Local Review: "West Side Story" at the UTEP Dinner Theatre
Last night (October 8, 2015) I had the pleasure of enjoying the final dress rehearsal of "West Side Story" at the UTEP Dinner Theatre.
It was wonderful. The entire thing was nothing but wonderful. The cast was just so amazing and the production quality was so great. What else can I say? It was a production that was beautifully put together.
Hugo Arreola and Nabil Gonzalez played the leading roles of Tony and Maria. I thought both of them were so well cast in their roles. The best thing that I remember about their performances from last night were their duets. Both Arreola and Gonzalez sounded so gorgeous, especially during "Tonight" and "One Hand, One Heart". Their acting was just so....perfect, both Arreola and Gonzalez brought a lot to their roles and I would love to see what they would bring to other roles in other shows. Both of them are true highlights of this production.
Lizbeth Sanchez Pineda was a very believable Anita. There were some moments from her that I thought were bit overdone, but I can't remember what those moments were off the top of my head. Other standouts in the cast included Joel Aguilera (Bernardo), Julian Maldonado (Riff), Casi Saldana (Doc), Allen Thompson (Chino), Caitlin Burnside (Anybody's), and Don Cieslik (Lt. Shrank). The entire cast was really wonderful. There was not a weak link.
Strangely, I had issues with some of the accents. Not that they were bad accents or anything, it was just a diction thing. I think I might have just needed to get used to it because by the second or third scene, I wasn't having an issue understanding them.
Jaime Barba's direction and staging is very well done and it works perfectly for the show. I couldn't imagine the staging another way. The choreography was done by Lisa Lopez and Josey Mitchell. They did quite a good job with the (from what I hear) difficult choreography. Numbers where the choreography particularly shined were "America" and "Somewhere". The orchestra was also PHENOMENAL.
The sets (done by Michael L. Spence) were very well built and designed, I think that the set somewhat resembled the set of "Newsies", which also takes place in New York City. At first, I wasn't sure how to feel about the projections (done by Don Cieslik). Not that they were bad or anything, it's just that I feel weird about projections in shows. When I walked into the theatre and saw the screens on the stage, I was terrified that projections would be making up the set, but luckily that was not the case. I also really enjoyed the lighting and sound design in this production. Probably some of the best lighting and sound design that I have seen or heard at a community theatre.
RANDOM: I did not like how there was music during the curtain call. I believe that if a show ends sadly, there shouldn't be music during the curtain call because it just tries to take the sad ending and make it happy. I was sad during the curtain call, the cast even looked sad.
"West Side Story" is just one of those shows that really gets you and sucks you into the story. I think everyone who was in the audience can say the same. I know that because during some of the more dramatic parts of the story, the audience was in complete silence. "West Side Story" is a beautiful show and this was a beautiful production. 5 Stars.
"WEST SIDE STORY"
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
"WEST SIDE STORY" runs at the UTEP Dinner Theatre from October 9 through November 1 and is directed by Jaime Barba. For more information visit http://academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?alias=academics.utep.edu/udt
P.S: I understand that I saw the final dress rehearsal and certain elements might not be the same for the actual run of the show, so don't take my word on anything that I have said.
It was wonderful. The entire thing was nothing but wonderful. The cast was just so amazing and the production quality was so great. What else can I say? It was a production that was beautifully put together.
Hugo Arreola and Nabil Gonzalez played the leading roles of Tony and Maria. I thought both of them were so well cast in their roles. The best thing that I remember about their performances from last night were their duets. Both Arreola and Gonzalez sounded so gorgeous, especially during "Tonight" and "One Hand, One Heart". Their acting was just so....perfect, both Arreola and Gonzalez brought a lot to their roles and I would love to see what they would bring to other roles in other shows. Both of them are true highlights of this production.
Lizbeth Sanchez Pineda was a very believable Anita. There were some moments from her that I thought were bit overdone, but I can't remember what those moments were off the top of my head. Other standouts in the cast included Joel Aguilera (Bernardo), Julian Maldonado (Riff), Casi Saldana (Doc), Allen Thompson (Chino), Caitlin Burnside (Anybody's), and Don Cieslik (Lt. Shrank). The entire cast was really wonderful. There was not a weak link.
Strangely, I had issues with some of the accents. Not that they were bad accents or anything, it was just a diction thing. I think I might have just needed to get used to it because by the second or third scene, I wasn't having an issue understanding them.
Jaime Barba's direction and staging is very well done and it works perfectly for the show. I couldn't imagine the staging another way. The choreography was done by Lisa Lopez and Josey Mitchell. They did quite a good job with the (from what I hear) difficult choreography. Numbers where the choreography particularly shined were "America" and "Somewhere". The orchestra was also PHENOMENAL.
The sets (done by Michael L. Spence) were very well built and designed, I think that the set somewhat resembled the set of "Newsies", which also takes place in New York City. At first, I wasn't sure how to feel about the projections (done by Don Cieslik). Not that they were bad or anything, it's just that I feel weird about projections in shows. When I walked into the theatre and saw the screens on the stage, I was terrified that projections would be making up the set, but luckily that was not the case. I also really enjoyed the lighting and sound design in this production. Probably some of the best lighting and sound design that I have seen or heard at a community theatre.
RANDOM: I did not like how there was music during the curtain call. I believe that if a show ends sadly, there shouldn't be music during the curtain call because it just tries to take the sad ending and make it happy. I was sad during the curtain call, the cast even looked sad.
"West Side Story" is just one of those shows that really gets you and sucks you into the story. I think everyone who was in the audience can say the same. I know that because during some of the more dramatic parts of the story, the audience was in complete silence. "West Side Story" is a beautiful show and this was a beautiful production. 5 Stars.
"WEST SIDE STORY"
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
"WEST SIDE STORY" runs at the UTEP Dinner Theatre from October 9 through November 1 and is directed by Jaime Barba. For more information visit http://academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?alias=academics.utep.edu/udt
P.S: I understand that I saw the final dress rehearsal and certain elements might not be the same for the actual run of the show, so don't take my word on anything that I have said.
Comments
Post a Comment