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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Tonight, Tonight…..

I saw West Side Story the other night….and it was really good. For an official review please see http://exm.nr/fKJ4CW

Here are some thoughts that didn’t seem to fit anywhere in the review in an official capacity…..

First let me make clear that I know I am watching Musical Theatre and that I know that these are professional performers who are trained in voice, diction and dance. The balletic Jerome Robbins choreography was amazing, stylized and beautiful. The fight choreography was beautiful but didn’t lose any of it’s brutal intent.

But it doesn’t change the fact that sometimes, watching the Jets and all their crazy posturing made me think that they were a bunch of Junior High thugs pretending to be tough. (I know, acting is pretend, go with me here). I kept waiting for their Mom’s to pull up in the minivan and take them to their cello lessons.

I needed this show to be a little dirtier (mind out of the gutter) and a littler grittier to completely buy into it. The Jets and the Sharks are stylized versions of gangs, but they never seemed to have the slightly rough edge that made me believe that this group could possibly have a rumble under a freeway. It was all a little to clean and a little to nice.

On the other hand they were selling these in the lobby




So maybe that should have been my first clue that this wasn't going to be as tough as it could be.

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