West Side Story

So I have now been home from my New York trip for almost three months and am finally getting around to writing reviews of the other shows I saw. While in New York I was lucky enough to see the recent revival of the classic musical 'West Side Story'. This musical has been one of, if not my favourite musical for many years now and having only previously seen amateur productions or the fantastic movie version directed by Jerome Robbins, I was looking forward to seeing it done right. It did not disappoint.

The Jets in the 'Prologue'

'West Side Story' is a modern day version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Set in 1950's New York on the Upper West Side, it follows two gangs, the Jets who include the many Italian and Irish American's living in this area at the time, and their rivals the Sharks, the Puerto Rican immigrants trying to live in a new country. Written and Directed by Arthur Laurents, with Music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Choreography by Jerome Robbins, the show is a tour de force of incredible talent in all creative outlets. For this production, certain scenes and songs were translated into Spanish by Lin Manuel-Miranda (creative force behind the hit musical 'In the Heights') and although for the performance I saw all songs were performed in English, many scenes were spoken in Spanish. For me personally it made no difference as I new most of the lines word for word regardless, it would be difficult for someone unfamiliar with the show to understand what is going on.

Although we had the understudy for Maria, all the leads were equally as amazing, although special mention must be given to Matt Cavenaugh (Tony) and Karen Olivo (Anita) who were a delight to watch.

Josefina Scaglione and Matt Cavenaugh

I was especially looking forward to seeing Cavenaugh's Tony, as I had previously been a fan of his work in Grey Gardens and in other smaller musical theatre ventures. Cavenaugh's operatic style of singing suited the role impeccably as he was able to hit every note not only with incredible emotion and feeling but he was also able to fill the room with music. As an actor he must be commended for bringing a new dimension to the role of Tony, a usually very wooden and 2D character. As an 18 year old boy, Tony cannot be expected to be able to fully understand love, hence in portraying him slightly more as a boy who has mistaken physical lust for love we understand the notion of 'love' in the teenage context. Cavenaugh's Tony is even somewhat sleazy at points, which although is initially jarring, works as a realistic representation of simple, clueless, love-struck boy. Considering that 'West Side Story' is in fact a modern Romeo and Juliet, it's nice to see more than just a couple of teenagers.

The Shark girls (Karen Olivo Centre) in "America"

Another honourable mention was the work of Karen Olivo as Anita. Olivo brought to the role the necessary sexy and sassy persona needed to be Anita. Paired with an incredible voice and fantastic dancing skills it was no surprise that Olivo won a Tony for her performance. Having previously come to prominence as Vanessa in 'In the Heights' she brought a certain streetwise and knowledgeable quality to the role. On the whole, her performance challenged the normal representations of Anita and gave it a new edge.

Haley Carlucci understudied for Josefina Scaglione as Maria for the performance that we saw, and although I felt she did not quite have the look of Maria, this was surpassed by her impressive skills both vocally and as an actress. Similarly, John Arthur Greene's Riff although perhaps falling short musically on occasion, definitely held that tough demeanour of a boy growing up on New York's Upper West Side in the 1950's. The ensemble cast also did not disappoint with their impressive dancing and singing abilities, an integral part of any West Side Story performance.

The Cast in "Dance at the Gym"

One of the reasons that this musical just works is the combination of Jerome Robbins' groundbreaking and timeless choreography and Leonard Bernstein's music. Having seen Robbins' choreography attempt to be reproduced by amateur productions with unsatisfactory results, it was a real treat to see it done right. Particularly for me the performance of the Dance at the Gym an incredible combination of latin dance along with contemporary tones (still relevant even today). Similarly, the cheeky 'America', sung by the female ensemble, also maintained the necessary comedic sass required of the scene, along with the impressive display of latin dance. Of course, I must mention the famous Prologue, where the two gangs (The Jets and the Sharks) meet on the streets of New York and reveal their anger and frustration at society and the gang mentality that makes them who they are, through dance. A display of flexibility, strength and emotion it sets the scene at the beginning for an incredible night's performance.

The Jets in the 'Prologue'

Lastly, it was a real joy to see the performance with the true dream ballet. Having seen previous attempts at the dream ballet by amateur productions without the use of proper dance, it just does not compare. To clarify what a dream ballet is, it is a sequence within a musical where a character or multiple characters dreams of a life that could be or the possibilities of the future. It is generally performed with new dancers representing the characters and often with the real characters watching on. A good example of this is the dream ballet sequence in Oklahoma. In this case, it was the dream of Tony and Maria's life if they could get away from their life in New York and the troubles they have faced. I could not have asked for a better dream ballet; although, there was an odd addition of the song being sung by a young boy, a character who before this scene seemed very much out of place. I did not think this addition really added to the emotion of the scene, but almost cheapened it.

Here is the performance of the Dance at the Gym from the 2009 Tony Awards

'West Side Story' is playing at the Palace Theatre on Broadway in New York City.