WEST SIDE STORY first preview reviews!- Page 10

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 9:07pm

Thanks for your input, Trish2, but I'm waiting to hear from those who are familiar with the proper reviewing format.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 9:36pm

Thanks for your input, Trish2, but I'm waiting to hear from those who are familiar with the proper reviewing format.

Don't be a tool.

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 9:38pm

I enjoyed Trish's format better than the "proper reviewing format", jackass skittles.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 10:00pm

I'm seeing it Thursday.

I doubt I'll be unemotional enough to "review" it for several days.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 10:10pm

If Trish2 can dish it out, she can take it.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 10:18pm

That was a great thread!

[duffny1]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 12:21am

I just got back from the show tonight after winning the lottery for rush tickets and wanted to add my 2 cents. I am not a reviewer but wanted to add a few things.

I loved the Spanish--it just made sense and even though the audience didn't know exactly what they were saying, it was great to hear it. Did it change my impression of the show--not at all...I loved it.

I thought Maria (Josefina Scaglione) was illuminating. Seriously just a joy to watch. She was fresh, talented and had a beautiful singing voice.

Tony!? His singing was fine. I would have loved to hear a fantastic voice on Tony but it just wasn't there, not bad, just not great. With that said, I still liked him and I never really loved the role of Tony but I thought he did a real good job.

Anita (Karen Olivo) was really good. The only thing that bothered me was her inability to ennunciate clearly. I felt like she dropped a few lines because of her delivery (the English lines). She did a great acting job and I loved her so much more than Debbie Allen. Her acting was in top form in act 2. Her rape scene, (well close to it,as the guy was on top of her with his pants at his knees (underwear on)), I saw everything as it was right in front of my seat. She was GREAT in this scene.

I was excited to see Cody, he was much better than I thought he would be.

One thing that happened at my performance. During the rumble under the bridge (BEAUTIFUL SET)one of the knives got stuck in the fence. This all happened behind a chain link fence that separates the audience from the fight. It was so high up that no one could reach it. One jet tried but he saw that it was impossible to get. You can tell that it jarred the actors but they did a great job just trying to improvise. It was fine as I forget what the original choreography was, so it looked normal to me. The audience sorta giggled at first because no one could have ever planned that, but since it was a pivotal scene and the actors did a great job. IF anyone else saw this, you can add your thoughts on this.

I also thought the Jets and the Sharks were great as an ensemble. I hated the Revival in the 80's as I felt the gangs just weren't intimidating, threatening and in fact they seemed like they never threw a punch in their life. To me, that didn't work.

All in all, a very good show. They still have a few weeks to tighten things up.

[marknyc]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 12:32am

I forgot one great moment on Thursday: when Chino shoots, a woman in the audience (not near me) gasped a very audible "Oh, my god!"

Nice to know there are still some people who are shocked by WSS.

[Kevn520]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 1:37am

I'm seeing this on Tuesday night. I can't wait. Thanks for the extra details about the Nightmare sequence, PalJoey.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 6:40am

"I forgot one great moment on Thursday: when Chino shoots, a woman in the audience (not near me) gasped a very audible "Oh, my god!"

Nice to know there are still some people who are shocked by WSS."

Haha, when Chino came out and the gun fired my grandmother sitting next to me jumped up. She knew it was coming but it still shocked her. It was actually sort of funny, she one of those people who will cry at anything remotely sad.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 10:45am

I can say, I knew that it was coming, but I still gasped and jumped a little. Possibly because you never knew exactly when he would fire and it was a little loud.

[morosco]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 6:12pm

1) Is the overture in or out?
2) Is the portion of The Jet Song "Oh, when the Jets fall in at the cornball dance, We'll be the sweetest dressin' gang in pants!" in or out?

[ItSucks2BAveQ]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 6:14pm

The only gunshots in this production are at the end when (SPOILER) Tony is shot (END SPOILER), correct?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 6:15pm

I heard from someone that Tony is taunting Chino and challenging him to a fight instead of begging him to kill him. Can anyone back this up?

[pushdabutton]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 8:51pm

How much of the show is in Spanish?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 9:02pm

Tony is yelling "Come and get me too Chino, I want you to..."
He obvously wants Chino to shoot him also.

[Actor 7]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 10:09pm

Curious about two things: Did the orchestra play an Overture for this preview? Is there a show curtain used when you enter the theatre or is the curtain already up on the first scene?

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 10:14pm

It's horrible, I knew West Side Story before I'd even heard of Kristin Chenoweth, but I can't help but read the name "Chino" without thinking it says "Cheno." And I'm not even a particularly big Cheno fan.

