With only a few noticable nips and tucks, Arthur Laurents' West Side Story holds up pretty well, despite being more than a half-century old. The original Broadway run began in 1957 and has been revived three times. The 2009 Broadway revival closed earlier this year. The touring production of the 2009 revival is playing at the Providence Performing Arts Center through May 1, 2011.
In 2009, there was much discussion about the decision to update the book and the lyrics to have the Spanish-speaking characters speak and sing in Spanish, at least some of the time. While I speak no Spanish, I had absolutely no difficulty understanding what was happening on stage when the characters spoke Spanish. I, unfortunately, cannot always say the same for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, from which West Side Story takes its inspiration.
For the men in the cast, Jerome Robbins' brilliant choreography has been updated to be more masculine; more reality-based and less dreamy. The changes are subtle and well-executed. The language updates, along with the choreography updates, give a contemporary vibe to the Broadway classic.
Kyle Harris plays Tony, one-half of the pair of star-crossed lovers. During last evening's performance, Mr. Harris displayed neither the charisma nor the vocal capacity that is expected of a leading man. He valiantly attempted to force his voice to hit and sustain notes; with tone and texture suffering on every distracting attempt.
In contrast, Ali Ewoldt as Maria, is an old-school belter who can reel in her voice, when needed, to highlight her character's core purity.
Alexandra Frohlinger's Anybodys has a pleasantly surprising break-out solo with "Somewhere", in Act Two. Michelle Aravena seems perfectly cast as the sassy and beloved Anita.
Suspense starts to build as soon as the curtain rises. Members of the Jets and Sharks size each other up in the opening prologue, which takes the place of the traditional overture. The pit orchestra, under the direction of John O'Neill was tight and ably supported the on-stage performers. This touring cast includes a couple dozen terrific dancers.
"America" delivers exactly what the audience expects and the number is thrilling from beginning to end. The rumble scene, which closes Act One, is also terrific; gritty and engaging. I have no idea what the original stage direction was for "Somewhere", but the ethereal dreamscape works beautifully.
The score by Leonard Bernstein is incomparable and triggers all sorts of pleasant audio sense memories for me. In his recently published book 'Finishing The Hat' composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim wrote that he is embarrassed by his work on West Side Story. The master is critical of his own work, but I find no reason to be.
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West Side Story plays at The Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) through April 17, 2011. Ticket prices range from $43 - $70 and can be purchased at the PPAC Box Office which is located at 220 Weybosset St., Providence, RI; by calling (401) 421-2787 or at www.ppacri.org.
Photo: Touring cast of West Side Story. Photo by Joan Marcus
