WEST SIDE STORY Tour

[theminutepast]

Has anyone seen the West Side Story tour recently? It will be my first time seeing the show and I'm hoping it will be good. It looks like this is the tour version of the revival on Broadway just a few years back. Did they officially drop the Spanish version of "I Feel Pretty"?

[gleek4114]

I saw it about 1 year ago. I was not impressed.

[CATSNYrevival]

We were going to get it in San Diego but it got replaced with Mamma Mia. I'm curious too about what I'm missing now.

[trpguyy]

I can't speak for this year's tour but last yeah (same production) the reps from the Bernstein estate said it was the "best sounding production to date," so that's something.

[JoseLee_]

I saw the tour in LA March of last year and it was amazing! It's the 2009 broadway revival production. Yes, they sing & speak spanish.

[PalJoey]

the reps from the Bernstein estate said it was the "best sounding production to date," so that's something.

That sounds doubtful. Which reps?

[ShbrtAlley44]

I saw the matinee today in Baltimore and thought it was fantastic. There was a little bit of indicating, but nothing objectionable and seemed due to the direction. I was really impressed with this cast particularly since I had seen last years tour and was thoroughly disappointed.

[grandpianoalex]

Saw this a couple years back---the non-eq. I absolutely hated it. The Tony was singing wrong intervals in "Maria". The orchestra was 9 members. For West Side Story? That's not acceptable to me. It sounded SO empty. I was disappointed.

[bwayphreak234]

Saw the tour back in 2011. I enjoyed it for the most part.

[promisespromises2]

My parents got us tickets for my birthday to see it in June. I also have never seen a production of it, so thanks for all of the comments!

[GlitterandBeGay2]

They reduced the amount of lyrics sung in Spanish in the last tour, compared to what's on the cast recording, which made it less gimmicky and a lot more enjoyable for me. Plus the Tony I saw appeared more age appropriate than Matt Cavenaugh.

[HorseTears]

Ugh. 9 musicians? NINE musicians? For West Side Story. Jesus. At that point, they'd be better piping in pre-recorded orchestras. These second, third, fourth, fifth national tours are such ****ing scams. They get to use the same branding/marketing campaigns as the original productions while dramatically reducing the production values, slotting in underpaid amateur actors and charging the same damn prices. I know not everyone has access to NY or a major regional theatre town like LA or Chicago, but I think you'd be better off seeing a regional theatre production than seeing one of these later-in-the-game national tours. And you'd have enough $$ left over for a nice post-theatre dinner.

Also, I'm calling total bull**** on this little doozy unless the poster has a source:
"I can't speak for this year's tour but last yeah (same production) the reps from the Bernstein estate said it was the "best sounding production to date," so that's something."

What "rep" from the Bernstein estate would say a 9-piece orchestra was producing the best sounding production of WSS to date?? Their temp receptionist, perhaps?

[stagewright]

The Bernstein estate has to be talking about the first national tour 2010-12, before it was sold off. I saw it in Boston, the show sounded amazing.

[PalJoey]

The "Bernstein estate" doesn't speak.

[trpguyy]

Yup, totally made it up for absolutely no reason.


Not really sure why it's relevant who from the Estate paid the sound designer a compliment (and not that I remember, it was a year and a half ago).


Also re: the orchestra - it's 9 pieces supplemented by Sinfonia, but often expanded with local musicians (from what I'm told).

[broadwayguy2]

First of all...
It is INCREDIBLY insulting to every actor on that tour to call them amateur. They are all working professionals. Lack of a union card does not make them amateur. Frankly, every person on this current tour and the last leg who I have seen jn other productions have impressed me and I would be likely to see the show if given the chance simply on that.

As far orchestra size, is. 9 optimal? No. But touring a 24 piece band near impossible and when playing split weeks and one-nighters and often in less than ideal markets, there just is not the opportunity to hire and rehearse local musicians.
And YES, those nine talented and LIVE musicians DO play with digital augmentation to fill out the sound. In some houses, bad acoustics do not help matters, but there ya go.

As far as the tour marketing and prices, stop blaming the producers.. It is not their doing. Blame the booking presenter in each city. The producer says "here is the show we are sending out, this is the weekly guarantee we need." The local presenter sets the ticket price and markets the show as part of their season.

[PalJoey]

So "best sounding" means "best sound design"? Not "best sounding" musically?

[trpguyy]

The two are mutually inclusive, at least to a large extent, don't you think?

[Tom 2]

... and remember: seeing a gang dancing and singing down a street can be more frighting than seeing a gang coming toward you.

[matineeidol2591]

This tour has been running non eq for close to three years now, and its BUSTED. Hopefully they hang up their hats after this leg.

[LostinTranslation]

The Broadway revival had the original complement of 31 musicians, not 24. 9 musicians is a sham.

[broadwayguy2]

I was using a rough number. The revival did have the original compliment, but they also had a cut list that they never implimented that would have taken it down to 25 had the chosen when sales fell,
I wont call 9 musicians a sham because of the nature of this tour, especially since it could have easily been a conductor, drummer and a single keyboard player operating a digital orchestra, as the last leg of the Wizard of Oz tour did,

[Mudbug]

Love West Side Story

[trpguyy]

"This tour has been running non eq for close to three years now.."

It opened in the fall of 2012 and had a long summer break. How does that math work out?

[ShbrtAlley44]

I agree that last year's tour was pretty busted but this one was quite strong.