West Side Story 9-20-09

---

While I still desire to see everything playing on Broadway, I have reached the point where I don't rush out to see everything as early as possible. West Side Story was one of the musicals that were on my radar, but out of my price range. However, I suddenly got a discount for it and was able to snag two pretty decent seats in the right Mezzanine for a Sunday matinee, so off we went....

The show starts in an odd fashion, with the Jets all coming on stage and staring at the audience for a long time before the first note of music. Once the music started, I was caught up in the wonderful music and exquisite dancing. And it was the dancing that kept my interest and was the highlight of this show. Which is unusual for me to say, since I normally zone out during long dance numbers, preferring the songs and book to the dance.

Part of my problem with the non-dance parts of the show lies with the lead actors. Josefina Scaglione was a pretty enough Maria, but was not really believable as a naive youngster who suddenly falls in love with a stranger. And Matt Cavenaugh (who I have enjoyed in Grey Gardens, Urban Cowboy and even Catered Affair) did nothing for me as Tony. His accent was odd, sounding more Massachusetts than Manhattan, and his voice (at least the day I saw it) was not up to the stresses of this role. Karen Olivo was good as Anita, moving well in the dance numbers, and making her Anita believable. Manuel Herrara comes off best as Bernardo, but the role is pretty thankless.

One of the "innovations" of this production is the use of Spanish in the songs and dialogue, based on the idea that the Puerto Rican characters would have spoken it. Well, yeah, maybe, but since this is theater, and it's a fantasy, the Spanish didn't serve much of a useful purpose. Especially in a show that is as well known as this one is. People expect to hear the lines they know they way they know them, and having them not in English was not very enjoyable. I know what Maria and Anita are arguing about, but since they did it in Spanish, I felt like I was overhearing a conversation rather than being part of it. And it was pretty clear the day I saw it that most of the audience was in the same bind I was. There was a phrase spoken in Spanish that must have meant something funny, because there was a small laugh, but it sounded as if 20 out of the 1200 people in the theater caught the joke. The silliest use of the Spanish was during the quintet version of "Tonight." The Sharks are singing some of the lyrics in Spanish, but the final word of each line ("tonight") is sung in English. It was quite bizarre.

Equally bizarre was the fact that although ever other character had multiple costume changes, Tony spent the entire show in the same t-shirt and jeans, not even changing for the dance. And that was a shame, since the costumes were the second best part of the whole show.

---