West Side Story NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (625)
See it if to see a brilliantly re-imagined WSS for the 21st C that breathes new life into (but maintains the integrity of) one of the all-time greats.
Don't see it if "I Feel Pretty" is your favorite song; u expect a conventional revival [This ain't your grandma's WSS!]; u oppose the controversial casting. Read more
See it if Interested in seeing a gritty, ambitious, modern take of a classic B'way musical that takes huge risks.
Don't see it if you don't want to be overwhelmed by projections that at times dwarf the performers so that your focus is redirected... Read more
Critic Reviews (27)
"Sharks vs. Jets vs. Video: Ivo van Hove’s attention-splintering revival of the immortal 1957 musical features new choreography, a ravishing orchestra and smothering visual effects."
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4/5 Stars. "Van Hove's 'West Side Story' functions very differently from any we have seen before. If the result is sometimes murky, it is also frequently revelatory-a major accomplishment in a show whose status as a classic threatens to freeze it in time and relevance."
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"In the New 'West Side Story,' When You’re Onstage You’re Onscreen All the Way"
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"A GRIM TAKE ON 'WEST SIDE STORY': Ivo van Hove’s new interpretation of the iconic musical is an infuriating example of what happens when a powerful style calcifies into shtick."
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"Director Ivo van Hove and choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker reshape the classic tale of bitter street-gang rivalry for a new generation with this boldly contemporary revival."
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Grade: B. "A radically reworked 'West Side Story' comes to Broadway"
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"Director Ivo Van Hove dares to fiddle with perfection in this modernized but still respectful re-working of Jerome Robbins’ 1957 masterpiece."
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"Anyone expecting a standard revival of ‘West Side Story’ is in for a surprise."
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"‘West Side Story’ Rumbles Full-Force Into A New Century"
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"This gutsy new ‘West Side Story’ is unlike any you’ve seen — and it’s exhilarating"
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"‘West Side Story’ blasts back to Broadway — kinetic, bloody and modern to the core"
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"Radical revival is a triumph"
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"‘West Side Story’ gets a whole new look on Broadway from director Ivo Van Hove"
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"'West Side Story’ revival gets lost in brutal violence and overwhelming video imagery"
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"They Found Love in a Hopeless Place: Ivo van 'Hove's West Side Story.' Broadway's favorite auteur helms a revival of one of Broadway's favorite musicals."
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"Ivo van Hove's Alarmingly Charmless 'WEST SIDE STORY'"
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"'West Side Story' shines most brightly when it is at its least gimmicky, when the actors are allowed to act, the singers to sing, the dancers to dance."
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3/5 Stars. "The 1957 Bernstein-Laurents-Robbins-Sondheim masterpiece gets a harsh modern makeover"
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4/5 Stars. "Ivo van Hove shoots sparks into space with a fresh take on the musical masterwork, with Isaac Powell's performance a high point of the production."
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"RECKLESS REVIVAL: Missteps in this production include cutting the show too short and using giant video projections that overwhelm the action onstage."
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"NOT THE TIME,NOT THE PLACE: Ivo van Hove's revival attempts to reimagine the classic show but nearly shreds it to pieces."
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"Ivo van Hove’s ‘West Side Story’ feels more cinematic than theatrical"
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"Ivo van Hove has achieved the impossible, a completely original version"
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"For all the ruinous choices - chief among them, an overabundance of distracting video projections - van Hove doesn't completely ruin what's most thrilling about this musical...Leonard Bernstein's music…can still make you cry…The show's aficionados will have many, less salutary reasons to get emotional."
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"Director Ivo van Hove's revival strips much of its original creators' DNA with the force of a New York City street-sweeping truck. West Side Story's timeless themes emerge, sometimes in synch with van Hove's vision and, at others, despite it."
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"Van Hove's mostly stunning production should give us all hope that any musical, no matter how beloved, can be made relevant -- never mind thrilling -- for 21st-century audiences!"
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"Does this chilly, imported formalism and multimedia dramaturgy work against the old-fashioned, melodramatic source? Yes."
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