Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...This show, which features choreography by Rhett Guter, is something rather different and refreshing. It doesn't so much aim to be a definitive or wildly spectacular "West Side Story" (the unobtrusively kinetic design is by Scott Davis) so much as a particular approach to a masterpiece. This show feels more like a collision between an iconic work and the discoveries of a particular group of young performers; it is dark and intensely involving. With the spectacular exception of Michelle Aravena, who plays Anita, as she did on the national tour of the Broadway revival, the young cast is mostly made up of newcomers. This theater doesn't have an ensemble, but here it feels like it does."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Drury Lane Theatre's grand-scale, emotionally wrenching production of the work (already extended, as it has proven to be the fastest-selling show in the theater's 30-year history), is a vivid reminder of the musical's enduring mix of tragic grandeur and streetwise savvy. And it is immensely enhanced by Rachel Rockwell's cut-to-the-heart direction which underplays the work's 1950s lingo, but subtly and forcefully focuses on the matters of ethnic strife, immigrant life, youthful gang violence, police tactics and even sexual identity that make "West Side Story" so eerily timely."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Rachel Rockwell's masterful revival of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's 1957 musical masterpiece gets everything right. Scott Davis’s set transports us to a mid-50s New York City barrio, as do Erika Senase's spot-on costumes."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...This West Side Story is at its best when dancing and captivating us with a harrowing story, played with complete honesty by courageous actors and director that still packs a punch after 67 years. I just hope that they can at least address the major sound issues that are, at present, marring the beauty of an otherwise beautiful production and will learn that when you tackle a musical the last thing you sacrifice is the music."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...What a range for these inexhaustible dynamos! The hot, young troupe tears into the kick-ass gang-banging of the anthemic “Jets Song,” then eases into the lovers’ heartbreaking balletic fantasy of a world without hate. The sure-fire storytelling behind every movement in “America” and especially “Gee, Officer Krupke” are matched by the almost scary youthfulness that bursts through their seams. The songs, well coached by Roberta Duchak, feel as inevitable as the story."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Much credit for the night's success must go to director Rachel Rockwell, for breathing life into tradition. Scott Davis's scenic design of a train track proscenium and chain-link fences made this show into a confining underworld. David Woolard and Rick Jarvie's costume and wig designs aided the ensemble in creating distinctive characters. The nine musicians under Ben Johnson's conducting played Bernstein's music as rousingly and precisely as it has ever sounded. This production proves that West Side Story is still an entertaining and artistic piece of theatre, and is likely to be as good as any production of it a person could ever hope to see."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The music is exciting, the dancing under the choreography of Rhett Guter) is amazing and the sets on the stage of Drury Lane Oakbrook by Scott Davis amazingly simple, but sheer perfection, for telling this age-old story. Songs like "Tonight", "I Feel Pretty", "Somewhere" , "America" (deliciously performed by Anita/Michelle Aravena and Rosalia/Lillian Castillo), " Gee, Officer Krupke" ( Adrian Aguilar/Action and the Jets bring this number to a new high) and the loving "One Hand, One Heart". This is a musical that is filled with music and lyrics that tell the story. The music without words allows the story to be told in dance making this complete."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Drury Lane has followed up its definitive, eye-opening production of “Camelot” with this high-strung, deeply moving production of yet another classic of the musical stage. Although some moments push the envelope with an uncomfortable, stark realism not usually associated with this musical, there’s so much to appreciate and admire. Featuring Rachel Rockwell’s polish and driving direction, Rhett Guter’s energetic and elegiac choreography and Roberta Duchak’s outstanding musical direction, supported by Scott Davis‘ massive, urban-inspired scenic design and Yael Lubetzky’s evocative, atmospheric lighting, this entire company sets the air humming, and audiences will recognize that something great is coming."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Recommended
"...Director Rockwell has tried to strengthen the dramatic punch of the story to give the story more grit and immediacy. The rumble between the Sharks and the Jets is staged with ferocity that briefly, at least, suggests that gangs on New York City’s west side in the 1950’s were no joke. The Jets’ assault on Anita in Doc’s drugstore is presented with chilling viciousness, reinforcing the menace of testosterone–driven young men who may be the social danger we don’t see elsewhere in the show. And credit Rockwell with avoiding any kitschy note of reconciliation at the end of the show that would cheapen the story."
NewCity Chicago - Recommended
"...This work is unbelievably difficult to perform. The dances are wildly exciting, and the night I attended, the audience responded viscerally to everything—the comedy, the deadly sarcasm, the sickening brutality of the fights, the pungent, flashing wit of the women, the headlong, coruscating beauty of the dances, and the overwhelming genius of Bernstein’s music. At least six of his songs provoked loud, enthusiastic applause."
