The Hollywood Bowl, whose previously announced lineup included the Broadway hit Hairspray and The Sound of Music as well as Michael Feinstein featuring performers such as Dick Van Dyke, Chey…
It happened for me during "America." I forgot I was sitting in a Broadway theatre watching professional actors in a revival of "West Side Story."
Under the knowing direction of Arthur Laurents, the 1957 show remains both a brilliant evocation of its period and a timeless tragedy of disharmony and hate.
Whatever 21st century resonances have been impressed or augmented, West Side Story remains a terrific and exciting show.
The much-anticipated rethinking of "West Side Story" is neither revelation nor vandalism. It is still "West Side Story," with those jazzy, jagged, gloriously (and shamelessly) sentimental Leonard Bernstein songs and (most of) Stephen Sondheim's swaggering, dazzling lyrics.
In other words, it's still a wonderful show.
"West Side Story" still tops nearly every other musical that's followed it. Laurents' uneven production may be noteworthy for the way characters slip in and out of Spanish, but the show cont…
After understudying the part, Natalie Cortez has mambo-ed her way into the leading role of Sharks girl Anita in West Side Story, and she invited B...
The irony is that Laurents' attempts to be inclusive and grittily realistic - the final scene in particular suffers for his insistence on technical accuracy - make the show seem no fresher, …
A grittier, tougher, bilingual "West Side Story" that doesn't necessarily improve on the original.
Bernstein's music still makes us shiver. But we wanted to cry, too.