WSS CD

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WSS CD

Posted: 5/29/09 at 9:42pm

I don't know if this has been posted, but Broadway.com has clips from the WSS CD, including America (which sounds great).

http://www.broadway.com/Listen-to-West-Side-Story-First-/broadway_news/5028304

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/29/09 at 10:00pm

I have the whole recording. It's absolutely horrible. Other than the orchestra, there really is nothing good about the quality.

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/29/09 at 11:50pm

I completely agree with bjh2114. I HATE this cd and am so sorry that I purchased it. I like WSS a lot, but this is the worst version of many of the songs I've heard.

I haven't seen it on Broadway yet, so I didn't know what to expect, but that girl Josephine (?) has a cringe worthy voice and her version of Somewhere is really terrible. I've seen high school singers on YouTube sing that song a million times better.

I won't be seeing this on Broadway. REALLY dissapointed in this cd. ;(

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/29/09 at 11:51pm

I think it is beautiful.

I'm a professional. Whenever something goes wrong on stage, I know how to handle it so no one ever remembers. I flash my %#$&. "Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot."

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/29/09 at 11:52pm

I think it's pretty good. Not amazing, but good enough.

The orchestra sounds amazing.

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/29/09 at 11:53pm

Isn't it a little boy that sings "Somewhere"?

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/29/09 at 11:55pm

It's a good thing I didn't "pay" for this CD.

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/29/09 at 11:58pm

but that girl Josephine (?) has a cringe worthy voice and her version of Somewhere is really terrible. I've seen high school singers on YouTube sing that song a million times better.

- LMAO.

So clueless. I love it.

Updated On: 5/29/09 at 11:58 PM

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:03am

Um, if anyone wants to send this to me, I won't turn it away, but there's no way I'm purchasing it. The best song - "A Boy Like That" - is sung in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, therefore I can't enjoy the song as intended.

The whole production is just BLAND!

#10

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:04am

It'd be a better recording if the male cast were stronger, but I still find it quite enjoyable and as I thought when I saw the show, it plays A LOT better on recording than it does on stage. Karen Olivo's vocals are perfection, I hope we get to have an English version of "A Boy Like That" even if I have gotten more and more used to the Spanish version which she delivers with her all (pity Laurents kept her from playing up the angry like Chita Rivera did so well in the OBCR).

"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

#11

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:05am

"The best song - "A Boy Like That" - is sung in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, therefore I can't enjoy the song as intended. '
Yes you can... you have to be open minded, which, a lot of people aren't.

#12

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:06am

The English 'A Boy Like That' will be on iTunes. The English 'I Feel Pretty' will be on the B&N exclusive edition of the disc.

#13

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:08am

I feel really sorry for the close-minded people who can only enjoy music sung in their language, especially something as haunting and powerful as what Bernstein, Sondheim, Karen Olivo and Lin-Manuel Miranda created with "Un Hombre Asi"/"A Boy Like That."

#14

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:10am

Karen's "Un Hombre Asi" is pretty brilliant. Her version is a desperate plead with Maria, and that comes across even without knowing Spanish. Karen and Chita's versions are really the only listenable versions of the song on disc. The rest are pretty awful.

Updated On: 5/30/09 at 12:10 AM

#15

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:17am

I don't like this album AT ALL. There is no energy and it's so bland.

"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2

#16

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:19am

I might have to agree with the energy aspect, but musically it's beautiful.

Men don't even belt.

#17

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:21am

Are you kidding me? Are ya'll off your soap boxes now, or do you have more to say? Chill out. I'm not Spanish, I took two years in high school, I didn't retain much of it, so what? So what If I want to listen to a song, a song I like, in my native tongue? That makes me close minded? I sat through the show, and I was ready to go as soon as the curtain went down. It's an awful production. I'm plenty open minded, I'd just like to listen to something I understand, that's all. I didn't realize that made me an awful person. I'll go write about it in my diary now....

#18

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:22am

...or you can just go work out some more.

#19

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:23am

The only time I thought the Spanish was a distraction was during the "Quintet." When the Jets and Sharks sang together it just sounded like one big train wreck.

"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2

#20

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:25am

I have never taken any spanish but I am still able to enjoy it. I like opera, yes.

But what makes you seem closeminded is the fact that you said "I don't speak Spanish, therefore I can't enjoy.." so the only way for you TO enjoy it is if it's in English. If you just DIDN"T enjoy it thats fine but to say the ONLY way you can enjoy it is if it's in your native tongue makes you seem very close minded, yes, it does.

#21

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:27am

Well, I feel that way about Opera (I know, I'm going to music hell for saying that). If it was in English, I would like it a lot better.

But in musicals, I don't mind....especially when I know the english version all ready and know what they are talking about.

"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2

#22

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:28am

I agree spiderjb, the Spanish during the Quintet takes away from the number, it doesn't work. It works a lot better during the "Un Hombre Asi" scene and the "Me Siento Hermosa" number, having said that, I still don't think the bilingual concept works as well as Laurents thought it was gonna work. Perhaps Barlett Sher could have found a way to actually make it work since he did it so perfectly in THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA.

#23

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:30am

Um, obviously misinterpreted. I like the song, I'd actually never heard it before I saw the current revival. I saw the movie when I was young, but it didn't really stick with me. The show isn't one of my favorites, and I think it's a pretty bland show to begin with. Without the choreography, I don't think the show would be half as rememberable.

I didn't mean I couldn't enjoy it per say, but shoot me, but I like to know what a person is saying when I'm listening to them. I don't want to listen to some song and not be able to sing along or anything like that, but when I heard the song I immediately connected with the melody. But whatever. I didn't mean for my comments to get your panties in a knot. I apologize.

#24

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:33am

I think Laurents missed the mark completely. He did brilliant work with Gypsy, but missed it here. I think he spent too much time on the concept, which is actually pretty interesting. I like that Anita sings "America" in English, but reverts back to Spanish for "A Boy Like That" after her brother's death. The symbolism is interesting, but it doesn't work the way he intended. I don't think the playing field is anymore "fair" with the added bilingual dialogue. It just jumbles it more. I found myself spacing out during those sections because the actors/direction weren't explaining what was going on during them. The whole bedroom scene in Act II had the two actors standing there flapping their hands. I think with all of his time/energy spent on the concept, he churned out a rather bland production devoid of all emotion.

#25

re: WSS CD

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:34am

Yeah... Karen's 'A Boy Like That' and 'Rape' scene are completely devoid of emotion.
ok!

Updated On: 5/30/09 at 12:34 AM

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