CurtainUp
CurtainUp
The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
HOME PAGE

SITE GUIDE

SEARCH


REVIEWS OF ALL CURRENTLY RUNNING NY SHOWS

REVIEW ARCHIVES

ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP

FEATURES

NEWS
Etcetera

Broadway
Off-Broadway

BOOKS and CDs

OTHER PLACES
See links at top of our Main PageQUOTES

TKTS

PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS

LETTERS TO EDITOR

FILM & TV

LINKS

MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp New Jersey Review
West Side Story

A Boy like that who'd kill your brother
Forget That boy and find another
One of your own kind
Stick to your own kind!

&mdash Anita (These are lyrics to the song "A Boy Like That" )


>Some of the Dancers (photo by Jerry Dalia)
Whenever another terrific production of West Side Story comes along, there is always a case to be made that it reaffirms its status as a landmark American musical. Although this close to perfect production at the Paper Mill Playhouse doesn't include the Spanish lyrics that were impressively integrated into the 2009 Broadway production, the book by Arthur Laurents and the score by Leonard Bernstein and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, stand firmly without any reinvention. This is apparent under Mark Hoebee's stirring direction and the invigorating choreography that Alex Sanches faithfully reproduced as originally conceived by Jerome Robbins.

The dance-saturated conflicts between the Jets and Sharks will undoubtedly continue to thrill fans and engage newcomers to this 1957 musical inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Amazingly, the passing of time has not diminished the impact of West Side Story's relatively dated view of New York's juvenile gang culture. While I was impressed by the inclusion of carefully selected spoken and sung Spanish written by Lin Manuel Miranda for the last Broadway revival, the musical's pronounced ethnicity does not go wanting when Maria (Belinda Allyn) sings I Feel Pretty" with the support of Anita (Natalie Cortez) and their girl friends. It still resonates with its vibrant sense of Latino sisterhood. Allyn is absolutely lovely and sings angelically as Maria as congtrasted in Corez's fiery and feisty performance as Anita, especially in her ardent aria "A Boy Like That" and the most exhilaratingly danced "America." The company's Tony. Matt Doyle, is good-looking, sings well and is a fine actor/

German Alexander, as the vengeful Bernardo, and Mickey Winslow as the antagonistic Riff are designated to steal some but not all of the thunder from their accompanying gang members. Also excellent are Jay Russell as the besieged drug store proprietor, William Ragsdale, as the flummoxed high school principal, Kevin C. Loomis and Craig Waletzko, as the biased and racist law enforcers. Another standout is Maria Briggs as the brash and boyish Anybodys.

Still up front and vital is the staging that defines the Jets in a community that treats them as intruders and second-class citizens. While Hoebee's direction correctly focuses on the tragic underpinnings that gird the plot, they are compensated with the show's many romantically soaring moments. Choreographer Sanchez and, of course, Hoebee, who made his Broadway debut dancing in Jerome Robbins'Broadway, have certainly fired up the large and terrifically lean, mean and good-looking company into a formidable confederation of Jets and Sharks.

The rumbles are filled with violence and the pulse-quickening challenge dance at the gym is recreated with admirable fidelity. Tony and Maria's lyrical escape dream ballet and all the other integrated dances embrace the show with moments of grace and bolts of danger. The success of this production is that it remains an effective homage and in synch with the heartbeat of the original.

This production also closed the memorable season in which the Paper Mill Playhouse has been awarded this year's Tony for Best Regional Theatre. Anyone seeing this glorious production will understand why.

West Side Story
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Mark S. Hoebee
Choreography by Alex Sanchez (based on the original by Jerome Robbins)

Cast of Principals: German Alexander (Bernardo), Belinda Allyn (Maria), Maria Brigs (Anybodys), Natalie Cortez (Anita), Matt Doyle (Tony), Kevin C. Loomis (Krupke), Jay Russell (Doc), Mickey Winslow (Riff)
Tickets (from $32.00) 973 - 376 - 4343
Performances: Wednesday at 7:30 pm, Thursday at 1:30 and 7:30 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 1:30 pm and 8 pm, Sunday at 1 :30 and 7 pm.
Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes including intermission
From 06/01/16 Opened 06/05/16 Ends 06/26
Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 06/08/16.
REVIEW FEEDBACK
Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
  • I agree with the review of
  • The review made me eager to see
  • I disagree with the review of
Click on the address link E-mail: esommer@curtainup.com
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V):

Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review.

For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader
Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter
Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country.
The New Similes Dictionary






©Copyright 2016, Elyse Sommer.
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com