WEST SIDE STORY - A Pulse Pounding Musical Masterpiece

(Photos By Joan Marcus)

WEST SIDE STORY - A Pulse Pounding Musical Masterpiece

Last night's opening of the National Tour of the revival of WEST SIDE STORY at the Broward Center, reminded me how deliriously exciting musical theater can be.

WEST SIDE STORY was a landmark work when it premiered some fifty odd years ago. There had been ‘serious' musicals before; SHOW BOAT from decades earlier was certainly not a musical comedy. I do believe WEST SIDE STORY was the first successful musical driven by dance. How intoxicating those dance sequences in WEST SIDE STORY remain all these decades later. The dance in WEST SIDE STORY is from the genius of Jerome Robbins. If we are to believe some sources, including the show's original Anita, Chita Rivera, the ‘shark' dances were done by Robbins' assistant, Peter Gennaro.

The presentation of these hoodlums doing amazing dances to the pulsating and violent sounding music supplied by another genius, Leonard Bernstein, is simply mind blowing. Come to think of it, the ‘violent' sounding music in the opening of WEST SIDE STORY may have influenced the opening sequence music in another landmark musical, A CHORUS LINE.

It has pretty much been established that WEST SIDE STORY is a masterwork musical. Put four gay Jewish boys together, and they gave us what may be individually, the singular greatest work of each of their careers. Arthur Laurents wrote the original book, oversaw this revival, and were it not for him; millions would not have known the basic story of ROMEO AND JULIET, recreated as WEST SIDE STORY.

I believe it was the first Broadway show for the genius named Stephen Sondheim. As he later did for GYPSY, Sondheim just did the lyrics for WSS. The music is a gift to anyone who loves music from the maestro, Leonard Bernstein. Together, Bernstein and Sondheim gave WSS, THE JET SONG (When You're A Jet You're A Jet All The Way), SOMETHING'S COMING, MARIA, AMERICA (I l Like To Be In America), TONIGHT, COOL, I FEEL PRETTY, ONE HAND, ONE HEART and SOMEWHERE, among others! The score of this musical is quite astonishing.

The man who first brought it all together and to life was Jerome Robbins. Robbins work in WSS makes me ecstatic and disbelieving whenever I see it. Any accolade or award he received for WSS has stood the test of time and is indeed still something we can love and cherish, learn from, and strive to equal.

WEST SIDE STORY has had numerous revivals and tours and the film version won, I believe, ten Oscars, including Best Picture. So here we are with the national tour of the new revival of WSS. It certainly does not disappoint; it simply makes one want to see the show again and the movie again, too.

The entire physical production has been done by top notch pros, with James Youmans' sets, Howell Binkly's lighting, and David C. Woolard's costumes all right on the money.

The ‘adult' cast is uniformly fine is their relatively thankless roles in this extravaganza highlighted by song, music, and dance. I do think that more interesting actors could have been engaged for the roles of Doc and Krupke. No matter, their roles are not very important in this masterwork.

As expected, the young cast is uniformly excellent with Kyle Harris and his great singing voice and good looks to match, leading the pack as Tony. Michelle Aravena delivers many times over in the plum part of Anita. Only Ali Ewoldt as Maria does indeed disappoint. While her performance is a million miles away from a train wreck her Maria is too underplayed, and her singing voice is just a bit lacking. German Santiago as Bernardo is outstanding, and come to think of it, he may be the best Bernardo I have ever seen.

The performers and craftspeople have brought us a national tour of the WSS Broadway revival that is nothing short of gold. The most noticeable change in this revival is the addition of some Spanish language for the Sharks, where Laurents felt it was sensible and appropriate. It is my understanding that there is less Spanish in the revival now than when the revival first opened on Broadway. It does make sense and it is just fine and Mr. Laurents knew from whence he directed.

Anyone with an interest in musical theater, or dance, or any kind of live entertainment for that matter must see WEST SIDE STORY. Please do not miss this show. www.BrowardCenter.org.

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