West Side Story Reviews

Emily from NJ

OUTSTANDING SHOW

Just loved it - never saw the movie and went straight into this broadway show and was blown away by all the performances. very fresh and relevant today. Brilliant

Viv from New York, NY

GREAT SHOW

This show was fantastic. Spanish dialogue added a touch of realism. Judging from a couple of these reviews, especially the person from PA who can't even spell the word "AUDIENCE" spelled it as "AUDIANCE" I can see that unfortunately there are still an abundance of "BIGOTS" in this country. This person claims he/she did NOT see any Puerto Ricans in the "AUDIANCE" "They don't see plays" ! WOW !! I suppose this ignoramus is an expert on all thing Puerto Rican !! That's about as bigoted as anyone can get. This idiot's review should have been deleted. Anyway so much for ignorance ! It was a great show and I'm glad I did not pay attention to that fool's review.

Anonymous from Anytown, AT 55555

A MASTERPIECE!

I just came home and had to write my own review. This is the most amazing, beautifully done play I have ever seen. I have seen many over the years, and this one just takes the cake. The cast is so gifted and talented. I was floored by the energy from scene to scene and I was actually in tears during the performance; so moving. Many thanks to this entire production for a day in the city to remember. Standing ovations are a must after every show indeed!!!!!!!!!!

Delighted to attend from New York

CREAM OF THE CREAM

Anyone who does not like this musical, does not like musicals. Electric, vivacious, not enough Spanish--it is administered as only as the faintest sprinkle of cinnamon to our unbelievably fine whipped cream---electric colors, electric dance, electric emotion, sweetest of music. A complete success, and any small errors that occur in a musical are to remind you that this is something handmade, handcrafted, prepared for you each night---and should add to the thrill. An off-note? Listen to the ones that exceed the ordinary mark. They will follow. Someone jostles someone else onstage? A delicious bit of reality.

Hana from UK

GET COOL!!!!

We saw this in NY at the weekend and thought it was fab!!!! The choreography was amazing and the addition of the spanish dialogue was minted!!! Bring it to the West End soon!!!!!

Isabella Jo from from Dubai but currently in NY, New York..

ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL!!

This was a truly fantastic show - the dancing was superb, the acting and singing excellent and Maria from Argentina was sensational - even more delightful was Anita - her voice, acting and dancing was mesmerizing. We walked in off the street and into a land of pure entertainment!! Thank you guys............. As for the CMG who writes that IT SHOULD HAVE ENGLISH only - I suggest he/she gets educated and learns another language! Perhaps start with English and brush up on your spelling - audience not "audiance" as in your review........ CHEERS to West Side Story - pure delight!

Paul Harrison from UK

EXCELLENT. GLAD I IGNORED SOME OF THE OTHER REVIEWS!

I originally played the character of Riff in a national tour of the UK and was looking to forward to seeing WSS for the first time since. I was taking some friends and was slightly dissapointed and concerned at some of the reviews on here saying that you could not understand because of the Spanish and that several of the performers were not great. Totally disagree. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance from start to finish. There are some alterations from the previous versions including a ballet dream sequence which was fantastic. All the cast were outstanding. Can't recommend it enough - if you don't speak Spanish you will very easily follow it. Still my favourite musical of all time. See it. :)

Ian Culwick from Herts UK

IF IT'S IN NY SURELY IT MUST BE GOOD !

Look, sorry, I haven't seen this production yet, but have booked for August 11. From the UK, I have seen West Side Story (WSS) umpteen times (the first circa 1959 or so in Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket, London). It is the best musical ever, and what better place to go and see it than in New York itself. So, all you people reading these amazingly polarized set of opinions, go and see it and make your OWN mind up. One of the things I wanted to do before I die is see WSS actually IN New York.....brilliant, it must be experienced. My wife and I adore New York and judginng by the usual very high standard of Broadway, surely, it is worth a go. "I KNOW TONY LIKE I KNOW ME......" Ian from Herts, UK. Can't wait.

Anonymous from upstate NY

WEST SIDE STORY

I just went to the show with a group of Middle and High school students. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and the students were riveted. In spite of the frequent Spanish dialog, the students understood the plot of the scenes. The performance by the group was fantastic. The costumes and stage settings were very well done.

Anonymous from Anytown, AT 55555

WEST SIDE WAS BRILLIANT, THEATRE WAS NOT

Jsut left theater after Christmas night show. Cast was superb and the direction and choreograhy was excellent. Highly recommend this as great "old school" that never gets old. Tony was a superb artist with great voice. Unfortunately, had upper mezanine seats. Ok as theatres go, but someone forgot to turn heating down. After 30 minutes peaople started to leave and some did not come back, it was so hot. They charged $4 for small bottle of water, which is at least 800% mark up. We came down from Canada and felt that the show was spoiled for many because it became unbearably hot in the upper deck seats. I asked 3 employees to get someone to turn on the A/C but they said there was nothing they could do. We had to leave before end of show and that spoiled it for us. Sorry NY but this was not a good experience. As I said, great show, great cast but take my advice, stay away from the upper mezanine, unless you need to lose few pounds. As a sauna, this would work. Love NY and will come back.

