SOMEWHERE

SOMEWHERE  [West Side Story; 1957; music by Leonard Bernstein; lyrics by Stephen Sondheim]  The current Ivo van Hove WWS revival is too tattoo-cool to rely on what made this one of the great theatre songs: The “Somewhere” ballet. This dream ballet, where Tony and Maria find a Utopian “place for us,” turns into a nightmare of remembrance and makes this a truly theatrical piece. If you watched the 1961 Oscar-winning movie, you would never know how remarkable this song is. (Like the current revival, they also cut the ballet.) Its many covers-by The Supremes, Phil Collins, the Pet Shop Boys, and especially Barbra Streisand and her 80’s-synth New Age version–helped turn this into one of musical theatre’s more iconic songs. OVERALL SCORE: 88.0