WEST SIDE STORY Reviews....- Page 5

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 11:56pm

Thanks Miss P.

Ljay, it's not!!! I was like, "it's back!!" Although it is smaller, but still very noticeable.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 12:00am

The zodiac was not in when I saw the show on December 22.

Dottie, want to try lotto one more time next week?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 12:02am

Are you sure you want to do lotto with me?? My name never seems to get picked even when the odds are on my side!! LOL

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 12:03am

Look at it this way: if we try lotto and don't win, we can go out for dinner together.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 12:06am

Sure.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 12:10am

Plus, if we both enter our names, don't we double our chances of winning? Let me know the details and I'll plan. I'm sure I will be well enough to travel by Monday.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 12:15am

They take names between 6:00 and 6:10. The names are drawn at 6:30. Can't figure why they don't take names up until they're drawn.

[DCfan]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 12:27am

I would also have to agree with the Washington Post. I saw the show a few days ago and I thought the Spanish was great in the first act and in "I Feel Pretty." It really worked and I thought the experiment was a success. And then came "A boy like that/I have a love," and half the audience didn't know what was going on. Also, the translation was different from the original song (to preserve the rhymes) and that kind of annoyed me at that point. So...if they changed that song to English, I think it would be as powerful as it should be. The dancing is great! And Karen and JOsefina were amazing. Not a fan of Matt as Tony and neither is anyone I've spoken to. I almost laughed after he killed Bernardo and screamed "Maria," which is definitely not the reaction they are looking for. He just couldn't seem to play angry and sad.

[sondhead]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 12:27am

"I'm surprised that critics haven't mentioned the uncommonly large number of musicians in the pit and the contribution they make to the show."

Probably because around half of them are backstage somewhere and piped in--and you can tell. Why anyone would hire that many instrumentalists and not let us hear them for real is beyond me.

By the way... is anyone else wondering why Arthur Laurents is so hell bent on making this production gritty, with the gang members killers? Aren't they supposed to be kids? I'm never going to believe any of the Jets at least are cold-blooded killers when they have the dialogue and character names they do.

And by the way, I've seen the show. It's slow as molasses and pretty miscast. I didn't care for Cavenaugh, but Cody Green is downright embarrassing.

Of course the fact that the Jets' rumble costumes have them looking like they're on the way to some gay nightclub isn't helping much either...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 1:09am

The reviews made me realize another aspect of Arthur's book he couldn't bear to change: the writing of the older characters is hopelessly dated. Schrank and Krupke seem like they're out of those old Bowery Boys comedies. They could be the neighborhood cops on the old Abbott and Costello show. But they bear no relation to police today.

And Doc and his candy store don't exist anymore.

And I don't think Glad Hand ever existed in any real world.

[Usnavi]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 6:53am

"They could be the neighborhood cops on the old Abbott and Costello show. But they bear no relation to police today.

And Doc and his candy store don't exist anymore."

Of course not. But since when is WSS supposed to be contemporary?

The show was written in the late 1950s and it's supposed to reflect that time period, not today's.



Updated On: 1/10/09 at 06:53 AM

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 8:51am

I'm not exactly sure how "smelling a disaster here" is not a negative comment. Hypocrisy much?

I am all for calling out problems about shows, but I tend to comment on the productions I actually see. I guess I'm out of synch with some of the college-aged, twenty-something theater experts here. Or is it that some people are more worried about hanging out at stage doors or how they can get standing room tickets or when the student rush takes place than the quality of the production...

The WSS reviews from DC are generally raves -- some point out a flaw. Variety, the one that matters most, is an outright love letter. Certainly nothing like the trash in this thread, let alone the one which called for the principal actors to be replaced.

[raker]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 9:10am

I thought one of the striking things in the new production is that the adults are a little more vivid. The cops are more grim and stinging than I remember. It's very effective. Doc is played beautifully, sad and helpless at what's become of his world. Even the MC at the dance makes an impression, funny but not in the usual buffoonish way. Who knew?

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 9:16am

And I didn't see it that way at all. I thought the cops came off as almost buffoonish. I was trying to stifle my desire to laugh when they first appeared.

I did think Doc was nearly perfect.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 9:21am

I'm not sure it's the fault of the actors or in the writing of Lt. Shrank or Officer Krupke. I really liked the actor who played Doc. I'm still not keen on Cody Green's Riff.

