"West Side Story' at Academy of Music

West Side Story began as a musical project developed over a long period by three Jewish New Yorkers: Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents and Jerome Robbins. Their original 1949 conception planned a twist on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set in modern Manhattan, involving Jews and Catholics and titled East Side Story.

As the ethnic mix, and prejudices, of New Yorkers changed, so did the show's story and title. What remained was the creators' desire for a revolutionary theater piece that included an equal melding of music, story and dance. Young Stephen Sondheim was added, late in the process, to write the lyrics.

Bernstein gave a sneak preview for West Side Story in 1955 when he hosted an "Omnibus" TV program in which he discussed the history of American musical theater. Almost all American musicals, he argued, followed the model of European operettas by being set in distant places and/or olden times.

Even the recent Rodgers and Hammerstein hits Carousel and Oklahoma! adhered to that formula. Although servicemen returning from World War II viewed South Pacific as realistic, Bernstein pointed out that Bali Ha'i was half a world away and, from the perspective of the 1950s, the war was old history. What America needed, Bernstein argued, was musical theater set in the here and now, addressing contemporary problems. And for him, "here" meant the streets of New York City.

At the time of that telecast, the world didn't know that Bernstein was in the midst of creating such a musical.

What we take for granted

The show explores the rivalry between two teenage gangs, the Sharks— Puerto Rican immigrants— and the Jets, who are white working class. The Jets, who've been in the neighborhood longer, challenge the Sharks: "Who asked you to move here? You don't belong here." The Romeo-like protagonist, Tony, a Jet, falls in love with Maria, who has only been in America a few weeks and is the sister of the Sharks' leader.

At its premiere in 1957 (I saw its pre-Broadway tryout in Philadelphia), West Side Story astounded audiences for its reliance on dance to tell the story, and for the originality of Bernstein's music. Now we take for granted the ingenuity of the jazz and mambo rhythms, the bold use of percussion and syncopation, the ethereal high notes at the end of "Something's Coming" and "Maria," and the juxtaposition of dramatic opera and tender love ballads, sometimes in a single song such as "A Boy Like That Could Kill Your Brother/ I Have a Love."

There have been other adaptations of Romeo and Juliet but none so successfully changed the story. Instead of relying on Shakespeare's potions, West Side Story uses human action and reaction to impel the denouement. When the Jets sexually assault Anita and use the worst racial epithets, she abandons her loyalty to Maria and tells the Jets that Maria has been murdered, thus driving Tony toward his tragic death.

Spanish dialogue

In the last years of his life, Laurents as playwright tweaked the dialogue and directed the 2009 revival that's now touring the nation. A few words remain that sound anachronistic to us, like "cool" and "daddy-o." The show is surely a period piece: Today's gangs use guns with alacrity and follow no chivalrous rules, and so the use of 1950s language is acceptable. Notwithstanding what Bernstein said on TV, today his own show is set in the past.

But its contemporary relevance remains. Witness that Florida vigilante George Zimmerman, who apparently instinctively believed that a black boy didn't belong in his neighborhood.

This production incorporates Spanish words for dialogue between the Puerto Ricans and in parts of some of the songs. The translations, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of In the Heights, smartly utilize Puerto Rican vernacular and pronunciations. Laurents received hate mail attacking his inclusion of Spanish dialogue, but it really adds to the show. (Its use now is greatly reduced from the 2009 version.)

Laurents aimed to darken this production and make the gang members less likeable. But, much as I loved the ensemble, none of these Jets or the Sharks would frighten me in a dark alley.

Film vs. stage

Millions of people love the 1962 film version of West Side Story, but nothing on film can equal the impact of live bodies leaping in front of us— real people, breathing hard. This cast is supremely athletic, and most of them are very good vocally as well.

As Maria, Evy Ortiz doesn't have the best voice ever, but she looks so young and sounds so innocent that she captured my heart.

Ross Lekites hits great high notes with a strong voice that lacks just a bit in vulnerability. Michelle Aravena is an exciting and sympathetic Anita. Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva stepped in as a strong replacement Bernardo.

Stephen DeRosa has an amusing vignette as the school principal who supervises the dance where Tony meets Maria. John O'Neill conducted the unusually large 24-piece orchestra in a first-class rendition of the score.♦


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