Robert Meachen from Burlington, Ontario, Canada

MORE FROM THE "HOT" (AND OLD) GUY IN THE MEZANINE

Not sure why my last post 5 minutes ago stated It was anon... I left my name and town etc. Any way, I was going on about the extreme heat in the upper mezanine and then spent 10 minutes reading other reviews posted here. For the record; we loved the Spanish dialogue which added some real spice to the show. I don't speak Spanish, but somehow understood what the scene was all about. Loved the Tony and Maria characters but the whole cast was lovely to watch and very emotive. But man, fix that @#*%$#@ temperature control next time eh! It cost you half a star! New York rocks!

Anonymous from NJ

GREAT

Just saw the play and thought it was great. The singing and dancing were excellent. Unlike previous reviews, the play was mostly in English except for some parts of it. Would definitely see it again.

Badmax0815 from Berlin, Germany

GREAT SHOW AND A HIGHLIGHT OF OUR SHORT VISIT IN NEW YORK

It was a great show. We enjoyed music and dance very much. It was first time for my daughters to visit a musical and in addition in a foreign language. Nevertheless we could follow the story, the singers were very good and it was suprising but not disturbing to hear some parts in spanish. This gave the show a realistic touch. Two small items wich we found not that good. The break should be extended by 5 minutes and it should be not allowed to have drinks and food at the seats in the hall. It seems to be typically for US never seen this in Germany. But to be clear it was great and we enjoied the evening.

Educated from Chicago, Ill.

ENGLISH PLEASE

To the Dubai person who wrote :"As for the CMG who writes that IT SHOULD HAVE ENGLISH only - I suggest he/she gets educated and learns another language!" Spanish is of little use in most of the world. I have two masters degrees and have studied three foreign languages (none of which were Spanish) plus Latin. I resent having Spanish thrust upon me. I, too, would prefer to see a show in English. I am less likely to see this one now that I know I won't understand much of the language.

CMP from PA

VERY DISAPPOINTING

Very disapointed in the show in NY. Half the songs and dialog were in Spanish. IT SHOULD BE IN ENGLISH. Didn't see any Puerto Ricans in the audiance. They don't go to see plays. Anyone who didn't know the story wouldn't know what was going on. Also, had a child singing somewhere. What was that? It should be performed by adults. The child didn't fit into the show. Lead of Tony was not a great singer and said his lines very clipped. Would not recommend.

Anonymous from Anytown, AT 55555

DISAPPOINTING SHOW

While the dancing was great and the mixture of English and Spanish an interesting addtion, this show did not live up to its legacy or good reviews. The singing of Tony was sometimes off key and the ending had very odd timing. All in all a disappointment that does not live up to the meaning of a Broadway production.

Alberta Andreu from Fort Lauderdale, Florida

DISSAPPOINTED

I thought it was dull, the singing was nothing spectacular and the characters were un realistic. The fact that the Spanish dialogue was in Spanish was very frustrating. The whole experience was a dissappointment.

Joe from New York

DISSAPOINTED

What should have been an exciting afternoon at the theater in New York, the greatest city in the world, turned out to be a dull muted disappointment. The sound quality was poor, but it didn't matter as the performances did not grab me and hold me, emotionally. There was just no chemistry on stage. I didn't mind the Spanish dialogue, that was a nice touch actually. Enjoyed the walk down Broadway afterward more than the show.

Mom from ny

MOST DISSAPOINTING

Five in our family went to Saturday night's performance. We were all very unhappy with the show. The sound quality left a lot to be desired, the singing was mediocre at best. The theatre seating was very tight and the big haired ladies in front of us obscured much of the show. The understudy for Maria actually bumped into another actress during one dance scene. It was no better than a High School production. Huge waste of money.

Tom from Tennessee

WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

Sound quality was poor. Couldn't hear much of the dialog. How many in the audience benefited from dialog spoken in Spanish? Not very many, I suspect. My son the Spanish major said he couldn't hear the speakers well enough to tell what was being said.

Chris from Brooklyn, NY USA

TERRIBLE SOUND QUALITY

I've been to a number of exceptional Broadway shows and this was not one of them. Perhaps it was just where we were sitting, but we couldn't hear most of the dialogue or singing. I'm really disappointed my mother spent her money to go with me to this show. There should be a way to get your money back for an awful experience, but so far, I haven't found one.

C from NEW YORK, NY

HORRIBLE

I am shocked at the people that gave this a good review. Obvious they have never seen the movie. I can not describe the intensity of this movies performances that struck me so hard as a 12 yr.old girl and still does as an adult. I know every line, every step, every note. I went into the theater with an open mind, but these performances were something to be desired and had Zero Emotion to them. I can only attribute this to the actors being too young and inexperianced in life to even grasp the deep emotions involved in acting out these parts. They read lines as though they were off a piece of paper. Not for one second did I feel that Maria and Tony loved eachother. My one star goes to the actor who played Anita, for her dancing/acting/singing. Poor thing, I felt like all the weight was on her shoulders to carry the show. Singing and dancing of the others were ok- but again emotionless. The set was not impressive, but that wouldn't have mattered if the performances came through.

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