WEST SIDE STORY Reviews- Page 4

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 11:13am

Definitely agree PJ, the Post review was the one I agreed with most. Loved, loved the raving it did for Bernstein's score.

Overall, the reviews are fairly what I expected, with some more positive on the males than I thought they'd be.

Loved Brantley's quote about thinking oh good, a grownup when Karen comes on stage, and the Wall Street Journal's about it seeming like the stage manager called the curtain too early in the finale.

PJ...or anyone, as several people mentioned the changes in the finale, no one of course mentioned the nightmare. I feel like that may be because they're more familiar with the movie and not familiar as much with the nightmare? Or do you think that isn't the case, and that some of us just care more about its removal? Thoughts?

BTW, I saw it again, and nearly jumped in my seat when I saw Tony's solo in Tonight had been reinserted. Yay! The show was tighter, and I definitely enjoyed it more knowing what to expect...closed my eyes during the finale, and imagined it as it should be.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 11:20am

Theater critics don't understand dance, as a rule. Clive Barnes was an idiot, but he was also a dance critic. Maybe he would have noticed that the Nightmare is gone. Maybe Michael Feingold will. Maybe no one will.

I'm mostly annoyed by all the references to Joey McNeely's "loving" reconstruction of Jerome Robbins's dances, when in reality, he took a machete to them and failed to communicate to the dancers anything other than the mechanics of the steps.

But I'm happy that the cast got good notices, I'm even happy for the members of the cast I didn't care for. I'm sure the show will have a good long run and maybe they'll grow into the material. After all, when you're a Jet (or a Shark), you're a Jet (or a Shark) all the way.

Updated On: 3/20/09 at 11:20 AM

[allofmylife]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 11:29am

The simple fact is, this is West Side Story. If a revival on Broadway elicits less than all-positive-to-rave reviews, someone has to have screwed up pretty seriously, n'est ce pas?

The reviews were about what one would expect for what sounds like a re-imagining by someone with little-or-no new things to say, who didn't write the music or create the dance.

Aside from translating the lyrics to Spanish, he didn't have the balls to mess with Sondheim's portion of the show, did he?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 11:42am

Elizabeth Vincentelli is RIGHT on the ball with this one.

[tiger_lily007]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 12:00pm

Here's one: http://mt-champion.livejournal.com/29117.html

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 12:02pm

That's a blog. Your blog.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 12:09pm

No one posted John Simon's review? He say's it's not to be missed, and that it's the best revival of the show we will see in our lifetime.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aJ5yBmHxS9eA&refer=muse

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 12:19pm

What show did he see and where can I get a ticket for it?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 12:22pm

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 12:37pm

I think Laurents has a large manilla envelope with 8X10 glossies of John Simon in compromising positions in a safe somewhere.

[fakemyway2thetop]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 12:44pm

I clearly didn't get it. Don't know why but I simply didn't get caught up in the emotion of this show. It's usually a 'no brainer' for me. Easy to see the show and get swept up in the story. This one left me a little empty. Ah well...very happy for the company for all the good reviews. Hope they have a long and healthy run.

Also, perhaps I saw Ms. Scaglione on a bad night but she hit a couple of clunky notes the night I saw the show and, unfortunately, they were at very exposed moments; like when she was sustaining a long notes. You could see audience members squirming in their seats. Sometimes it's not good to hear how great a performance is before seeing a show. Again, perhaps it was me but I add her to the list of why the show didn't work for me.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 1:12pm

Simon raved?

Seriously?

Who got to him?

I'd say he blew it but I think I got the right verb and the wrong pronoun.

[Ole Chum]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 1:24pm

wow, i knew they'd like Karen but I was not expecting such wild wild raves, literally across the board.

tony.

[lull89]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 1:34pm

Word of Mouth:

http://www.broadway.com/West-Side-Story/broadway_reviews/5023501

No word. Really.

[Harpz2006]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 1:46pm

LOL omg, Helen. "NOOO, I TOTALLY LOVE YOUR SISTER!!!! EVEN THOUGH I'VE ONLY KNOWN HER FOR TEN MINUTES!"

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 2:01pm

Roma's review (video)

http://www.ny1.com/content/ny1_living/theater_reviews/Default.aspx

[yankees1253]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 2:40pm

the reviews are a b overrall right now to me. what i am reading from the reviews are that matt c and cody need to be replaced. spainish has mixed feelings. joesfina and karen have the a+ reviews in their roles and both being called triple threats.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 2:56pm

So let me get this straight. All positive reviews are the result of threats, blackmail and sexual favors, and all negative reviews are spot-on assessments.

Good to see everyone keeping a realistic perspective on things.

[bethnor]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 3:06pm

orangeskittles--you're only saying that because you don't have understanding of proper review structure .

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 3:09pm

I wonder if all of you silly snipers felt as ridiculous this morning reading all the positive reviews of the show (and of Matt Cavenaugh in particular) as you did when your trashing of Paolo Szot, Kelli O'Hara and South Pacific turned out to be tedious internet chatroom jealousy?

Maybe instead of speculating on the sexual reasons of why people are cast or why reviewers like a show, you should land a role on Broadway yourselves. Again, wannabes and never-weres abound.

Matt and the cast rocked out a great show last night -- sorry you all weren't there on Opening Night. It was a blast!

[bethnor]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 3:17pm

the reviews are a b overrall right now to me. what i am reading from the reviews are that matt c and cody need to be replaced.

Wow. A stunning example of how most adults will read into things exactly how they want to. I wasn't crazy about Cavenaugh's performance, but Brantley's review, arguably amongst the most important, was very effusive for him. How does that translate into Cavenaugh needing to be replaced?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 3:19pm

Oh, Hit-and-Run Sleeper-who-drops-disapproving-posts-and-never-answers-them, you just made us feel soooooooo envious of you and your glamorous life and sooooooo ashamed of ourselves for having opinions.

How dare we dislike something! How dare we have opinions! And how dare we express them on a message board?

If only we could be more like you! So snotty and sooooo superior, with a chiseled cartoon for an avatar! Then our poor pathetic lives would be perfect!

And what the are you going on about Paulo and Kelli? No one discussed them in this thread or any of the threads on WSS.

Besides, everyone loves them.

Sheesh.

Updated On: 3/20/09 at 03:19 PM

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 3:22pm

Bethnor, since Brantley said Matt Cavenaugh was strong. There's this:

"Mr. Cavenaugh (on Broadway in “Urban Cowboy” and “Grey Gardens”) and Ms. Scaglione (a 21-year-old newcomer from Argentina) fulfill the starry-eyed obligations of playing young folks struck by a love that arrives like a lightning bolt, propelling them into an enchanted, oblivious world of purple declarations of passion. But they also provide specific and surprising shadings of character that make Tony and Maria at least partly responsible for their fate instead of passive victims."

and this:

"Mr. Cavenaugh’s Tony, a former member of the territorial Jets gang, has a goofy, woolgathering and slightly shy side that helps explain his subsequent ill-advised behavior. His singing is more tender, wondering and introspective than that of most Tonys, with less of the regulation leading-man virility."

and lastly this which puts his performance right up there with Karen's and Josefina's:

"Mr. Cavenaugh aside, it’s the women who rule here."

Look, the haters here will never stop -- well at least until they graduate from high school and start auditioning in New York themselves.

[yankees1253]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 3:29pm

Thanks sleeper that is what i meant.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 3/20/09 at 4:01pm

The reviews, in total, reflected the show. Good but not great production, with some strong performances. Great score and original choreography. And Laurents changes weren't much of an improvement, if any,