I admit my experience of WSS is based on the 1961 movie. The several times that I saw the stage show, it didn't move me as much as the movie did, and this use of Somewhere could be part of the reason. One of the many ways the film improved on the stage show. Yes, they have other songs, but to me Somewhere expresses their tragic circumstance in a way that those other songs don't, as great as they are.
I'm glad what Maria sings as Tony is dying works for you. It doesn't for me, not because it doesn't make sense, but because its tone and gesture don't fit the moment the way Somewhere does. But I guess that's personal to me. |
