Having grown up w/WSS#1, knowing all the screenplay and music, I only reluctantly watched WSS#2, but now that I have, I find good things in both. ~ I was ok with the addition of untranslated Spanish as I've learned a lot of it over the years. I love when Tony #2 sings "Maria" in a neighborhood full of Marias. ~ At the start, I wondered how the WSS#2 Jets acquired big paint brushes on route to the wall mural: preposterous, although I could see the humor in mixing the paint as the Jets danced to their destination. But: Puerto Rico is a territory of the USA so why deface their flag? This new, opening change in the action works against the main themes of WSS. ~ I prefer Maria#2; Natalie Wood, as much as I admired her acting abilities, was miscast. I liked seeing WSS#2 Maria at her workplace, a charming, spacious setting for "I Feel Pretty." ~ I love the WSS#1 smooth, sweet (and "sharp!") individual gang members - how they all move, talk, look, interact. WSS#2 Jets and Sharks are, for me, a ragged blur - I cannot distinguish among them; one big problem is their clunky, irregular clothing - for dancing, not smooth and sleek and befitting ballet as in the first version. ~ I was often moved to tears with the young lovers of WSS#2, but never w/WSS#1. ~ WSS#2 has too much added talking; I didn't need "the backstories" of characters. ~ WSS#2 has small but jarring gaps between scenes; I do not approve of new lapses in the powerful score that hamper the continuity (as I know the original Broadway score by heart). ~ WSS#1 gestures and violence are balletic but WSS#2 is too painfully realistic - and anyone pierced by a dirty nail requires a tetanus shot asap - an icky detail that didn't need to be shown. ~ The "Cool" sequence is great in both versions, but the setting of WSS#2 is so astonishing I'll have to re-watch. ~ Why do the WSS#2 Jets ransack a police station waiting room with no repercussions from the cops? Come on! ~ Overall, WSS#2 is focused on the Hispanic point of view while WSS#1 is balanced between the two opposing sides - which brings me to that new puzzling scene: I've visited the Cloisters several times (I'm an art historian) and I seriously doubt that Tony's prison bus would have stopped there for an art tour! My guess is that a new quasi-religious "white" element was added to balance the many Christian/Hispanic embellishments of WSS#2. ~ Finally, what's missing from the new version is the dynamic, shining photogenic powers of Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. I think the new version is good - but the oldie had that."yo se que."
Review of West Side Story
