West Side Story . . .

. . . is as good in 2007 as it was in 1957. The best thing about seeing the show in 2007 is that I was able to do it in the company of my lovely daughter.

Last night's performance offered good dancing, excellent singing, and one blockbuster performance -- Natascia Diaz as Anita. (Anita is far and away the best part in the play. Tony and Maria sing, Bernardo and Riff dance, but Anita sings and dances and acts. And Ms. Diaz does it all brilliantly!)

Update: Wednesday's Washington Post agrees.

With the possible exception of Natascia Diaz's Anita, there are no standout performances . . .

(There's no "possible" about it.)

And Diaz is delightful, the one performer who seems to fully own her role. She perhaps overdoes Anita's sarcastic kittenish comedy, but her dancing in "America" is easy and commanding. So is her acting and her vocal duet with Sarah Darling's winsome Maria ("A Boy Like That/I Have [a] Love") . . .

"the one performer who seems to fully own"? No, no, no: "the one performer who fully owns".
"overdoes"? No, no, no! She doesn't overdo anything. She does everything perfectly.