West Side Story 2009

It's been 52 years since the then 40ish year old Arthur Laurents wrote the book for West Side Story. This time the 91 year old has also directed it. I've seen the movie countless times, know the entire score backwards and forwards so there's a special place in my heart for this play which takes place in the gang-ridden streets of New York City in the 1950's depicting the turf wars between the Anglo Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks and the impact it has on the Anglo Tony and the Puerto Rican Maria who are torn between ethnic loyalty and intense love for each other.

I'll cut to the chase. Is it good? Yes. Does it live up to the original? Not exactly. I'll start with what I loved about it. The original Jerome Robbins choreography was lovingly recreated by Joey McNeeley, himself a Robbins protege, and is as breath-taking as ever. The dancers are superb. I loved Karen Olivo as Anita. She's one of those electrifying presences like Idina Menzell or Kristin Chenoweth, people who you would go to see in anything. The Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim score is one of the best ever written. The sets of the mean streets of NY are fabulous. Where I feel it falls short is the casting for the most part. I'm not going to point fingers, but aside from Karen Olivo and a couple of the Puerto Rican girls, the singing and speaking voices were not strong or dynamic enough. The original Broadway cast album is so imprinted in my mind that I couldn't help but compare the voices with those of the original cast. And the songs and dialogue in Spanish are a mistake in my opinion. While the use of Spanish is an earnest attempt at making it more authentic, the audience, especially those not familiar with the story, lose a lot. My husband said he wished the pajama party scene in Maria's bedroom had been in English. He said he thought it was probably very funny but most of the audience didn't know what was going on. Two of the songs were done in Spanish as well. "I Feel Pretty" and "A Boy Like That". "A Boy Like That" was sung by Anita to Maria chiding her about the love for this man who just killed her brother. Those were important lyrics to the story.

Should you see it? Absolutely, it's classic Broadway. There's more good about it than bad. Jerry, Jade and I all enjoyed it very much, even with the flaws. But after you see West Side Story, go see "In the Heights" which is a more relevant look into the lives of Latino immigrants in the New York City of today. Sure, there still are the occasional turf wars but New Yorkers are so used to new and different ethnicities moving in and most of us have embraced the differences. To me, it's one of the things that makes New York City so wonderful, the diversity.

Sherie Renee Scott is Ravishing in Everyday Rapture

I sure hope Sherie Renee Scott doesn't have any plans after May 31st when the limited run of Everyday Rapture at off-Broadway's Second Stages ends because this phenomenal play, in my opinion, is Broadway-bound. How do I describe it? It's a musical but not a musical. It's a play with music. That's probably the best description but not like any play with music I've ever seen. It's a one-woman show with a cast of four. Sherie Renee Scott wrote this semi-autobiographical piece with Dick Scanlon, who previously wrote the book and lyrics to Thoroughly Modern Millie. Miss Scott plays herself with Lindsay Mendez and Betsy Wolf playing her backup singers/quasi-spiritual leaders, The Mennonettes, and Eamon Foley playing broadwayislove09@earthlink.net, a 15 year old obsessed with musical theatre who posts a video of himself on youtube lip-synching to Sherie Renee Scott singing "My Strongest Suit" from Aida in which she starred as Princess Amneris. But it's mostly Miss Scott taking the audience anecdotally through her life from her rural Kansas childhood to her adult life in Manhattan through soliloquy and parodies of familiar songs from Judy Garland's "Dear Mr. Gable" to George Harrison's "Give Me Love". And she does it brilliantly. How much of it is true and how much is artistic license, one doesn't know for sure but who cares. This is great theatre. She tells of her childhood growing up half-Mennonite (the lower half) with some of her fondest memories watching Judy Garland movies with her full-Mennonite cousin Jerome who was later shunned by this branch of the Christian church historically known as a peace church given their commitment to nonviolence and pacifism. Then to her 27 year Rumspringer (the time in which Mennonite young adults are permitted to "experience the real world" before deciding to join the church) in Manhattan where she discovers what it really means to live.

I didn't realize until I was riding home on the train and reading the playbill that the play was directed by Michael Mayer who directed another favorite of mine, Spring Awakening. Ironically throughout the show there were things that reminded me of Spring Awakening. The simplicity of the sets for one and the efficiently beautiful orchestrations presented with only a guitar, a bass, a violin and drums.

There's only one problem for Sherie Renee Scott, if Everyday Rapture does make the jump to Broadway she'll have to commit to it for the long run because no one could play her like her. And Eamon Foley as the youtube boy on the internet would be hard to replace as well. The faces alone that he made were so funny I had to look away so I wouldn't embarrass myself laughing hysterically. We saw him in 13, The Musical and he was a standout in that show too. We had met him and I had taken a picture of him with Jade which we brought with us to have him sign which he did graciously. He's absolutely adorable and I'm sure has a bright future ahead of him. There's a new picture of Jade with him sporting a new haircut. Check it out on page 14 of The Matinee gallery at http://www.matineeshow.co.uk/.

Off-Broadway'