MUSICAL THEATRE REVIEW:
WEST SIDE STORY

JOHN COULBOURN,
Special to TorSun  
10 MAY 2012 
R: 4/5

Pictured: Evy Ortiz, Ross Lekites

TORONTO - Rather than dimming with the passage of time, the genius that illuminated the 1957 première of WEST SIDE STORY seems to burn brighter with each passing decade. That's tribute, one suspects, not only to the enduring brilliance of William Shakespeare, whose Romeo and Juliet inspired this classic, but to the creative power of the collaboration that adapted his play to the musical stage -- playwright Arthur Laurents, composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim and director/choreographer Jerome Robbins. And happily, the power of that collaboration shines brightly in an occasionally-flawed-but-ultimately-powerful production of the show that opened at the Toronto Centre for the Arts Wednesday, part of Dancap's ongoing season.

Reviewed here in its Tuesday preview, this is a touring production of the 2009 Broadway revival, in which the late Laurents not only assumed the director's mantle, but reworked some of the dialogue as well to deepen the Hispanic element of the story. In the main, Laurents' reworking -- which has members of the Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks, speaking Spanish amongst themselves -- plays well for an audience that has had half a century of not-always-positive television portrayals of Hispanic youth to broaden its horizon since the show debuted. But from a directorial point of view, Laurents cleaves fairly closely to not only the choreography but the stage vision originally created by Robbins, spinning out the story of the tragically ill-fated romance between the Polish-Irish Tony (played by Ross Lekites) and the Puerto Rican-born Maria (Evy Ortiz).

It's a romance torn apart by gang warfare between the Jets -- who count Tony as an increasingly reluctant member and comprised mostly of the children of Irish and Eastern European immigrants -- and the Sharks, led by Maria's brother, Bernardo (German Santiago) and comprised of the kids of the more recent Puerto Rican migration to New York.

Under the direction of  David Saint, who recreates Laurents' vision for the road, and working with choreographer Joey McKneely (recreating the style of Robbins' original choreography, if not its menace), the extensive cast claims James Youmans' wonderfully down-at-the-heels evocation of Manhattan with plenty of energy, basking in the glow of Howell Binkley's masterful lighting. From the pit, John O'Neill leads the orchestra through a timeless score that includes such musical gold as Something's Coming, Maria, Tonight, I Feel Pretty and Somewhere.

As Tony, Lekites seems rather stolid 'til he opens his mouth and soars to those high notes, while as Maria, Ortiz blends a wonderful innocence with a youthful soprano voice. They are supported by some fine performance from the likes of Santiago, Michelle Aravena (as Bernardo's girlfriend, Anita), Drew Foster (as Tony's best friend Riff) and the diminutive Alexandra Frohlinger -- who, as Anybodys, tears into Somewhere (originally sung from offstage) as an anthem for all the world's outsiders. On the downside, in minor roles, John O'Creagh's Doc, Wally Dunn's Krupke and Mike Boland's Lt. Schrank all seem a touch road-weary, while Stephen DeRosa is all but unforgivable in his turn as Glad Hand. In the end, in the pantheon of memorable tellings, this one stops just shy of greatness, but a production of WEST SIDE STORY that is merely pretty damn good is still well worth seeing.