Eddie Pensier writes:
Bit of different to our normal Showtune Saturdays, rather than one number, this is a 90-minute documentary on the making of the 1984 recording of West Side Story. Astonishingly, it was the first time that Leonard Bernstein had ever conducted his own groundbreaking musical, so Deutsche Grammophon put together what was considered an A-team cast. They made a few errors though:
- They cast the roles with opera singers who weren’t familiar with the Broadway style and idiom.
- They cast Kiri Te Kanawa, a New Zealander with perfect Commonwealth English pronunciation, as the Puerto Rican Maria.
- They cast José Carreras, a Spaniard with decidedly imperfect English, as the American Tony.
All that notwithstanding, it’s a fascinating look at one of the great works of American art, and an opportunity to see Bernstein (one of this country’s great polymaths) at work.
I’ll have more to say on the subject of opera/musical theater “crossover” in a future instalment of SS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxWKL6jhC4
Blowhard, Esq.
Callowman
Sherbrooke
Eddie Pensier
Enzo Nakamura
Epaminondas
Fabrizio del Wrongo
Fenster
Brundle Guy
Glynn Marshes
Paleo Retiree
Atypical Neurotic
Question Lady
Sax von Stroheim
Sir Barken Hyena
The Mistaken
Uncouth Reflections 
The burning question for me regarding West Side Story is, why was this Bernstein’s only hit Broadway musical? Humanity as a whole would have been so much better off if he had shed all his other musical pursuits, hooked up with a lyricist, and devoted his life to composing great Broadway shows. Imagine if there were two, three, many “West Side Stories” … Instead, we got some okay chamber music, a little bit of this, and little bit of that. The “Mass”. Also, the very enjoyable “Candide”. But unlike “West Side Story”, “Candide” did not spin off a single tune that went on to have a life of its own. Instead of aspiring to be the “fourth B” (Bach, Beethoven, etc.), Bernstein should have aspired to be Richard Rogers or Harold Arlen.
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