Sleeper2, I'm not sure who your comments are being aimed at. I feel that the reviews were better than I expected, and it will be interesting to see if Arthur Laurents addresses anything when the production goes to New York. I have a feeling it's frozen for the remainder of the run in DC.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 9:38am

That's my point.

Arthur's idea of making the gangs seems "dangerous" would always be defeated by the cartoon-character manner of the way he wrote the adults.

Schrank, Krupke and Doc never reflected the 1950s. They always reflected outdated show-biz cliches from the 1930s and 40s.

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 9:47am

Here is Gary McMillan's Review of WSS on www.dctheatrescene.com.
If you want to read all the reviews in one place, click on "THEIR REVIEWS: when you get on the site. Joel

"The National Theatre is home to a good-as-gold Golden Anniversary production of the Laurents-Bernstein-Sondheim-Robbins classic musical West Side Story. For those who missed the 1980s revival or were too young for the 1957 original, it’s hard to imagine a more visually stunning production.

The soaring score, here under the musical direction/supervision of Patrick Vaccariello, will take your breath away. Joey McKneely’s faithful reproduction of the Jerome Robbins choreography married to Leonard Bernstein’s emotionally-charged melodies is a feast for the ears and eyes. If there was an American tradition of demanding scene encores, the run time of this show would likely clock in at well over four hours. Laurents has assemble a young cast fresh from youth-oriented, high energy Broadway and touring shows (such as Grease, Hair, Mama Mia!, Movin’ Out and Footloose) and/or work with the likes of Ricky Martin, Janet Jackson, Usher, Gloria Estefan and Rihanna. These young performers burn the floor with the modern dance and Latin-inspired choreography. From the opening scene, the dance bristles with tension anxious for an outlet and it continues to build in excitement as the show progresses.

It’s often remarked that West Side Story succeeds because the characters of Anita and Bernardo add flare that’s lacking in Maria and white-bread Tony. Both flare and firecracker, Karen Olivo sizzles as Anita and intentionally and otherwise becomes the focus of attention whenever she is on stage. After her captivating performance as Vanessa in the Tony Award-winning In The Heights, she fills Anita’s heels like Cinderella fit that slipper. She’s sassy and sultry with a set of pipes to serve up the song “America” in a style all her own. Hers is definitely an “above the title” performance..."


Gary McMillan on West Side Story on DC Theatre Scene

[Magica]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 9:50am

DCist review:


West Side Story Doesn't Get Lost in Translation

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 9:51am

To the poster who mentioned some of the music being piped in, I had no idea that some of the orchestra was in another room. I was wondering why an orchestra with so many pieces didn't sound as vibrant as I would have expected.

[sondhead]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 10:35am

"Arthur's idea of making the gangs seems "dangerous" would always be defeated by the cartoon-character manner of the way he wrote the adults."

The ADULTS are written cartoonish? I think the Jets are written super cartoonish. I mean they have names like "Action" and "Big Deal." "Unwind, Action!" Can't take that seriously.

"To the poster who mentioned some of the music being piped in, I had no idea that some of the orchestra was in another room. I was wondering why an orchestra with so many pieces didn't sound as vibrant as I would have expected."

I thought it was just bad mixing until I went to look at the pit and saw MAYBE 10-15 people actually there (10-15 places set up, it's not like the other people had just gone out for a smoke), and I heard a saxophone practicing. Couldn't find the saxophone. Then I realized I could only hear it through the conductor's monitor.

And while we're on the subject of that conductor... why is he conducting "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" to be a dirge? Bo-ring, which is such a shame because it's easily the best number in the score.

[Usnavi]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 12:05pm

Oh, I see where you are coming from PalJoey.

In re-reading your original post I have to agree with your assessment. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 2:52pm

Sondhead--I think everyone agrees about the Jets' dialogue soundign cartoonish. I was just saying that even if Arthur had managed to direct them to be more dangerous, he would still have to face the fact that the adults are written like characters out of the Bowery Boys.

Sleeper2--if that comment was meant for me, PM me. (Your PMs are turned off.) I have a good Arthur story for you.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 2:58pm

. Updated On: 1/10/09 at 02:58 PM

[LadyDramaturg2]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 3:39pm

I wonder what some of our more perspicacious posters make of the near-positive tone of most of the DC reviews.

I expected this show to get creamed, based on our look-outs' observations posted on this board.

PJ, All...Life, Director: any theories (beyond, "they didn't want to beat up on a 90-year-old man...")?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 6:45pm

I didn't say a "90-year-old man."

I said a "16-year-old pit bull."