I went to see the latest revival of West Side Story on Broadway last weekend. Here is a brief review of how I felt about the show.
What is West Side Story About?
Based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story is about star-crossed lovers who come to a tragic end. Tony is a boy from New York City who is a member of a street gang called The Jets. Maria is a girl from Puerto Rico. Her brother and all of her friends are members of rival gang The Sharks. Tony and Maria meet at a school dance and fall in love, but their respective friends and families do not approve.
How was this performance of West Side Story on Broadway?
Well, this time around was better than the last, but still, sadly, not as good as I wanted it to be. For me, it lacked the sweet nostalgia and charm of a more innocent time. Here are my thoughts:
Technology:
Ok…this is hard to explain:
In the current version of West Side Story on Broadway, parts of the set (Doc’s store and the dress shop) are actually behind the wall of a HUGE video screen that occupies the height of the stage. An ever-present roaming cameraman follows the actors and the action is streamed in real time. Although the concept was cool, I prefer to watch live action live.
The screen was also used to play pre-recorded scenes, both those that were relevant to the plot (Maria’s apartment) and some that added to what was happening on stage (such as a dancer on an empty street). While innovative, I found this technique to be distracting; I was sometimes confused about where to focus my attention. It often read like a movie for me, which is not what I paid for ☹️.
Mood:
This rendition of the show is much more violent and dark than the previous Broadway production, and other revivals that I have seen. The updated gang members are more gritty and raw, as opposed to those in the movie (for example) where all of the characters were relatively benign. This may have been fine, however, much of the (now vanilla) dialogue from the 1950s remained original: slang words such as “Daddy-O” were still used, and that felt incongruous and weird to me.
Performers:
The (Saturday matinee) cast was good, but no one stood out for me as amazing.
I did appreciate the diversity of the company, but it was hard to believe that a now ethnically diverse gang was so racist and vehemently opposed to the gang of people from Puerto Rico. So, again, the alterations to the original didn’t seem well thought out.
What else?
Although the choreography was very good, I did really miss the classic Jerome Robbins routines…especially in the prologue. Also, I mourned for the omitted numbers (“I Feel Pretty” and the “Somewhere” ballet).
Is it good for kids?
Sadly, the new West Side Story on Broadway is not good for kids, IMHO. Since I bought tickets for my 9-year-old twins to accompany me long before previews began, I did not know about all of the changes to the classic. Nina and Alex both gave this production of West Side Story on Broadway a thumbs down (a rare moment of agreement for those two). Although they had no difficulty sitting through the 1 hour, 45 minute performance (there is no intermission), they found the show scary and too violent. I don’t recommend this show for young children.