West Side Story

For me West Side Story has always been about the choreography and the dancing and those dresses, those beautiful dresses that just come to life with every leap and every twirl. It has been less about the music as the only songs I could remember from the movie was “I Feel Pretty” and “America”, and much later I fell in love with “Somewhere”. It wasn’t a movie that I had seen in childhood, in fact the first time actually saw the film was in the 2000s. Although it was not as beloved to me as the Sound of Music, it was still a movie that I loved.

So watching the Broadway musical was a no brainer, after all when would you get to experience Broadway, or at least most part of it, without having to travel to New York, but in our very own good old Mumbai. And after watching Sound of Music, there was no way I was going to miss watching another gem here.

And in the end, for the most part, it did live to expectations. It was a sublimely staged musical (something that you would expect from an international production). Be it the sets, the lights, orchestra, choreography, the costumes, the music, the story (which was something I was familiar with), the acting, the characters. everything was on point.

The songs were beautifully staged and sung, each well received by the audience, well may not be as well received as it deserved to be, as not all the songs were familiar to the audience, unless you belong to the era, or are an old soul like me. But yes every song was met with an enthusiastic applause. 

For me the standout song would definitely be Somewhere. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t have America sung by Anita and Bernardo, but instead by the ladies. Though I did also like Dear Officer Kripkee, which came as a nice relief  before the final act.

The characters were well played and well cast. For me the standout was definitely the character of Anita. She danced like with such sensual energy and fiery passion, sang so beautifully with emotion and finesse, and acted amazingly, doing justice to the actors who have played this character before, the great Rita Mareno and Arianna DiBose. The actors playing Maria and Toni had beautiful chemistry, but somewhere I felt Maria was more loud than naive and Toni was naive than having that swagger. For me Maria only came into her own in the final act.

The choreography was as amazing. It was all that I had expected to witness, and almost well executed. I say almost as I felt that there were moment when not all the dancers were sync, or achieved the same height in their leaps. Or maybe it was  just my  seat.

 But these were minor gripes of an otherwise flawlessly staged musical.

In the end it was a delightful experience that was totally worth it, and I can say (if not sing out loud, or for that matter even soft cause I am not praying)

“I feel happy, Oh so happy

I feel happy and filled with joy

Cause I got to watch 

A wonderful Broadway play”