[/totally nonconstructive post]

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 10:34pm

It would be great if he yelled :
Come and get me too Chino!
and Cheno appeared with a gun and shot him,
and Maria too while she's at it.
Then she could sing something.

[Kevn520]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 10:40pm

Yes! She could then sing 'Tayler, the Latte Boy'.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 12:13am

I saw the show this afternoon and it was incredible. I'm not coherent enough at the moment to write a real review. I thought the Spanish worked very well, although there were a few complaints that I heard on my way out of the theater.

Coming from someone who has never been a big fan: Can we just hand Karen Olivo the Tony now? She was absolutely incredible. Her dancing is still a little off, but it can only get better in time. The spark that she seemed to lack as Vanessa is here tenfold. In "Un Hombre Asi" and during the taunting/rape scene, she had me in tears.

I didn't love Matt Cavenaugh, but he was better than I was expecting. His voice is kind of irritating. Josefina Scaglione is fantastic.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 12:37am

We are not "handing over" any TONYs just yet,
but we love a great race.

[marknyc]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 1:19am

Is the portion of The Jet Song "Oh, when the Jets fall in at the cornball dance, We'll be the sweetest dressin' gang in pants!" in or out?

- I don't recall hearing those lyrics.

The only gunshots in this production are at the end when (SPOILER) Tony is shot (END SPOILER), correct?

- That's the only one.

How much of the show is in Spanish?

- Very little of the first act. More in the second - all of the opening scene (I Feel Pretty), for example.

Curious about two things: Did the orchestra play an Overture for this preview?

- No.

Is there a show curtain used when you enter the theatre or is the curtain already up on the first scene?

- The red Palace curtain is down, and goes up with the Prologue.

Updated On: 3/1/09 at 01:19 AM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 2:19pm

So I saw the matinee yesterday from the rear mezz – great place to see this production from. The theatre was completely soldout, it didn’t seem like there was one empty seat.

Before I start my long long…thought-piece, as I’ll call it, just of something people have been discussing, a lot of people jumped at the gunshot…and then they laughed at the fact they jumped. That’s happened in every HS production of WSS I’ve been a part of. I hate it. I hate that people start laughing during such a dramatic moment. Ulgh.

Oh, and regarding the overture…while there is none, a shortened version of it is heard in the exit music. The beginning of it remains the same – the opening of the Tonight Quintet, but when it reaches the part where the signing would start, it transitions straight into “Balcony Scene (Tonight),” and plays the whole of it as it is in the overture, but then instead of transitioning into a bit of the Quintet, and then “Somewhere” (“Maria” in the movie), it goes straight into the “Mambo” section of the overture and plays the whole of the Mambo as it is in the overture.

Okay, so as I said, really long, but if people want something out of this without reading the whole thing, here’s a quick summary:

There were a few changes I actually liked (shocking, I know). There were many small, insignificant changes that I just noticed and wanted to make note of, and there were of course, several changes I did not like. After the “Schirzo,” “Somewhere” went as downhill as I expected it, the new finale ended the show with a bad taste in my mouth, and there were a couple differences in the “Cha-Cha” I wasn’t expecting that bothered me, and the pacing/tempo of some of the show, especially at the beginning. But still, this is West Side Story. I got to see West Side Story live on stage. Some numbers were just so fabulous – Dance at the Gym, Cool, The Rumble…when I knew they were coming, I leaned forward excitingly in my seat. I am so grateful that this show is back on Broadway, that it is doing so well, and that the magic can live on and be demonstrated to a new generation.

Now onto the details with lots and lots of SPOILERS.

Changes I did like:

#1 most amazing change ever – getting rid of Velma’s stupid “Ooblioo” line! I was soo happy that was gone, by far Arthur’s stupidest line in the show.

2. is quite shockingly a musical change – normally, the “Cha-Cha” goes into “Meeting Scene” music, and then as Tony & Maria kiss, the music slowly transitions back to the “Promenade” music (the music that plays during the “Get Together Dance” when they go around in a circle). I guess that’s an interesting decision, because, Tony & Maria did “get together.” But in this production, instead of transitioning back to the “Promenade” music, it slowly transitions back to the “Mambo” music. This creates more of a contrast between the music/world of Tony & Maria, and the world of the gangs, and the transition was done flawlessly. Bravo.

3. “Siento Hermosa.” I’ve always felt that “I Feel Pretty” was…not the weakest, but the least…good…for lack of proper grammar, of the entire West Side Story score. It definitely has the least amount of technical elements heard throughout the score (tritones, etc.) of all the songs. I liked the little “high-note off” that occurred in the song, and the Spanish really inflated a new joy into the song. I enjoyed it more than I’ve enjoyed “I Feel Pretty” in prior productions.

