"...the Smash Hit of the Season"

June 17, 2007 performance review by Frances Benn Hall

The Sharks dance from the Prologue
photo: Kevin Sprague

Here we are, only the middle of June, and already the play likely at the summer season's end to be voted the Smash Hit of the Season has opened gloriously at Barrington Stage Co., in Pittsfield.

"West Side Story" has been cherished ever since its Broadway production fifty years ago. That early production with Leonard Bernstein's music, Stephen Sondheim's lyrics, Arthur Laurents' book, and Jerome Robbins choreography, gleaned all the awards.

And it is that first early version that will be playing on the Barrington Stage for the next five weeks. Director Julianne Boyd has brought in the younger experts carrying on the torches of that early production and celebrating here in the Berkshires, where for many years Bernstein was a vital living presence, the excitement of this dearly loved play.

The plot needs no description, it is "Romeo and Juliet" set in the back alleys of Manhattan with the two feuding street gangs of Jets and Sharks replacing Capulets and Montagues. The time, evocatively produced by the costumes of Anne Kennedy, is roughly the '50s but the issues over which the two gangs struggle are very much with us still: youth violence, immigration, and racial turf wars.

Tony (Chris Peluso), Maria (Julie Craig)
profess their love in "Tonight"
photo: Kevin Sprague

There are eleven musicians in the pit, led by Conductor Darren R. Cohen, who produce the varied musical genres that weave in and out of the production. Choreographer Joshua Bergasse has recreated the original dances with all their vitality, brio, agility and poignancy.

And the stage is awash with talent: twenty five young, vibrant, talented performers who act, dance and sing their hearts out. All deserve the whistles and standing ovation that followed their performance.

Especially noteworthy are the handsome, well-cast young lovers, Julie Craig as Maria and Chris Peluso as Tony. They are ardent, endearing, agile and poignant.

Jacqueline Colmer as Anita is full of sassy awareness and vitality. She is a whirl of flouncing colorful skirts and opinions, defiant and loyal and at home in the bridal shop or the high school gym or the street, knitting much of the plot together.

Bernardo, (Freddy Ramirez) as leader of the Sharks is menacing, defiant, and a marvelous dancer in a show replete with talented dancers.

The head-honcho of the Jets is Riff, played by Justin Bohon. He opens the show on a dynamic note and leads his gang with energy and brio. His every move is full of a pulsing vitality and he is gifted with a timing that lets the twitch of a muscle speak volumes.

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These five and their interweaving lives carry the plot magnificently, energetically aided by the supporting cast who leap fences as casually as they wield switch knives, and sing and dance their hearts out. They are an enormously talented group.

All the memorable dances and songs are there. The duets between Maria and Tony are poignant and tender, especially the aching "Tonight" sung on the rickety fire-escape that replaces Juliet's balcony. The spirited Anita, more worldly wise than the innocent and trusting Maria pairing with her compassionate "I Have a Love." And the magnificent "Rumble."

All these are supported further by talented behind-the scenes artists, again too many to list but especially deserving mention are Luke Hegel-Cantarella who designed the numerous sets and an unsung hero such as Greg Owen up above those sets as fly operator making sure they keep ascending and descending on cue.

This reviewer had only one question. A vague memory my driver had was that in that long ago Broadway production we are both old enough to have seen and cherished, in the marvelous song "America" (which in this production was sung by the Shark girls) had included Shark gang men so there could be a brief argument between Anita and Bernardo (brother and sister) as to being "American" as well as "Puerto Rican." Perhaps that bit was in a later movie version, but it nagged us all the way home, and if anyone knows the answer, please let me know.

Whether you have always loved this play and its dances and music, or if you are young and seeing it for the first time, it is sheer delight and it is a pleasure to say so.