You’d think I’d learn after all this time not to expect much from the “classics”, because they’re rarely as good as all the hoopla surrounding them.

With West Side Story, if they’d up the fake, plasticky cheese factor any more they’d have had to call it Velveeta instead. They kept doing weird things with the lighting that made me wonder if I was on an acid trip, and you’d think they’d have chosen actors who could actually sing worth a damn.

I haven’t watched this musical in a very long time, and I managed to pick it up at the library recently. A modern day (for its time anyway) version of Romeo & Juliet, it’s beautifully written, wonderfully choreographed, and with music by Leonard Berstein, who could go wrong? This is also Stephen Sondheim’s first musical, the lyrics of which he’s written. Even before I watched this for the first time, I’ve already known of memorable songs such as “Tonight”, “America”, “Something’s Coming”, “I Feel Pretty”, “Somewhere”, “One Hand, One Heart”, and “I Have A Love”. I finally understood the full meaning of the songs when I heard them in the movie tonight. If you haven’t quite got over West Side Story yourself, check out The Official West Side Story Site.