West Side Story takes over Broadway!
Just a few of the reviews from the new Broadway revival of West Side Story that opened on Thursday, March 19th.
The NY Times - Ben Brantley
"Karen Olivo...delivers big-time"
"Ms. Scaglione's stunningly natural Maria...has the confidence
associated with young women who are beautiful, willful and unacquainted
with sorrow. [T]his Maria is not exclusively sweet. You sense that
she's the one who's really in charge, and for the first time I could
imagine what Tony and Maria's marriage might be like."
"Ms. Olivo's worldly Anita... is a stunner, full of citrusy zest and acerbity."
Bloomberg - John Simon"Whether you've seen several mountings of it or none, you will want to catch this one."
"Best of all remain Leonard Bernstein's enthralling music and Jerome
Robbins's sensational, innovative choreography. Good music doesn't age,
though much Broadway choreography does; not so this by Robbins."
"As the more realistic Anita -- a role in which Chita Rivera, Rita
Moreno and Debbie Allen have at various times dazzled, Karen Olivo
manages to be perhaps even more impressive."
"There are remarkable performances from Cody Green as Riff, who's as
sardonic as he is threatening, and Curtis Holbrook as Action, another
characterful Jet."
Variety - David Rooney
"Leonard Bernstein's majestic score, in particular, is undiminished,
shifting fluidly between blasts of syncopated brass fueled by
testosterone and rage, and some of the most achingly beautiful
expressions of love ever sung."
"The show's high points are too many to mention..."
"But the true stars of the production are Robbins' graceful,
endlessly expressive choreography and Bernstein's score, which still
sounds bracingly modern a half-century after it was first heard."
"Performed with a deft balance of percussive fury and caressing
gentleness by a robust orchestra under the direction of Patrick
Vaccariello, the music is a primal force. It reaches emotional apices
more often found in opera than musical theater."
Gramophone Magazine - London
"Leonard Bernstein...birthed the brilliant score - unprecedented in
Broadway history for both its eclecticism and unity (with the tritone
interval, no doubt!), not to mention sheer invention and melodiousness"
USA Today - Elysa Gardner
"...the key to its visceral power has always been Leonard
Bernstein's score, a spine-tingling olio of jazz, Latin and classical
textures and rapturous melodies that reveal as much about Tony and
Maria's feelings as the wonder-struck lyrics provided by a very young
Stephen Sondheim."
The Guardian
"You would have to be made of granite not to be moved by Bernstein's score..."
Newsday - Linda Winer
"The much-anticipated rethinking of "West Side Story" is...still
"West Side Story," with those jazzy, jagged, gloriously (and
shamelessly) sentimental Leonard Bernstein songs and (most of) Stephen
Sondheim's swaggering, dazzling lyrics."
"George Akram has a passionate dignity as Bernardo...."
Talkinbroadway.com
"[The] 29-member orchestra (which, under Patrick Vaccariello's
musical direction, sounds terrific playing the original Bernstein-Sid
Ramin-Irwin Kostal orchestrations)"
"Pamela Otterson is impossibly sensual as Riff's girlfriend Graziella"
Theatermania.com
"Josefina Scaglione...has every ounce of innocence required of Maria, [her] soprano is pure and steady."
"Matt Cavenaugh...is a tough yet compassionate Tony, and his singing
of "Something's Coming" and "Maria" is all a fan of the seminal tuner
could ask."
Curtainup.com
"They created a show in 1957 that has stood the test of time and
remains as one of the musical theatre's most emotionally embracing
musicals."
The Chicago Tribune
"Fortunately for a new generation yet to see this show produced at
this level, it retains the heart, soul and original moves and sounds of
a theatrical masterpiece with Leonard Bernstein melodies so beautiful
they reverberate deep in your chest."
WOR Radio
"...the Leonard Bernstein score will blow you away"
LOGO -
"Without a doubt, Josefina Scaglione is the highlight of this production of West Side Story."
"And is there anything more awesome than Leonard Bernstein's
stunning score? From the sharp and angular riffs that get the Jets
rumbling, to the soaring romance of "Maria" or "Tonight" to the fiery,
sexy, spicy rhythms of "America"... Getting to hear the West Side
Story's music executed by a Broadway orchestra is thrilling."
Fox News
"The Palace was buzzing, to say the least, like it was an old time Broadway opening night."
" ‘West Side Story' is probably the best ever all around Broadway musical."
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