West Side Story
It was hoped that book writer Arthur Laurents would work the same magic with this 1957 classic as he did with last season's "Gypsy." As with that musical, he has made some changes to his original book which, as everyone knows, is a modernized "Romeo and Juliet," set on New York's West Side with the Jets gang in deadly struggle with the Puerto Rican Sharks.
Laurents has taken a fresh directorial approach -- the most publicized change this time is the use of Spanish for the Puerto Rican characters -- but the results are somehow less revelatory.
Still, the public is welcoming back this much-loved show in droves, which has much going for it. Argentinian Josefina Scaglione makes a most delightful Maria, Karen Olivo a fiery Anita and Matt Cavenaugh a sympathetic Tony, who like Scaglione, sings beautifully.
The show does occasionally show its age, as with the comic point number "Gee, Officer Krupke" which, though well done, seems a bit frivolous in this serious context.
Jerome Robbins' landmark dances, re-created by Joey McKneely, are rather cramped on James Youmans' evocative set. But Patrick Vaccariello's large orchestra plays the classic score for maximum excitement. (Palace Theatre, 1564 Broadway, (212) 307-4100 or www.ticketmaster.com)
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.