West Side Story Critics’ Reviews
Ivo van Hove directs a new Broadway revival of Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's classic musical.
Ivo van Hove directs a new Broadway revival of Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's classic musical.
The most exciting musical theater masterpiece of the 20th century. The most visionary theatrical talents of the 21st century. Is there any wonder it’s “the most eagerly-awaited production of the new season”? (NY Post)
When four theatrical giants — Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim — created West Side Story, it was immediately hailed as an "indisputable, boundary-busting masterpiece” (The New York Times) that “explodes every imaginable idea of what a musical can be” (New York Magazine). Now, three of the most daring theater-makers of our time — director Ivo van Hove (A View From the Bridge and The Crucible), choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, and designer and frequent Van Hove collaborator Jan Versweyveld — offer a radical, thrilling new interpretation of this iconic work, with extraordinary dancing, breathtaking vision, and 23 young, brilliantly gifted performers all making their Broadway debuts. Don’t miss this opportunity to see a landmark in musical theater history as if for the very first time.
"This fresh, bold production is so exciting it makes you ache with pleasure. It's both airborne and transcendent."
The New Yorker
John Lahr
"Having the Sharks speakin their native tongue is brilliant! The excitement and emotional force of this revival don't need translation. It feels incredibly right for New York to have a story this bittersweet back in Times Square, where is belongs."
Newsweek
Jeremy McCarter
"Not just any night! West Side Story is exhilaratingly danced and sung. A one-of-a-kind musical!"
The Washington Post
Peter Marks
"A roughed-up and gorgeous new revival. It soars. Seeing the huge cast in Robbins' spectacular dances and hearing Bernstein's majestic score played by a full orchestra is sheer excitement. This is Broadway in very fine form: standing up to face darkness head on, and unafraid to be a thing of beauty."
Time Out New York
Adam Feldman
"This production is enthralling, electric and taken to a level of pure physical exhilaration. The irresistible score, gloriously rendered here, remains a ravishment, with some of the most gorgeous love songs ever. It's hard not to melt into sweet agony."
The New York Times
Ben Brantley