This Never Should Have Happened, or A Trio of Anitas

LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY decided to do a piece on the current revival of WEST SIDE STORY. Sure, I would rather they talk about NEXT TO NORMAL (which would be awfully relevant to the housefraus watching, dontcha think?), but whatever, WEST is popular, people know it, yada yada yada. But did they need to do a segment wherein Kelly learns the choreography to "America"? And did we then need to see her perform said choreography on the show? And did we need to keep cutting away from the fabulous Karen Olivo to focus on Kelly's "acting" moments? The good news is, Ms. Olivo is so darn likeable, and you do get to see her perform "America". And any national media coverage devoted to Broadway is a good thing. But still, this is ridiculous.

In better news, here's Debbie Allen doing "America" from the 1980 revival. Bitch. Is. FIERCE. Don't get me wrong, because I love me some Karen Olivo, but this is what I'm talking about. This is the West Side Fucking-Story.

And here's Charlotte D'Amboise (who, after seeing EVERY LITTLE STEP, I love, great job movie) and the company of JEROME ROBBINS BROADWAY. I didn't notice in EVERY LITTLE STEP that Ms. D'Amboise's legs are 13 feet long, but I guess they are. She is SUCH a ballerina, and this is the lightest, ariest "America" I've seen. Sure, it's about as Latina as I am, but this is really about the dance. (In fact, this version is slightly rearranged, cutting a few verses, but keeping all the dance.)

Now go and watch the movie version, because I know you can actually watch this number 5 more times.