Craig Taylor

Review of Virginia Repertory Theatre/ Th...

Great theater in a really good location. Barely a...

Great theater in a really good location. Barely any "truly bad" seats in the House! They usually have really good productions here. Wasn't "in love" with the recent production of West Side Story... It wasn't bad really, but I had a couple of issues:
Considering W.S.S. is mostly dancing, I think the dancing was only ok. Especially the main "fight"... Anyone who knows the story knows that the entire show is a buildup to the "fight." But, I was a little underwhelmed when the dancing want super sharp and crisp. Also, and THIS IS JUST MY OPINION... This is a story about a turf was between the Whites and the Puerto Ricans in NY... So I'm having trouble figuring out why Casting couldn't locate more actual Latin actors to play the Latin roles. It's one thing to have a Puerto Rican gang of 10 guys, but a couple of them are White guys playing the part. It's another thing completely up have a Puerto Rican gang of 10 While guys, but only a couple of them are actually Latin. It's like if they'd casted 100 While guys to play Blacks in the movie Black Panther... Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with casting based on race if the story calls for it. Just sayin'!
But this is not the norm for this theater. It's a solid visit, and though I have some gripes with one production, I'm typically very pleased here. Ticket prices are reasonable, and there are plenty of places in the area to have dinner or a drink around the show.
Give this place a chance! I'd love to see it grow in popularity even more.