| Just in! |
 |
West Side Story: A Review |
| by: Lara07 |
 I
recently had the chance to check out the musical “West Side Story”, playing
at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco in a Broadway tour. I have to say
that of all the shows I've seen (and believe me when I say I've seen too
many to count!), this was definitely my favorite. If you're familiar with
the play Romeo and Juliet, or if you kinda know what it's about, you will
probably understand this show better since it's a modern version of this
classic tale.
The Jets. They are the supreme gang of the 60's NYC streets. Along came
the Sharks. The Sharks are the Puerto Rican immigrant gang. Of course, they
both wanna be the top, which leads to conflict. Enter stage left, Bernardo.
Leader of the Sharks, he is cool, confident, and slick. His girl is Anita
and his younger sister is Maria, who we'll get to later. On stage right we
have Riff. Riff is the current leader of the Jets. Riff is... well Riff is
Riff. His best friend is Tony, the previous gang leader, who we'll get to
later. The policemen notice the two gangs fight, and set up a dance party
for them all to “get together”. Notice how these are all teenagers, and
being teens they really don't wanna “chat” with the opposite gangs. At the
dance, Maria is very closely drawn to Tony. They dance, then they kiss.
Bernardo is angry. He doesn't want his little sister to be associated with
the rival gang. A couple songs later, Maria and Tony have declared their
love for each other, but secretly, meeting by the fire escape of Maria's
apartment. The gangs later meet and organize a fight.
If I share anymore, it'll give away major plot twists, but this musical
is full of drama, romance, and occasionally a funny song here and there.
Speaking of the songs, this show won me over with the beautiful ballads
included in it and it's superb orchestral score.
I strongly recommend all of you to come check this show out. Since it's a
tour, it may be coming to a theater close to wherever you live in the U.S.
(I'm not sure if there's a Canadian, Australian, or U.K. tour...) It's
currently playing on Broadway in NYC, so maybe you just might see it there!
I hope the brilliance of this love story will appeal to you the same way it
did to me.
| 
