WEST SIDE STORY reviews: opened Feb 20 2020- Page 9

[pdjennings]

Posted: 3/7/20 at 9:06am

Finally saw this last night. Count me among those who found it excellent. I didn’t find the video distracting in the slightest. I loved it.

Yes, a handful of protesters were still there. I don’t know if this been anyone else’s experience, but I actually found them rather rude and aggressive. We had to walk right by them to get into the entrance line, and whenever someone refused to take the flyers they offered, it seemed like they kinda started low-key taunting folks. They were behind us by this point, but we both heard stuff like “too good to listen” and “men stick together” and “shame on you.” I can’t tell if it was specifically toward specific people or if there was some other drama going on at the same time, but it was strange to hear.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/7/20 at 3:08pm

Considering the protests are the TOP story on CNN right now (right next to Corona and Melania), I would say whatever they are doing is pretty effective. This is now an international news story. What a beautiful thing.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/07/us/west-side-story-metoo-protest/index.html

[briansb]

Posted: 3/7/20 at 4:39pm

Mixed on the show, leaning towards more liking it than disliking it. Saw it the other night, full cast was there. Standouts were Issac and Yesenia as Anita. Both stood out to me a lot more than the rest of the cast, although the ensemble was mostly strong as a whole. One criticism I can’t understand that I’ve read is that the dancing is weak. I thought the dancing (the actual dancing, not the choreography) was some of the strongest I’ve seen on broadway in recent times. The video projections didn’t bother me much either — maybe one or two times when it clashed with the action on the stage I thought it detracted. But I enjoyed the ambiance it gave for the most part, especially the shots of the streets and the montage before the climax. I did love the arrangements of the songs and music too.

I do think the direction of it was a bit muddled, and I say this as a major fan of Van Hove. I see the vision, but I don’t think he achieved the tight, crescendoing pace he set out for. I didn’t feel the tension/dread that he said he wanted to achieve, nor were the “heightened stakes” there for me. The choreography needed more variety as well; there seemed to be little evolution to the movement and repertoire of dance in a show where the emotion of the dance is so integral.

Overall, it’s worth seeing but I wouldn’t go again. Can’t wait to get my hands on the cast recording though!

[nycward]

Posted: 3/7/20 at 4:47pm

briansb said: "Mixed on the show, leaning towards more liking it than disliking it. Saw it the other night, full cast was there. Standouts were Issac and Yesenia as Anita. Both stood out to me a lot more than the rest of the cast, although the ensemble was mostly strong as a whole. One criticism I can’t understand that I’ve read is that the dancing is weak. I thought the dancing (the actual dancing, not the choreography) was some of the strongest I’ve seen on broadway in recent times. The video projections didn’t bother me much either — maybe one or two times when it clashed with the action on the stage I thought it detracted. But I enjoyed the ambiance it gave for the most part, especially the shots of the streets and the montage before the climax. I did love the arrangements of the songs and music too.

I do think the direction of it was a bit muddled, and I say this as a major fan of Van Hove. I see the vision, but I don’t think he achieved the tight, crescendoing pace he set out for. I didn’t feel the tension/dread that he said he wanted to achieve, nor were the “heightened stakes” there for me. The choreography needed more variety as well; there seemed to be little evolution to the movement and repertoire of dance in a show where the emotion of the dance is so integral.

Overall, it’s worth seeing but I wouldn’t go again. Can’t wait to get my hands on the cast recording though!"

I was there last night as well and would echo Briansb's observation. Overall I felt that the play was more in service to the director's vision and not the other way around. All too often I found the cast wandering a huge bare stage amid bright lighting trying to hold the focus. The evening was often quite arresting but I found the cast had to work too hard to justify both the set design and the director's lack of support for the performances. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 3/8/20 at 6:13pm

Sutton Ross said: "Considering the protests are the TOP story on CNNright now (right next to Corona and Melania), I would say whatever they are doing is pretty effective. This is now an international news story. What a beautiful thing.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/07/us/west-side-story-metoo-protest/index.html"

If mob justice is beautiful to you...

Updated On: 3/8/20 at 06:13 PM

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 6:32pm

Since there's so little footage from this show available, I'm hoping the mods allow this, or at least leave it up for a bit before they take it down.

 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 6:42pm

Thank you for posting - it was a nice trip down memory lane for that gorgeous performance. I really wish he had been awards-eligible. Best Tony I've ever seen by a wide margin.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 7:02pm

That moment at the end when Maria comes onstage and slowly gets closer to Tony... brilliantly realized. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 7:08pm

God I absolutely LOVED every second of this revival. It was brilliant. I’m so sad it didn’t come back after the pandemic.

[Dark_Vader]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 8:26pm

I love the street thug vibe they gave to his movements. Sorry I missed this. 

[BJR]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 9:55pm

I found Isaac's Tony the most beguilding, unpredictable, joyful, kinetic and moving performance of Tony I'd ever seen. It became Tony's show.

What's more, when it was clear at the first preview the show still needed refining, his performance was already in beautiful shape.

I was so livid he wasn't "eligible" (by one day -really Tony committee....?) opposite Aaron.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 10:36pm

There must be a Tonys curse on the role of Tony or something. To this day, no production of West Side Story has ever had the role of Tony nominated for a Tony and I remember thinking at the 4th preview that this was gonna be the year, but alas 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 10:47pm

Still angry we'll never get a cast recording.

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 11:09pm

Isaac's Tony was absolutely thrilling, as was pretty much everything about this production. It's an absolute shame how it all turned out. Everything really clicked.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 9/13/22 at 8:30am

BJR said: "I was so livid he wasn't "eligible" (by one day -really Tony committee....?) opposite Aaron."

Maybe had West Side Story open on February 6th, 2020 like it was originally supposed to, it would've. Although if you ask me, it was a big mistake for the Tonys to move forward with giving out competitive awards to a smaller pool of contenders than usual. I think it would’ve been a much better idea to have just given out honoree awards to the shows that opened during the abbreviated 2019-20 season. It especially did not help that the all the Best Musical nominees were pretty much these middle of the road/lowbrow jukebox shows.

Updated On: 1/18/23 at 08:30 AM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 9/13/22 at 8:34am

Isaac Powell should've played Tony in Steven Spielberg's recent film adaptation. While I understand that Disney/Fox probably wanted them to cast an actor who general audiences were already familiar with, I still found Ansel Elgort's performance to be so emotionally plain a lot of the time. I agree with others that he was easily the weak link of the cast.