West Side Story Wins!

The Grammy, that is. The cast album won Best Musical Show Album, according to Broadwayworld.com.

The revival is great, and stars Tony nominee (and Argentinian goddess of the high note) Josefina Scaglione, Tony winner Karen Olivo (her new album will be out any day now!), and Matt Cavenaugh (before he left in December). If you're in New York, I highly reccomend checking out the Tony/Grammy winning production directed by the play's librettist, 91 year old Arthur Laurents.

If not, check out the soundtrack on iTunes/amazon.com! It's great. It's just impossible to get tired of Matt, Josefina, and Karen's voices.

Have you seen the show or listened to the new cast album? Love the movie? Love another Broadway show? Please, do share in the comments!

Natalie Wood vs. Deborah Kerr

In one of my Oscar-October posts, I remembered the ever-so-charming Deborah Kerr. In that post I said something along the lines of her being the only Marni Nix-dub to get an Oscar nomination and rightly so. It's the "and rightly so" part I want to address.

After another viewing of West Side Story, I realize my mistake. Natalie Wood deserved an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Maria. Not that Kerr didn't, hell, she deserved to win, but Wood did deserve some credit. I don't get why Rita Moreno (who is just amazing in the movie) and (sort of) George Chakiris get all of the attention. Wood is radiant in her role as Maria, and, I think, it is her second best role, with her first being Splendor in the Grass that same year, for which she did garner an Oscar nomination.

However, I know Natalie was in fact "snubbed" for an Oscar, but was she even eligible if she was nominated for Splendor in the Grass that very same year? In today's Oscars, she would not be eligible, but times change as does the rules of the Academy (see- 10 Best Picture nominees for starters).

Can anybody help me clear up this whole "snub" business, and do you think Natalie deserved an Oscar nomination for her role in West Side Story, eligible or not?

VMA Side Story

The VMAs are on September 13th, and to help promote them, a "VMA Side Story" promo has been launched, featuring Taylor Swift, Cobra Starship/Leighton Meester, Ne-Yo, Katy Perry, and Russell Brand. The promo has each of the stars singing a bit of Tonight (or the quintet, to be more specific) with changed lyrics and different settings than the play/film. It's kind of a mess, but it's sort of cool I guess.

Ne-Yo's choreography is laughable, Katy Perry's voice leaves much to be desired, Russell Brand should never try singing again, EVER, but the Cobra Starship/Taylor Swift portion of the promo isn't all bad. Taylor's voice is more pure and stage-like than the rest, and Cobra Starship does a pretty good job with what they have. And Leighton Meester has one line...could it be that she's not that great of a singer?

What are your (you few readers...) thoughts? Please comment!

West Side Story (Broadway)

As many of you can already tell just by looking at the picture of the Sharks/Jets on the top of my blog, I adore West Side Story (Le adoro, for you Spanish speaking readers). I saw it on Broadway today (a little late, but hey the original cast is still all in tact).

Comments
1. Karen Olivo is a deity all in her own. Her tall, maternal-yet-sexy look is beyond Tony-winning. A complete scene stealer.

2. Jerome Robbins choreography is still as amazing as ever, if not better.

3. I'm looking forward to many years of Josefina Scaglione, you?

4. I'm still torn whether I like the Sharks or Jets. I'm leaning toward Sharks.

5. I would have like to have heard I Feel Pretty instead of Hoy Me Siento Heromsa. Also, with my only 3 years of Spanish I could only catch some of the Spanish songs.

Side comment- When Tony was (Spoiler Alert!) shot by Chino, the audience obviously gasped. But then proceeded to whisper for an incredibly long time and becoming unruly before an individual audience member told them to (thankfully) shut up. Strange.

Overall, I would place this first, ahead of the only other two musicals I've seen which are Chicago and, my first, Jersey Boys.

So, have you seen it yet? If not, do! If you have, comment! If you haven't, feel free to comment anyway!