinating. It will be interesting to see how they continue to shape it. I will definitely go back. And it was full."
They have plenty of time still to work out all the kinks.
