Loved the new WSS and all the performances, etc. - but it got me thinking. Is the role of Tony next to impossible to play? Because of the songs he's expected to be a tender-hearted young man suddenly filled with love. But his history as a gang member (and with a violent streak in the new version) belies that romantic side. Yes, the new script tried to reconcile the two contrasting sides of Tony with more back story. But the difficulty (for me) lies in the lyrics - so much more 'heart on the sleeve' than Sondheim's later writing. Are these the words that would come out of the mouth of a former gang leader? Sondheim sometimes expressed self-criticism of his lyrics to "I Feel Pretty", saying that the language didn't fit that of a young immigrant girl. I just wonder if there's also an inherent difficulty to the role of Tony due to the conflict of story and language.

I recently watched the source material (the Globe Theater's production of Romeo and Juliet.) Romeo is a romantic from the very start (at first obsessed with a different girl.) The conflict of the two families swirls around him, but he seems to be above the conflict, unlike his friend Mercutio (the Riff of the original). Like WSS, the romance with Juliet seems to be in another world than the street, with the conflict inevitable. The friendship between Romeo and Mercutio is based more on verbal sparring and not on past mutual suffering.

I'm not saying WSS is deeply flawed - it remains one of the touchstones of musical theater. But I wonder if the transformation of Tony happening before the play begins (or as it starts) asks too much for an actor to pull off. Ansel Elgort gives a wonderful performance and Tony Kushner's script tries to make more sense of the transformation. But it still troubled me while watching.