WEST SIDE STORY reviews: opened Feb 20 2020 — Page 6

Sutton Ross said: ""Less wise was the casting ofAmar Ramasaras Bernardo, a performer plagued with controversy after he disseminated sexual images of fellow female dancers during his time with the New York City Ballet. The casting decision has surely caused a headache for the production and ethical reckoning for some viewers which seems, given the performance, not worth it; Ramasar’s Bernardo fades to the background, upstaged by a magnetic Yesenia Ayala as Anita, Shereen Pimentel as Maria and a smoldering ensemble of Sharks." They enjoyed the show otherwise.

The Guardian

My favorite review is from theWall Street Journalwhose title is hilarious and telling:"Worst Side Story"

WSJ"

It is amazing to me that supposedly reputable newspapers continue to print completely erroneous information about this person. "disseminated sexual images of fellow female dancers during his time with the New York City Ballet. " a) he is still with the New York City Ballet, and b) he most assuredly did not disseminate sexual images of fellow female dancers - he shared ONE nude photo of his GIRLFRIEND and that was two YEARS ago. And yet, on they go.

Luminaire2 said: "CT2NYC said: "gibsons2 said: "perfectliar said: "gibsons2 said: "I don't read theater critics (is this even a real profession? ) because I just can't take a questionable opinion of some pompous individuals and make it decide for me if I want to see a show. Did these people create anything themselves to be so snarky, lol? Thank god for social media and boards like this where I can find reviews of real people who pay money to see these shows."

Why is a critic's opinion questionable but any other random person's not? I will never understand this argument. Why does being paid to write about your opinion somehow make that opinion invalid?

As for the other half of this... What if a person on this board has never "created anything?" Doesn't that undermine their opinion, based on this logic, and make it not worth hearing?"

I find most of the negative "professional" reviews quite disrespectful and nothing but a competition in who's the snarkiest and most of the time the humor falls flat for me. "Calvin Klein fragrance ad", really? I appreciate a good joke, but this isn't good, just like most in these articles. I mean, even if you hate a certain production, which means it's not bad, it's just not your cup of tea, can't you appreciate and be respectful to the colossal effort it takes to put it together? Months or years of work of ateam who made this production possible: cast, director and many others? It doesn't take much effort to go see a show for free and then spend an hour or less on a laptop to write an article. Just my opinion.

"

My problem with Brantley is that he's just not clever. If you're going to use snark in a review, at least have the chops to make it actually funny, instead of the stale "humor" he employs. His jokes smell like mothballs."

Brantley / The New York Times is pretty much the one reviewer everyone and every show really cares about... I adore reading his reviews.

"

Yes, every show cares about the NYT review, but it's regardless of who is reviewing for them at the time. Brantley's power comes solely from the paper for which he writes, not his personal qualifications.

Updated On: 2/21/20 at 07:14 PM

poisonivy2 said: "Owen22 said: "joevitus said: "The one element of the production I find suspect is the multi-racial makeup of both gangs. This is partly because the script clearly denotes one group as white,one as Puerto Rican, but also because in fact gangs do tend to form around racial lines. There aren't a whole lot of mixed race gangs among actual gang--though this is changing, apparently,so it doesn't even feel like an appropriate change for the sake of authenticity."

Okay. The Jets AREwhite and Puerto Ricans ARE Hispanic. Van Hove is employing colorblind casting, as the racial makeup is still part of the script and mentioned in the dialogue. Clearly. He is not employing colorblind casting to the service of star casting, the way we are used to it being used. He is using it as part of a metaphoric theme.

"

Except only the Jets are "colorblind" in this production. The Sharks are Latinx actors and actresses. Gangs in NYC are segregated not just by race but by country of origin -- a Dominican could never join a Mexican gang and white kids would never be in the same gang as black kids. A more realistic update would to have the Jets be white nationalist gangs that are becoming more popular in NYC. Certainly they are in Long Island. Again, anyone who has worked in a NYC public school will know exactly which gangs a kid is in, their gang signs, their colors, and the requirements to join that gang."

No, the Sharks are definitely not all Latinx. There's actually a very prominent, controversial Shark who is actually Middle Eastern/Asian.

Updated On: 2/21/20 at 09:58 PM

Owen22 said: "poisonivy2 said: "Owen22 said: "joevitus said: "The one element of the production I find suspect is the multi-racial makeup of both gangs. This is partly because the script clearly denotes one group as white,one as Puerto Rican, but also because in fact gangs do tend to form around racial lines. There aren't a whole lot of mixed race gangs among actual gang--though this is changing, apparently,so it doesn't even feel like an appropriate change for the sake of authenticity."

Okay. The Jets AREwhite and Puerto Ricans ARE Hispanic. Van Hove is employing colorblind casting, as the racial makeup is still part of the script and mentioned in the dialogue. Clearly. He is not employing colorblind casting to the service of star casting, the way we are used to it being used. He is using it as part of a metaphoric theme.

"

Except only the Jets are "colorblind" in this production. The Sharks are Latinx actors and actresses. Gangs in NYC are segregated not just by race but by country of origin -- a Dominican could never join a Mexican gang and white kids would never be in the same gang as black kids. A more realistic update would to have the Jets be white nationalist gangs that are becoming more popular in NYC. Certainly they are in Long Island. Again, anyone who has worked in a NYC public school will know exactly which gangs a kid is in, their gang signs, their colors, and the requirements to join that gang."

No, the Sharks are definitely not all Latinx. There's actually a very prominent, controversial Shark who is actually Middle Eastern/Asian."

Amar's mother is Puerto Rican.

https://www.dancemagazine.com/the-golden-guys-2306883040.html

Uh yeah. The leader of the Jets is Dharon Jones:

Owen22 said: "poisonivy2 said: "Uh yeah. The leader of the Jets is Dharon Jones:

"

Yes I've seen the show. My question is if the Sharks are still entirely Latinxwhy is everyone confused by the mixed white and black races in Jets then? It should be really easy to tell the gangsapart."

Because Latinx is all colors of the spectrum? If you go to say Cuba you see anything from blond and blue-eyed to black. The Sharks are cast similarly -- the Latinx doesn't mean they're all easily identifiable.

A friend who saw the show says that Sharks had "Tiburones" tattoos which means "shark" in Spanish but from I didn't notice that detail.

Det95 said: "I’m currently at the Broadway for the 2/22 matinee. Isaac, Shereen, and Amar are out. I figured Isaac probably would be, but it’s pretty disappointing having three principles out. "

Am I the only one who finds this shocking? 2 days after opening and 3 leads out. Do the producers get upset by this? The show should be on a post opening high. Perplexed.

Sutton Ross said: "Am I the only one who finds this shocking? 2 days after opening and 3 leads out. Do the producers get upset by this? The show should be on a post opening high. Perplexed."

I think you may be.They just needed everyone in for opening night, expect a ton of understudies from now on."

This is going to be the norm I fear. As the reviews have clearly pointed out, the show is the star. I’m sure the lack of raves or acknowledgement for the leads won’t propel them to show up more.