"A pretty wonderful boy": Who has done Tony best?

Portraying Tony in "West Side Story" is no easy task. These performers tackled the demanding role, with varied results:

Larry Kert

Kert's Tony in the original Broadway run is still deemed one of the best. Kert was a sincere, modest counterpart to Carol Lawrence's angelic Maria. And on their cast album, his heartfelt lyric tenor makes you believe that the name "Maria" really is the most beautiful sound he's ever heard.

Richard Beymer

Hollywood stupidly passed over Kert to hire this earnestly bland heartthrob for the 1961 film of "West Side Story" (in which Natalie Wood played Maria). A stiff actor, Beymer didn't sing well (his songs were dubbed by Jimmy Bryant), and his scenes are the hardest to watch for hardcore fans of the show.

Jose Carreras

The acclaimed opera tenor was sadly miscast as Tony (opposite soprano Kiri Te Kanawa) for a 1984 studio recording of the musical — the first to capture Bernstein's entire score. As shown in the riveting TV documentary "The Making of West Side Story" (now on DVD), Bernstein relentlessly berated Carreras for his mispronunciation of lyrics. What did the maestro expect from a Spaniard with a heavy accent playing a Polish American?

Mandy Patinkin

He never played Tony in his Broadway days, and maybe that shivery vibrato of his would get in the way. But Patinkin singing "Tonight" and "Something's Coming" on the CD "Leonard Bernstein's New York" gives a tantalizing taste of what might have been.

Misha Berson, Seattle Times theater critic