#1
Posted: 1/23/09 at 11:31am
This past week I had the great fortunate of being able to go to DC for the inauguration. Happily, I found out that I would be able to catch the final performance of WSS while in town. I won't be able to make it to New York this year to see any shows, and this revival was the one I was most anticipating, so I was thrilled that I was able to actually see it. So here is my review (SPOILERS):
Even though it suffered from several flaws and it was by no means perfect, I still loved it. I think maybe some of this is because WSS is masterpiece and it was my first time seeing it live. Since it was my first live performance and because it is a brilliant show, I think that is why I was able to overlook these flaws.
Bernstein's score and Sondheim's lyrics are incredible. I don't feel the need to elaborate because everyone already knows this. I would however like to talk about Robbins' choreography. I heard that it was masterful and I believed it. However, when they announced they were keeping it for the revival, i was a little disappointed. I mean the whole point of a revival is to bring something new to a show, and by keeping the choreograhy, it takes away from that. But now that I have seen it, I have completely changed my mind. Robbins work just blew me away. the dance was utterly breath-taking. It would have been a crime to try and give the show different choreography. I'm so thrilled they kept it now. And the cast executes it beautifully.
Now for the cast. Karen Olivo is just brilliant as Anita. She is firey and passionate and truly commands the stage when she is on. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, especially after her 'rape scene' in Doc's. She was utterly captivating. And as much as I love Chita, it was so nice to hear Anita's songs being sung by someone with a beautiful voice.
Josefina Scaglione also gave a dazzling performance as Maria. She really captured Maria's sweet innocence but also gave Maria a quiet strength. Her acting in the final scene was incredible; I could see Maria's innoncence dying right before my very eyes. Also Scaglione's voice is truly gorgeous.
As Tony, Matt Cavenaugh, was not spectacular, but he was very good. His voice too was beautiful. As a the young idealistic and hopeful Tony in Act One, he was terrific. But in Act 2, he was weaker. I was not at all moved when he was running through the streets begging Chino to kill him. I never would have believed in a million years that he was a person who thought that the love of his life was dead. I did think that he and Scaglione had great chemistry together (I especially loved the scene where they planned their wedding, right before singing One Hand, One Heart). However, I was not able to completely buy their love at first sight. I realize that is very difficult to portray well and is a weakness in the story, but it could have been done better.
I liked George Akram as Bernardo but I think it hurt having most of his dialogue in Spanish (more on the Spanish later). Cody Green as Riff was the one main weak link in the cast. His dancing was great, but his voice was nothing special and his acting was flat out bad (they should replace him with Curtis Holbrook). I really loved the rest of the Jets (esp. Holbrook as Action, Kyle Coffman as A-rab, and Ryan Steele as Baby John). As to the complaint that the Jets are not 'scary' enough, I believe that was intentional. The Jets are really just a group of young boys who just think they are tough. They really aren't menancing at all. They just get in over their heads after the rumble.
The sets were decent; I was not overly impressed. I feel Anna Louizos (In the Heights, Avenue Q) would have done a better job. The costumes were mediocre; I especially despised the purple attire that distinguished the Shark gang.
As for the new changes: Before I had seen the show, I thought the translation of some of the dialogue and the songs into Spanish was a terrific idea, but after seeing it I found it very displeasing. It just didn't work. Unless you're bilingual, the Spanish distances you from the story. One scene in particular in which this was evident was 'A Boy Like That/I Have a Love' (one of my favorite songs from the show). Olivo's and Scaglione's acting was truly incredible in this scene, but I was not able to connect because I don't understand the language. If there is one thing they should change between now and Broadway, it would be to revert the Spanish dialogue and songs back to English.
I liked the use of the young male soprano in the song 'Somewhere' on stage instead of having a soprano singing offstage. It helped convey the sense of purity and innocence Tony and Maria longed for. I loved the changes made to the final image. The picture of Maria sobbing over Tony's body was much more resounding (and depressing!) than the original.
