We all know the story. Boy in gang. Boy meets girl whose brother is in opposing gang. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy shoots girl's brother in gang rumble. Boy and girl celebrate fake wedding in dress shop. Girl feels pretty. Boy and girl consummate love. Boy hears that girl is dead: girl hears boy is dead: boy seeks girl and vice versa; boy is shot. Boy dies. Gang wars solve nothing. The end.
Such is the classic tale of "West Side Story," the love ballad of two impossible star-crossed souls destined to be together but damned to be apart. We've heard it all before with Tristan and Isolde, Romeo and Juliet, Brad and Jen. But the 2009 Broadway Revival brought a new take from the 1961 classic. Political correctness, it seems, was taken into consideration, and some of the dialogue and lyrics were translated into Spanish by "In the Heights" writer Lin Manuel Miranda. It had a mixed effect. For those who have spent five years studying Spanish, it makes little difference that the much-parodied "I Feel Pretty" is performed "Yo Soy Linda," but to those who don't, it detracts, rather than enriches the performance.
The performance overall is a dazzling spectacle of sights and sounds; though Irving Berlin's gripping score combined with Stephen Sondheim's tongue-in-cheek lyrics are the star performers. Dare I say it, but the quintessential rumble between the Sharks and the Jets came off rather...lackluster. Don't get me wrong. The choreography was flawless, executed with a surgical precision. But Tony and Maria, and even the rough-and-tumble street rogues came off intimidating at best, flamboyant at worst.
Little is done to add depth to Tony or Maria. Tony ("Grey Gardens" veteran Matt Cavenaugh) sings "Maria" with the ferver of a disengaged adolescent trying out for the school musical. His voice, though pure and gentle, lacks the reedy presence that a Tony should incorporate. It draws to mind "American Idol" auditions, where the well-to-do yet insipid boy wants to make it big, but hasn't quite figured out falsetto, belting, and stage presence.
Newcomer Josefina Scaglion of Argentina brings warmth to the quixotic and naive role of Maria. She encapsulates the single-minded daydreamer that every teenage girl in love has been. Her movements, her body language, all hint to the sort of hopeless devotion sung about by another naive teen in a greaser musical. Her voice is flawless, bright and welcoming. Much like sipping on a hot cocoa in a bubble bath.
Of course the scene stealer is the stars and stripes swooning Anita (the unflappable Karen Olivo.) In the heeled footsteps of Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno, Olivo uses her hips and hair like weapons and exudes the sort of sensual confidence that Protestant WASP's are never taught and rarely learn.
The ending is one of condemned tragedy that makes you twist your hands into a clammy knot. For me, having been sucked into the spectacle of the show, that one fatal shot came as a shock that forced me a foot out of my plush red velvet seat. It was, of course, to be expected, but I found that each element - the music, the dancing, the iconic symbolism of it all - had combined to form a truly great show. One that will last for a long time in America. (That's okay by me in America.) The story leaves a charming imprint - frothy, fabulous, and everything that exemplifies the old glamorous Broadway.
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