Something's Coming (back) to the Sadler's Wells!

[luke-h***]

Joey McKneely's critically acclaimed 50th anniversary production of "West Side Story" is coming back to the Sadler's Wells next summer.

I for one am very, very excited! As I heard only good things about this, but didn't manage to see it at Sadler's Wells or on the road.

Tickets are now on sale through the official Sadler's Wells website. Very exciting indeed!


West Side Story at the Sadler's Wells

[AnythingGoes23]

This deserves to have a West End run as its long over due in town.

It nearly came into the Adelphi for a run before Love Never Dies opened, but Rat Pack went in...!

[Phantom of London]

I guess this is the same production as I saw at the Sadler Wells a couple years back? If it is, it was enjoyable, but would much prefer if they did the 2009 Arthur Laurents production that played New York 3-4 years back.

[luke-h***]

Phantom, did you see it on Broadway? I heard it was very weak, as far as direction was concerned, and that it came across as a very dated piece, which West Side Story is definitely not.

Also, the whole Spanish lyrics thing just put me off it. Thank heavens they abolished them shortly after the run started.

[Princeton Returns]

i really didnt get the fuss when i saw this on tour, was such a let down. not helped by two weak leads

[Phantom of London]

I did see it on Broadway and enjoyed the show very much, I thought in was extremely well put together, I thought the three leads, Matt Cavenaugh, Josefina Scaglione and Karen Olivo, were very enjoyable, but ultimately the West Side Story got overshadowed by the superior South Pacific.

[ClapYo'Hands]

I absolutely adored this production last time. My dream would have been this production but with the Broadway cast!

[jaqs]

I really enjoyed it at Sadlers Wells but when I saw it again later in bristol it was pretty bad, the dance had gone waaaay downhill.

[vassey]

I agree, the tour wasn't a patch on when it was at Sadlers Wells. The accents were APPALLING - Speedy Gonzales was the model for the Puerto Ricans I believe.

[Jonwo]

I would love to see WSS done on a bigger scale but not the recent Broadway revival. I wonder if you can put a fresh spin on it since the choreography can never be altered.

[Phantom of London]

Wasn't the Broadway revival meant to be a fresh take on this classic piece of work Senors and Senoritas?

[ClapYo'Hands]

"I wonder if you can put a fresh spin on it since the choreography can never be altered."

It can. And a recent European production has done a wonderful job of doing just that.

[bdn223]

The recent Broadway revival was not overshadowed by the revival of South Pacific. It was overshadowed by Arthur Laurents's ego. There was a whole write up in the New York Times about his ego and how hard he was to work with. Athlough the production received great reviews, the NYTimes write up basically took away any momentum the production had going into award season.

During the same season though was the Hair revival that turned the show from a piece of generational sentimental theater whose time had come and gone into a classic in the eyes of several critics. Critics were also amazed how great Paulus was able to take the production which she origianly set in Central Park, and change the setting to a theater so flawlessly.

Other shows that opened the same season were Billy Elliot (which tied the record for the most Tony nominations and went on to win 10 of them) and the little show that has since become one of the most beloved musicals of recent memory Next to Normal, the somewhat surprise that the show worked aka Shrek, and the guilty pleasure that is Rock of Ages.

So the recent broadway revival of West Side Story was in a croweded season, but the reason for its lack of buzz was not due to the crowed season, but rather the NY Times write up of Laurents.

[Phantom of London]

No one is bigger than Broadway, except Laurent's ego.

[EricMontreal22]

Let's not forget what was done to much of Robbins' choreography (making the whole dream ballet useless by cutting the nightmare conclusion, for example.) I would MUCH rather see this. I did see a production in the very late 980s in London I thought was pretty good--I believe it used the original sets and costumes (which this doesn't seem to, although they look fairly similar).

[bob8rich]

Didn't catch this last time round at SAadlers Wells or on tour so am definitely keen to get to see it this time.

Btw - I saw the recent Broadway revival and loved it.