Onto Insignificant Changes I just wanted to note: (I am not complaining about these changes, just noting them, some I might have personal likes and dislikes of, but they’re so minimal that they won’t influence the show, and most people wouldn’t notice/care)

1. The brief drum solo that occurs in “Jet Song” after “We’re the Jets, the greatest…” is gone.

2. The “pow” that ends “Jet Song” is gone

3. The “uncle” part of the Riff/Tony discussion before “Something’s Coming” is gone

4. In the scene between Maria and Anita re: the dress, normally Anita is working on it while Maria complains, and then finally puts it on her, and that’s when Maria says that she loves it. This time, she’s wearing it the whole time, and then just stares at it again, and decides she loves it.

5. There’s a new line in the exchange before ‘The Balcony Scene Tonight,” where Maria says it’s dangerous. The audience laughed at this line, and seemed to enjoy it.

6. Tony’s solo of “Tonight, Tonight” before Maria comes back from talking with her father while the bass clarinet plays “There’s a Place For Us…” is gone. Normally, this would be a change I wouldn't like, but this section is so little known for not being on the CD, not being in the movie (I think), and rarely put in when this song is sung at special concerts, that I can’t blame them for cutting it. At least “There’s A Place For Us” is heard at the end of the song, but it makes me wonder if cutting this part from the OBCR created its eventual demise from the song.

7.The dialogue that takes place in Doc’s before “Cool” is a little cut-off…Doc asks Anybodys what she’s gonna be when she grows up, and Riff enters and she says “Riff…,” normally she says something like “A teenage prostitute.” I can’t remember if more is said after that before Riff enters.

8. During her dialogue with Maria, Anita usually says “definitely black orchid,” now she says “definitely a hot bath.”

9. Obviously, there are less mannequins in “One Hand, One Heart” and the line about Tony’s mom being fat is cut (I always thought that was cute).

10. They get rid of the wedding attire before the end of the song, seemingly to make it easier to go right into the Quintet

11. There is new music played while the highway is put into place before “The Rumble” – I wonder who wrote it

12.The Entracte is there to an extent, which actually made me happy, I was prepared for there to not be one at all. Usually, the orchestra plays a verse of “I Feel Pretty,” and then the curtain opens, and the orchestra continues to play “I Feel Pretty” quietly under the dialogue, until the song starts. Now, the orchestra plays a shortened version of “I Feel Pretty,” then stops, and the curtain opens, and there’s no music under the dialogue.

(This doesn’t include all changes like Spanish and stuff, which I felt fairly neutral about that for most of the show)

Changes I didn’t like:

1 .Somewhere/Nightmare. Of course. Is it bad that I started imagining maybe they put the nightmare back in to start at this performance? And the way the kid stood in front of Tony & Maria…just blech.

2. Finale. I wasn’t aware to the extent of the change of the finale that I thought I was. I knew the gangs didn’t carry off Tony, but I didn’t realize that none of them were even there to see Tony die. And not many of them came after he died. And that he just lies there. It just seems so unresolved, and…yeah, people have already harped on this.

3. “Cha-cha.” Kissing occurs before they start the dance?? And throughout it?? I didn’t like that. It seemed to take the innocence away a bit, and the power away from their first kiss. And the final verse of the “Cha-Cha” is cut, with the oboe solo that has a bit of “Maria” in it.

4. The only time the Spanish actually bothered me was, surprisingly, during the Shark dialogue before “America.” There are some…not funny, but chuckle-worthy lines that most people couldn’t understand: “You came with your mouth open” (though the way he was rolling on the floor, I think he might have actually said you came with your pants open,) Bernardo calling Tony a Pollack, indicating he’s not that attractive, etc. And missing all of the dialogue between Bernardo & Anita, I think, takes away from their chemistry. I mean, it wasn’t that different I know, when Bernardo says “Well are you or aren’t you,” and Anita repeats it, you know that she’s repeating it, and you understand what you need to out of the exchange, but, I don’t know, maybe it was just me, maybe some people felt their chemistry was improved with the Spanish.

5. When Tony enters the room after Chino tells Maria that Tony killed Bernardo, she says killer, and then punches him in the stomach a bunch of times, saying killer, and then collapses into his arms. This time, she just says killer several times, and runs into his arms. I don’t know, I buy it more when she punches him, like she got out what she needed to, and now she can embrace him.

6. Why did Schrank leave right after Maria says “Jose?” Was it something I didn’t get, like he really stayed longer, but the play skipped it? If not, it just doesn’t make sense, if he left right away, it seems more contrived to send Anita.

