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West Side Story - The New Broadway Cast Recording
June 2, 2009 10:34 pm

It has been 50 years since the original West Side

Story first reached Broadway. Now we have a new West Side Story, presently at the
Palace Theater in New York, and a new cast recording that Sony released on June 2,
2009.

First let me say that the new recording is wonderful. The 30 piece orchestra is playing
the original orchestrations, but they sound different. Certainly the technical
improvements over the past fifty years have something to do with that, but more
importantly the comfort with and understanding of the harmonics and rhythms of the
score are better understood today and the rhythmic accents are really emphasized by
musical director Patrick Vaccoriello making the orchestratons sound brand new. This is
clear from the beginning, especially in “Something’s Coming.”

Even though there have been great discussions in news articles and on TV about the use
of Spanish in dialogue and songs by the Puerto Ricans, when you first hear the use of
Spanish by the Sharks, in “The Prologue,” you might be caught off guard. This does not
last long, for you soon you realize you are hearing the language of today’s streets and it
becomes very powerful and is a special delight in “I Feel Pretty.”

The cast, which includes: Matt Cavenaugh as Tony, Josefina Scaglione as Maria, Karen
Olivo as Anita and Cody Green as Riff sound less operatic and perform dialogue and
songs with more distinct accents than the stars of the original. This makes them sound
much more like the characters that they play. However, make no mistake, this cast can
sing. Their range, control of dynamics, breath control, phrasing, diction, and in the case
of Cavenaugh his ability to sing in falsetto, make this group dynamite.
Cavenaugh and Scaglione have real vocal chemistry in each of the four major duets they
sing: “Maria,” “Tonight,” “One Hand One Heart,” and “Somewhere.” They sound like
the young lovers and blend, in English and Spanish, beautifully.

However, the show and the recording reach their performance height when Scaglione and
Olivo sing “Un Hombre Asi, I Have a Love.” It is chilling and if you get goosebumps
just listening to it, imagine what happens in the theater.

This show is as relevant today as it was fifty years ago and unlike many other revivals,
not only is the story relevant, so is the score. West Side Story has been reborn and this
new Sony disk is as exciting as what is taking place at the Palace Theater each night. If
this disk does not win the Grammy I will be stunned. This is a new cast recording
classic; you have to buy it!
West Side Story Cast to Perform on "The View" and "Early Show"

By Andrew Gans
01 Jun 2009

Cast members from the Tony-nominated revival of West

Side Story will perform on "The View" and "The Early
Show."

Tony nominee Josefina Scaglione and Matt Cavenaugh will

perform "Tonight" on ABC's "The View" June 2, and Tony
nominee Karen Olivo will lead a performance of "America"
on the June 4 broadcast of CBS' "The Early Show."

"The View" airs in the New York metropolitan area on

WABC-TV, Channel 7, from 11 AM-noon; check local
listings.

"The Early Show" airs nationally on CBS Channel 2, WCBS,

in the tri-state area; check local listings.

The cast recording of the acclaimed revival arrives in stores

June 2 on the Sony Masterworks label.

The revival of the ground-breaking Arthur Laurents-

West Side Story stars Josefina Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim musical West Side
Scaglione and Matt Cavenaugh. Story officially opened at Broadway's Palace Theatre March
photo by Joan Marcus
19.

Directed by the show's Tony Award-winning librettist Arthur Laurents, this staging of West
Side Story introduces "the unprecedented element of selectively weaving Spanish throughout
both the book and songs," the producers previously announced. In fact, both "I Feel Pretty"
(sung by Maria) and "A Boy Like That" (sung by Anita) are delivered entirely in Spanish.

The cast is headed by Matt Cavenaugh (A Catered Affair, Grey Gardens) as Tony, Karen Olivo
(In the Heights) as Anita, Cody Green (Movin' Out) as Riff and George Akram ("Stuck on You")
as Bernardo. Twenty-one-year-old Argentinean actress Josefina Scaglione, who created the
role of Amber Von Tussle in the Argentinean production of Hairspray, co-stars as Maria.

The production features scenic design by James Youmans, costumes by Tony Award nominee
David C. Woolard, lighting by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley, hair by Mark Adam
Rampmeyer and sound design by Tony Award nominee Dan Moses Schreier.

West Side Story has music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by
Laurents. The staging retains the original choreography of late director Jerome Robbins, who
conceived the project by using Romeo and Juliet as inspiration. The Robbins choreography has
been restaged by Tony Award nominee Joey McKneely (The Boy from Oz, The Life).
This West Side Story boasts an onstage cast of 46 and 30 musicians in the orchestra pit.

"West Side Story transports the achingly beautiful tale of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to
the turbulent streets of the Upper West Side in 1950's New York City," according to the
producers. "Two star-crossed lovers, Tony and Maria, find themselves caught between the
rival street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds, the 'Jets' and the 'Sharks.' Their struggle to
exist together in a world of violence, hate and prejudice is one of the most heart-breaking,
relevant and innovative musical masterpieces of our time."
 
 

 
 
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