I was not able to make the Rosen performance last night, but I did see the Illini Union Board's presentation of West Side Story over the weekend, so I shall write about that.

I remember seeing West Side Story when I was much younger, perhaps 10 or 11, and liking it very much, so I was very excited to see this most recent performance. The scheduling of the event targeted all the moms here for mother's weekend, and the crowd certainly showed it. I was surrounded on all sides by parents. There was even a person behind me who I overheard saying that this was their third time seeing the performance (their son played Action). I too was seeing someone I knew in the performance. A friend from my floor played Officer Krupke. From high school, I was used to seeing a bunch of people I knew on stage. But seeing just one person I knew, and the fact that the production was definitely larger than a typical high school's, his presence seemed like a much bigger deal. 

The performance itself was overall very well done and extremely entertaining. The orchestra sounded great and so did the performers, although sometimes it was apparent that certain characters mics were not turned up to the same volume level as others, but this could have been on purpose, I am not sure. The girl who played Maria had a beautiful and strong voice, but sometimes she would overpower the boy who played Anthony and nearly make him impossible to hear (there was specualtion that he got the role just because he was a senior anyway). The awesome array of songs were definitely a highlight of this (and I assume all other) productions. The  great songs had me singing to myself at random a full two days after, and I certainly was not alone.