The first scene of "West Side Story" at Bob Carr Performing Arts Center | Photo Credit: Mark B.
(This is not a review and I am not a theatre reviewer. This is just what I saw and what I thought after seeing the show. Do not misconstrue this as a review. It is not. -Mark)The national tour of West Side Story opened its Orlando run Tuesday night at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre and holy crap the show is a big honkin' piece of amazing. I had front row seats so I saw every lip curl and sweat bead as the cast rocketed through this classic piece of American musical theatre.
Tony and Maria act their faces off and sing like Jesus. The actress who played Maria sounded like Sarah Brightman. Was it just me? The actor playing Tony in this opening night performance was the understudy and he pretty much rocked it. The end of Act Two left me breathless.
The two big things I personally enjoyed: (1) the show always feels like its got this undercurrent of movement, even in scenes with just dialogue and blocking; (2) this production is about the truth and the acting and the story more than the dancing. And because of that, I think I enjoyed the dancing even more.
Much of the time, the Spanish characters spoke in Spanish. For me personally, it made me feel like I was not privy to their dialogue, since I don't speak Spanish. It appeared that the blocking and acting choices were meant to convey what was being said for those of us non-Spanish speakers, but at times, I was lost.
The show runs till the end of this weekend.
Full Disclosure: My ticket to this event was provided free of charge by the presenters.