West Side Story, indeed Greatest Musical Of All Time

There is nothing new in the touring production of West Side Story that is currently running at The Theatre in Solaire. Everything is how the tradition set 60 years ago on Broadway said it should be.

There are distractions, very minor really, like I found Lance Hayes as Riff, too tall over the other actors. Maybe I’ve watched the movie version with Russ Tumblyn too many times. Then there is Kevin Hack as Tony, who is too gorgeous looking that he looked like somebody straight out of a Tommy Hilfigger ad. But everything else is probably how the creators imagined it should be. And as anybody who has sat through some Tonys and Marias over the years will tell you, that means exciting music, superb dancing and a tale that has stayed true and relevant for a couple of centuries or more.

Based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet tragedy, West Side Story is one of those musicals that bucked conventions when it premiered in 1957 to a Broadway heady over The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady. The story took place only in a span of two days and ended with three of the lead characters dead. Unlike most musicals then, there was no relief with an all-star cast song-and-dance finale, just pregnant silence as the warring gang members of the Jetts and the Sharks carried the lifeless body of Tony off the stage. The effect was gut-wrenching and the audience went home filled not only with the music but also with questions on why people of different races, colors, countries, upbringing and everything else that says different, cannot live together in peace.

Credit the now legendary composer Leonard Bernstein, director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, scriptwriter Arthur Laurents, and a young lyricist getting his first big break named Stephen Sondheim for coming up with solid entertainment that also got audiences into thinking and feeling. I was a kid when West Side Story first stopped me in my tracks and to this day, I still wonder how these geniuses came up with the idea of transposing Romeo and Juliet into New York’s West Side and putting the lovers in the midst of a turf war between Americans and Puerto Rican gangs. With those givens in place the creators had a tragic romance and racial conflict set to a mix of jazz, Latin and classical music.

West Side Story gave birth to some of the most enduring songs to emerge from theater. Tonight, Somewhere, I Feel Pretty, America, A Boy Like That, Maria, One Heart One Hand, Something’s Coming and others. And with these came iconic characters to sing them. The cast at The Theatre is a mighty talented batch with a great orchestra led by conductor Donald Chan. Jenna Burns is a sweet, perfect soprano and Hack has just the right tenor tones to go with his looks. Their duets soar. And then there is Keely Beirne who is so confident and beautiful as Anita, which is considered the strongest role in the musical. She is also an incredible dancer. Come to think of it, so is everybody. They have to be as they are in a show choreographed by Robbins whose effect on ballet, theater and film is felt to this day.

This is not to denigrate newer theater productions that amaze with flying witches, moving barricades, falling chandeliers and a flying helicopter but a musical should be able to stand on its own based on an interesting plot, sympathetic characters, a well-written script, exciting musical numbers and memorable songs that serve to enhance and further the story. West Side Story is one of those. I am glad that despite the competition, the show continues to be revived and gets taken on tours worldwide with performers who do justice to the iconic roles. I know, there have been several very well done local productions of West Side Story but it still feels good to be able to watch something closer to the original.

This version gets very close. I think I got the same high I did the first time I saw it with that opening chord. And that ending still stunned. But I am glad I have seen too much of West Side Story over the years to leave The Theatre not downcast anymore but humming “I feel pretty, I feel pretty, I feel pretty and witty and bright…”

West Side Story runs until Aug. 27. Catch it this week. This is truly one great musical.