West Side Story- Broadway Revival 2019

I am writing this review as a public service.  Save your money and time and avoid seeing the dreary Broadway revival of West Side Story.  There are no official reviews available because the show is still in “previews”-and I guess it is industry standard to publish reviews only on the official opening night. My theater friend explained to me that this is why in movies, you still have scenes of actors waiting for the reviews to be published late on opening night.  I did a search to find a published review to share with a friend who had 6 tickets, and there was nothing out there. She planned to take her entire extended family for a fun and uplifting family excursion. I was trying to persuade her to “abandon ship” and sell the tickets on Stubhub, but I couldn't find any reviews for her – she just had to take my word for it.  I am glad she ended up taking my advice and she was able to sell her tickets. Since the official opening night has been pushed to late January, I feel like I should put this out here, in case other friends are considering it.

 I mean, I get it – West Side Story is one of the most beloved musicals of all time. The show’s themes of tribalism, family bonds, and impossible love, are still current.  The soundtrack is one of the most recognized of Sondheim and Berstein’s repertoire, with hits from “I Feel Pretty” to “Somewhere” and all the songs in between. So when I heard it was being revived on Broadway and the opening night preview would coincide with a short planned trip to NYC, I got myself a single ticket to see it – and spent 10x the ticket price for it on Stubhub!

I was excited – I love this show! This also meant a lot to me because it was my dad’s favorite.  Since he himself was an immigrant and came of age on the lower East Side (I think, or was it Brooklyn?) the story resonated with him. I grew up listening to his offkey singing of various West Side Story songs depending on the family activity. I justified the price of the ticket as a memorial to my dad.  As the lights dimmed, I could feel the excitement in the air and the audience was ready to fall in love, all over again, with this show. I am so saddened to report that this show is a complete disaster. So bad that I don’t even know where to begin. I cannot even think of one good thing about this show, but I am going to say that at least the voices of Tony and Maria are amazing and if you closed your eyes, the final duet is as beautifully sung as it ever could be.   Why close your eyes you may ask? Well, there was no chemistry between Tony and Maria – from their body language, to their facial expressions….just nothing. Tony, played by Isaac Powell, is so miscast – he clearly has no lust for Maria, let alone love. When he sings his solos he has an annoyingly effeminate way of moving his hands . . . just so wrong for this character. I don’t know what the casting agent was thinking and if they want to fix this show, he has got to go. Maria, played by Shereen Pimentel, is also not quite right for the role, though she has the voice, she doesn't really pull off the role of an innocent girl who comes of age.

The show is joyless…even the funny lines fall flat.  It is bloody and violent, but you don’t really feel anything for any of the characters so you aren’t even one bit emotionally effected – just disgusted. Where they had opportunities to lighten the dreariness, they chose to go the opposite way.  They even cut out the lightest song of all, I Feel Pretty…to me that is almost an offense. Whose idea was that? The other “fun” song in the show, “I Want to Be in America” is so snarky as to make me actually cringe and sink down in my seat. Not a laugh in the house.

 There were almost no sets – most of the scenes were played out on a bare stage with projected images on the screen behind.  This would be fine, and has been used effectively except that the images were constantly moving – city scenes as seen from a car or train.  It was so distracting, but maybe that was the point - to distract from the cardboard acting. Another element that was a complete and utter failure, was the bizarre decision on behalf to the renknowned director (Ivo van Hove), to project much of the show on “livestream” on these screens.  Actors would “disappear” mid-scene into the dress shop, or into the back of Doc’s store, and reappear projected on a tv screen and continue the scene but now we see it through a camera – this somehow made the bad acting even worse. Possibly because stage actors do not know how to transition their acting to a screen, or perhaps because we are so used to seeing perfectly polished television.  I kept wanting someone to say “Cut! Take Two”. I guess this director thought the tricks he used on his other show, Network, would carry over. I am sure they thought it was cutting edge and it probably cost a lot of money to create, but that has got to go.

They brought in a famous European choreographer for the show, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker – but I don’t think she had every done a Broadway musical.   I can’t explain it what was missing. The dancing itself was performed expertly, but the actors – a majority of whom are making their Broadway debut- were robotic, the big dance numbers felt lifeless. No thrill or joy to watch them dance.  I believe they have now brought in an additional experience Broadway choreographer to fix this as well.

All I can say is that when it was over, I was relieved and embarrassed.  I didn’t even want to talk to the people on either side of me, because the disappointment was palpable and I was ashamed for us all that we had such high expectations and it somehow felt like my fault.  Now, with some time behind, I know it wasn’t my fault. I do hope they can fix this mess, but if they cannot, I hope they close this show down as soon as possible, to prevent other people from spending their hard earned money and time.  Life is too short to waste it on bad Broadway.

If you want to see something amazing -  go see To Kill A Mockingbird or Slave Story.  If you’re hankering for a musical, the next on my list, that I have heard only good things about, is Moulin Rouge.  I really hope to catch the Yiddish version of Fiddler on the Roof, and I would kill to see Hugh Jackman in the Music Man!