WEST SIDE STORY first preview reviews!- Page 11

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 5:47pm

I read the whole thing--thanks.

I think you summed up the feelings of those of us who know the show inside and out: It's just great to see it live onstage, on Broadway. Finding a dozen things to object to is still better than not seeing it at all.

Glad to hear Arthur cut Velma's "Oublieoo"--did he also cute Graziella's "I and Velma AIN'T dumb!"

On of my favorite moments with Bernstein was listening him to him complain about Graziella's inappropriately midwestern accent. He was agonized about it and said, "Graziella is from new York, not Dayton, Ohio. Her vowel sounds should be pinched and nasal and her d's and t's dentalized!" Then he screeched in a hysterically funny Noo Yawk accent: "OY AN' VELMER AIN'T tsssssss-DUMB!"

Regarding Robbins's staging of "Maria": Robbins mostly choreographed the two spotlights: a blue body spot that bathed Tony in a dreamy blue haze and a white pin spot.

The pin spot started on his face for "The most beautiful sound I ever heard..." Then it opened up to include his shoulders on the 3rd set of repeated Marias, and finally opened up to include his upper body on the bridge.

Robbins had a vision of Tony holding his hands at shoulder height and and letting them "bounce" and "be alive" (his words) without specific gestures. The idea was that the floating hands would reflect his emotions.

Ken Marshall, who played Tony, was mystified by this direction to "let your hands bounce" and paralyzed and frustrated by it. The few times that Ken tried to do it, Robbins would be annoyed and exasperated and say, "Why is he flailing his arms around like Judy Garland?"

I've tried to explain the concept to a few actor/singers, but never with much success.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 7:56pm

"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"

Hmm, that's strange, in the high school licensed version, the line was definitely "mouth open." I wonder if they changed that for high schools?

No PJ, unfortunately, I and Velma ain't dumb is still in there...it's actually when that line came that I realized Ooblioo was cut.

HAHAHA, thank you so much the Bernstein and Robbins stories, and for trying to explain the staging for "Maria." I figured Robbins would come up with something other than Tony just standing there.

What was the eventual staging for the production -- lights with no flailing hands?

[marknyc]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 12:49am

"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."

This didn't work for me. It's just not believable that she goes from hating the dress to loving it just because Anita says she'll be the only one there in white. And it's made even worse by the fact that it's a terrible dress! Makes her look like a frumpy Midwestern housewife (I know, I'm from Milwaukee =).

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 4:22pm

It's just not believable that she goes from hating the dress to loving it just because Anita says she'll be the only one there in white. And it's made even worse by the fact that it's a terrible dress! Makes her look like a frumpy Midwestern housewife (I know, I'm from Milwaukee =).

MARIA says that she will be the only one there in white. Anita won't dye it red for her. I kind of got the impression that Maria had not taken a real look at herself in the dress until right when she decided she loved it.

[marknyc]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 7:39pm

It's still an awful dress.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 7:48pm

Can someone explain to me where "Kiddo" comes in?

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 7:50pm

Kiddo watches some of scenes. And he sings "Somewhere."

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 7:53pm

Hmm, that's strange, in the high school licensed version, the line was definitely "mouth open." I wonder if they changed that for high schools?

They censored the original line for the movie. I guess they used same change for the high school version. Because in a show where three people are violently killed onstage, hinting at sex would be bad.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 7:53pm

Ok, thanks. "Somewhere" is my favorite song from the show so I hope the kid does it justice.

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 7:54pm

such little mundane quips: the dress, velma's lines, the kiddo.......

the reality is that this revival just isn't as great as it should have been. Period.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 9:25pm

Seeing it Thursday.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 9:27pm

Alright...this may be a really stupid question...but Tony and Maria sing Somewhere together in this production and not just Kiddo...right?

[DAME]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 9:27pm

Which means I will receive it on Monday.
Just kidding.

Updated On: 3/2/09 at 09:27 PM

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 11:49pm

Saw the show tonight. It was OK. The spark between Tony and Maria, just wasn't there for me, neither was the threat the Shark and the Jets posed to each other. I found both Riff and Bernando sort of flat. Matt's voice is nice but boy does he seem to struggle with "Maria". Not sure exactly where one note he struck tonight came from, sounded like his voice cracked.
I did love Josephina's Maria, despite her non Puerto Rican accent. Her voice was wonderful and at points carried me away with it.
The dream ballet without the nightmare segue really struck me as they stopped the show for a Gap commercial. Was it a dream or real? I mean Tony is left with a brand new shining white wife beater Tee he didn't have before it started. Guess he fell into the Gap.
The very ending without the Procession seemed abrupt and rather unfinished IMHO. The shawl was just too subtle a move to really be of impact. I can understand why they might not want to move the body, but perhaps something? Some more ensemble onstage or an approaching cop car or something?
All in all an OK production though I did find myself bored at times.
The high points for me were the Spanish segments and the scene change to the Rumble.

