West Side Story Clips - June 3

Castrecordings.com West Side Story - The New Broadway Cast Recording June 2, 2009 10:34 pm

It has been 50 years since the original West Side Story first reached Broadway. Now we have a new West Side Story, presently at the Palace Theater in New York, and a new cast recording that Sony released on June 2, 2009. First let me say that the new recording is wonderful. The 30 piece orchestra is playing the original orchestrations, but they sound different. Certainly the technical improvements over the past fifty years have something to do with that, but more importantly the comfort with and understanding of the harmonics and rhythms of the score are better understood today and the rhythmic accents are really emphasized by musical director Patrick Vaccoriello making the orchestratons sound brand new. This is clear from the beginning, especially in “Something’s Coming.” Even though there have been great discussions in news articles and on TV about the use of Spanish in dialogue and songs by the Puerto Ricans, when you first hear the use of Spanish by the Sharks, in “The Prologue,” you might be caught off guard. This does not last long, for you soon you realize you are hearing the language of today’s streets and it becomes very powerful and is a special delight in “I Feel Pretty.” The cast, which includes: Matt Cavenaugh as Tony, Josefina Scaglione as Maria, Karen Olivo as Anita and Cody Green as Riff sound less operatic and perform dialogue and songs with more distinct accents than the stars of the original. This makes them sound much more like the characters that they play. However, make no mistake, this cast can sing. Their range, control of dynamics, breath control, phrasing, diction, and in the case of Cavenaugh his ability to sing in falsetto, make this group dynamite.

Cavenaugh and Scaglione have real vocal chemistry in each of the four major duets they sing: “Maria,” “Tonight,” “One Hand One Heart,” and “Somewhere.” They sound like the young lovers and blend, in English and Spanish, beautifully. However, the show and the recording reach their performance height when Scaglione and Olivo sing “Un Hombre Asi, I Have a Love.” It is chilling and if you get goosebumps just listening to it, imagine what happens in the theater. This show is as relevant today as it was fifty years ago and unlike many other revivals, not only is the story relevant, so is the score. West Side Story has been reborn and this new Sony disk is as exciting as what is taking place at the Palace Theater each night. If this disk does not win the Grammy I will be stunned. This is a new cast recording classic; you have to buy it!

West Side Story Cast to Perform on "The View" and "Early Show" By Andrew Gans 01 Jun 2009

Cast members from the Tony-nominated revival of West Side Story will perform on "The View" and "The Early Show." Tony nominee Josefina Scaglione and Matt Cavenaugh will perform "Tonight" on ABC's "The View" June 2, and Tony nominee Karen Olivo will lead a performance of "America" on the June 4 broadcast of CBS' "The Early Show." "The View" airs in the New York metropolitan area on WABC-TV, Channel 7, from 11 AM-noon; check local listings. "The Early Show" airs nationally on CBS Channel 2, WCBS, in the tri-state area; check local listings. The cast recording of the acclaimed revival arrives in stores June 2 on the Sony Masterworks label.

West Side Story stars Josefina Scaglione and Matt Cavenaugh. photo by Joan Marcus

The revival of the ground-breaking Arthur LaurentsLeonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story officially opened at Broadway's Palace Theatre March 19.

Directed by the show's Tony Award-winning librettist Arthur Laurents, this staging of West Side Story introduces "the unprecedented element of selectively weaving Spanish throughout both the book and songs," the producers previously announced. In fact, both "I Feel Pretty" (sung by Maria) and "A Boy Like That" (sung by Anita) are delivered entirely in Spanish. The cast is headed by Matt Cavenaugh (A Catered Affair, Grey Gardens) as Tony, Karen Olivo (In the Heights) as Anita, Cody Green (Movin' Out) as Riff and George Akram ("Stuck on You") as Bernardo. Twenty-one-year-old Argentinean actress Josefina Scaglione, who created the role of Amber Von Tussle in the Argentinean production of Hairspray, co-stars as Maria. The production features scenic design by James Youmans, costumes by Tony Award nominee David C. Woolard, lighting by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley, hair by Mark Adam Rampmeyer and sound design by Tony Award nominee Dan Moses Schreier. West Side Story has music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Laurents. The staging retains the original choreography of late director Jerome Robbins, who conceived the project by using Romeo and Juliet as inspiration. The Robbins choreography has been restaged by Tony Award nominee Joey McKneely (The Boy from Oz, The Life).

This West Side Story boasts an onstage cast of 46 and 30 musicians in the orchestra pit. "West Side Story transports the achingly beautiful tale of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the turbulent streets of the Upper West Side in 1950's New York City," according to the producers. "Two star-crossed lovers, Tony and Maria, find themselves caught between the rival street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds, the 'Jets' and the 'Sharks.' Their struggle to exist together in a world of violence, hate and prejudice is one of the most heart-breaking, relevant and innovative musical masterpieces of our time."

   

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