Although I've made many critques, I truly did enjoy the show immensely. Despite its flaws, I feel it does justice to this masterpiece of musical theatre. I would highly recommend it.
Even though it suffered from several flaws and it was by no means perfect, I still loved it. I think maybe some of this is because WSS is masterpiece and it was my first time seeing it live. Since it was my first live performance and because it is a brilliant show, I think that is why I was able to overlook these flaws.
Bernstein's score and Sondheim's lyrics are incredible. I don't feel the need to elaborate because everyone already knows this. I would however like to talk about Robbins' choreography. I heard that it was masterful and I believed it. However, when they announced they were keeping it for the revival, i was a little disappointed. I mean the whole point of a revival is to bring something new to a show, and by keeping the choreograhy, it takes away from that. But now that I have seen it, I have completely changed my mind. Robbins work just blew me away. the dance was utterly breath-taking. It would have been a crime to try and give the show different choreography. I'm so thrilled they kept it now. And the cast executes it beautifully.
Now for the cast. Karen Olivo is just brilliant as Anita. She is firey and passionate and truly commands the stage when she is on. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, especially after her 'rape scene' in Doc's. She was utterly captivating. And as much as I love Chita, it was so nice to hear Anita's songs being sung by someone with a beautiful voice.
Josefina Scaglione also gave a dazzling performance as Maria. She really captured Maria's sweet innocence but also gave Maria a quiet strength. Her acting in the final scene was incredible; I could see Maria's innoncence dying right before my very eyes. Also Scaglione's voice is truly gorgeous.
As Tony, Matt Cavenaugh, was not spectacular, but he was very good. His voice too was beautiful. As a the young idealistic and hopeful Tony in Act One, he was terrific. But in Act 2, he was weaker. I was not at all moved when he was running through the streets begging Chino to kill him. I never would have believed in a million years that he was a person who thought that the love of his life was dead. I did think that he and Scaglione had great chemistry together (I especially loved the scene where they planned their wedding, right before singing One Hand, One Heart). However, I was not able to completely buy their love at first sight. I realize that is very difficult to portray well and is a weakness in the story, but it could have been done better.
I liked George Akram as Bernardo but I think it hurt having most of his dialogue in Spanish (more on the Spanish later). Cody Green as Riff was the one main weak link in the cast. His dancing was great, but his voice was nothing special and his acting was flat out bad (they should replace him with Curtis Holbrook). I really loved the rest of the Jets (esp. Holbrook as Action, Kyle Coffman as A-rab, and Ryan Steele as Baby John). As to the complaint that the Jets are not 'scary' enough, I believe that was intentional. The Jets are really just a group of young boys who just think they are tough. They really aren't menancing at all. They just get in over their heads after the rumble.
The sets were decent; I was not overly impressed. I feel Anna Louizos (In the Heights, Avenue Q) would have done a better job. The costumes were mediocre; I especially despised the purple attire that distinguished the Shark gang.
As for the new changes: Before I had seen the show, I thought the translation of some of the dialogue and the songs into Spanish was a terrific idea, but after seeing it I found it very displeasing. It just didn't work. Unless you're bilingual, the Spanish distances you from the story. One scene in particular in which this was evident was 'A Boy Like That/I Have a Love' (one of my favorite songs from the show). Olivo's and Scaglione's acting was truly incredible in this scene, but I was not able to connect because I don't understand the language. If there is one thing they should change between now and Broadway, it would be to revert the Spanish dialogue and songs back to English.
I liked the use of the young male soprano in the song 'Somewhere' on stage instead of having a soprano singing offstage. It helped convey the sense of purity and innocence Tony and Maria longed for. I loved the changes made to the final image. The picture of Maria sobbing over Tony's body was much more resounding (and depressing!) than the original.
Although I've made many critques, I truly did enjoy the show immensely. Despite its flaws, I feel it does justice to this masterpiece of musical theatre. I would highly recommend it.