7. I didn’t have a problem with changing the staging of the rape, just an aspect of the music. Normally, “The Mambo” starts on the jukebox as it did, but as they start tossing her around, the live orchestra comes up with a new, distorted version of “America,” which just musically climaxes Anita’s journey through the show – that the music that plays is what she sings about the possibilities in America, is now being played as she is almost raped – it’s a great use of irony. Now the Mambo just continues on the jukebox. I would rather they shorted the “Mambo” to allow parts of the distorted “America’ to come in.

Oh, and one thing I’m not sure was a change – does anyone know what the original staging of “Maria” was? I know Robbins hated the song because he didn’t know how to stage it, but for some reason, I was under the impression that Tony moved around the stage a bit, I didn’t think he just stood in the same place for the whole song like he did here.

Okay, so that’s that.
Some other notes:

The tempo/pace of some aspects of the show, felt slow – The Prologue, especially the fight between one shark and one jet, where the spit takes place, felt very slow. The scene between Riff and Tony before “Something’s Coming” also struck me as very slow, as did “Krupke,” though that might have to do with the staging.

I knew for the Quintet, the Sharks say “Tonight” with everyone at the end like everyone else, but I was very pleased that they said “Tonight” throughout the whole song, it really helps the song.

I can’t quite decide how I feel about “Krupke.” I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. I did miss the high voice used to play the social worker. I can see why it was decided not to put A-Rab and Baby John in the number, after what they were just talking about, and makes a little more sense for the rest of the Jets to be singing this since they just were with the police. The syncing of the drum and the hit needs to be coordinated a bit better, which I’m sure it will be. I kind of like the harmonizing of “Krupke” but it was held out too long, and I think the final verse should stay lower, it just makes it seem more like…the final one, more…magnificent I guess? And the staging is also a little weird. And it moves a little slow.

Actors:

Josefina Scaglione—deserves all the praise she’s been getting. She has a beautiful voice, and is a great actress, especially during the finale – really makes you believe she is in love.

Karen Olivo—ditto, a great performance. Though, it seems like Anita is such a great part that…it’s hard for the actress to not give a great performance? I think Rita Moreno said it’s just a part where you come out on stage, hit a home run, and get off. Not to take anything away from Karen, who did do a great job.

Matt Cavenaugh—the biggest annoyance I had with him was too much vibrato, particularly in “Tonight” and “Somewhere.” But that was my only real issue. Tony is a thankless role, and he was certainly better than Richard Beymer (which says hardly anything). But I bought that he was in love, and he hit the notes.

Cody Greene—I wouldn’t say he’s bad like others have. He just doesn’t particularly stand out…which I guess since Riff is supposed to, you can say it’s bad…but hey, great dancing.

George Akram—great dancer, which is what Bernardo is supposed to be. But…he kind of annoyed me. Like, George Chakiris makes Bernardo likeable, in his scenes with Anita and Maria. Akram could be hindered because of the Spanish. But great job on the Rumble.

Curtis Holbrook—he did stand out as Action. Great performance. I wonder why his costume stands out so much, as something…rebel-like.

Steve Bassett (Schrank) – need to mention that he came across as particularly weak, but it seems to be more from direction. He just holds Schrank back way too much, he just needs to let loose, especially in his scene with Maria near the end. He quietly and calmly says “I didn’t ask, I told you”…it just didn’t make sense.

But, you know, like I said in the beginning, none of the shortcomings can overtake seeing this show live. I was on such a high seeing “Dance At The Gym,” “Cool,” “The Rumble” (which for some reason I was worried about it not being that great, but it certainly was). The choreography, the music, the story…it’s just so amazing, so powerful. It did hurt the show that the finale was a shortcoming, because that’s what you leave with, but still, it’s…it’s West Side Story…in my opinion, the greatest musical ever made. I’m so glad it’s selling well, and I can’t wait to go back, and will probably enjoy it more the second time, knowing exactly what to expect.

Kudos to Joey McKneely for brilliantly reproducing the choreography, and to the orchestra for playing this difficult score (I selfishly wish the orchestra could have even been a little louder).

Congratulations if you read this whole thing.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 5:00pm

This time, she’s wearing it the whole time, and then just stares at it again, and decides she loves it.

Maria decides she loves it after she says the line (and realizes) that she will be the only girl there in a white dress- i.e. she'll stand out. That's why she changes her mind about the dress.


“You came with your mouth open” (though the way he was rolling on the floor, I think he might have actually said you came with your pants open,)

That was the line in the movie. On stage, it has always been "You came with your legs open", which is what he says in Spanish.