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 11:54pm

I agree. It was a bore.

[raulmark]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 12:35am

I really liked it. Period.

[raulmark]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 1:01am

my main question is....Why the ^%#*@ do they allow those sippy cups with the ice and sell it to idiots who then shake it during the show?? I wanted to punch the little brat next to me, then bitch slap his %^#$@ mother for not stopping him!

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 11:49am

"Alright...this may be a really stupid question...but Tony and Maria sing Somewhere together in this production and not just Kiddo...right?"

They sing the bit at the beginning..."Somewhere there must be a place we can feel we're free" before the Schirzo, then, I'm fairly sure that Kiddo sings the first verse and the whole cast sings the second verse -- I don't think it's ever just Tony & Maria on the main song. (But the same remains true in the original -- "Somewhere" was sung offstage, never by Tony & Maria, except at the end, after the nightmare, where it was very powerful).

"The very ending without the Procession seemed abrupt and rather unfinished IMHO. The shawl was just too subtle a move to really be of impact. I can understand why they might not want to move the body, but perhaps something? Some more ensemble onstage or an approaching cop car or something? "

I absolutely agree. I think the moment is lessened by the fact that only Chino sees Tony die and Maria sing to him, and that not all of them are there for Maria's monologue. I always bought that they could come together after witnessing both of those moments. And it's not like all of them came together, only some. But it just brings the whole night together. There's always some good to come out of tragedy -- though Oedipus is blinded, the curse is gone, the war in Hamlet is over, etc. And that's why in Romeo & Juliet, the families make up. The story is just so much more poignant when members of both gangs carry off Tony's body...and the clueless adults are left standing on stage.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts, PJ!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 12:07pm

I'm trying not to have them until I see it!

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 12:21pm

"just you wait yr pal,joey-just you wait......."

[Oldschool]

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

Having seen the show in DC and in NY, its tighter but not much. My problem is one that many here have detailed, namely that Matt Cavenaugh is miscast and has no chemistry with Maria. He's so Nebraska that he doesn't begin to convey someone who was once a member of the gang. As for the gangs, to quote a DC audience member, "the gangs were like a bunch of overly effeminate, gay, computer geeks, rather than gangs." Even former NY Times reviewer, Peter Marks, in his review of the DC run said that his guest for the night said she could take 'em [the gangs]. There's a difference between playing the part and being the part and the gangs don't get there.

Josephina and Karen Olivo are spectacular, particularly Karen. If the gangs had as much passion as she exudes through her pinky, they'd have a show.

For all the hoopla of the Spanish, its a gimmick. It doesn't resolve the basic problem with the show that we really don't know much about the Sharks. They have no lines. We know that Chino is Bernardo's cousin and that he's part of the gang, but because there is no antecedent, when he shows up in the last act and just shoots Tony it misses emotionally because no one has laid the fundament to understand the dynamics more deeply. Yes, Bernardo gets killed, so Chino kills Tony. Is that all??

The sound was just so, so. They're trying to strike a balance and make the show sound natural and not having it sound, well, amplified. I just think at times it needs a little more umph.

All in all, the music and dancing fantastic, sets and lighting too. Sound, just ok, cast very uneven acting wise. All told, a missed opportunity.

[jake6970]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 3:31pm

Is chino really Bernardo's cousin? I didn't know that. That would make him Maria's cousin too, right? Kind of incestuous haha.

[sgv123]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 3:36pm

I may have missed this, but is there a rush or lottery?

[marknyc]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 6:07pm

Lottery
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1686746

[Patash]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 6:15pm

"I hate lottos. I think it's unfair to people who maybe can't afford the pricier tickets. It just urks me. The first two names drawn tonight were two older ladies, but who could def. afford a $90-44 dollar ticket, but who just chose to do the lotto instead."

This is so bizarre. So you asked the women to show you their bank banks, and account statements to confirm their personal wealth? Wasn't that going a little overboard? This sounds like some biased kid who thinks everyone over the age of 50 or so is automatically rich, but all the youngsters running around with IPods and Blackberrys are poor.