After the tumultuous response at the end of the opening performance of this production, I was thinking fussily of my reservations about the chorus and orchestra sounding less impressive than in the 1999 West Side Story under the previous musical director and this Tony's unfortunate tendency to sing like an American Idol contestant and other small gripes. Then I saw the granddaughter of a friend, who is a Canadian theater critic, and she brought me back to my senses. Although she is starting in college and a critic's kin, she had just seen her first-ever professional musical, and she was grinning in delight with tears running down her face as she let me know that we had a new convert.
Of course, this great, exciting dramatic musical with the gorgeous score is a fine choice to start with. But also, whatever the minor cavils, this is a brilliant production, superbly cast and mounted and performed, and a revival worthy of the best of Broadway or the West End. Even in these tough times, it should be a difficult ticket to get hold of this season.
I wondered about a Shakespeare Festival's reviving a familiar modern musical only ten years after the fine version directed by Kelly Robinson there and choreographed by the same man, Sergio Trujillo, this time assisted by Joshua Bergasse. Trujillo's faithful recreation of Jerome Robbins' original choreography had been that Stratford premiere's strongest element, other than Berthold Carriere's luscious musical direction. But this revival is more potently slanted dramatically. The young toughs are as passionate, funny, and ultimately heartbreaking as any I've seen. Trujillo's recreation of the famous movement is still pretty much faithful to Robbins', but he and director Griffin emphasize the dancers' naturalness, their intense energy, and their potent sexuality. The young men and women sing well and strongly though only Maria and Anita sound as lovely as opera stars; but they sing to express feelings with unmistakable drive. Funny numbers like "Gee, Officer Krupke" have comic zest that brings the house down, but they also have more angry bite than any I've seen before. And you'd swear this is a company of topnotch, long-trained professional dancers, not actors who can sing and dance.
Robbins hand-picked his original cast of dancers, and though a few (now directors and character actors) claim to still be amazed at how he got them moving, several have gone on to dancing fame. But this young Stratford company here rightly win wild applause for their every dance number. In a bow to several famed Romeo and Juliet ballets, Trujillo has Paul Nolan's Tony leap up onto Maria's balcony with daring acrobatic bravado, just to show his joy and excitement. This is an old-fashioned theater piece that will knock young audiences out of their seats.
The whole cast is a pleasure. Brandon Espinoza is a strong leader as Riff, his nervous energy contrasting with Paul Nolan's moodier Tony, until Tony blossoms at the sight of Maria. Chilina Kennedy is an absolutely lovely Maria, with an exquisite voice and a maturing sense of selfhood. Jennifer Rias dances and clowns splendidly as Anita, and rises both dramatically and in vocal elegance to match Maria in their emotional duet. Josie Marasco's Anybodys moves beautifully and avoids the stage-tomboy clilche`s of the role. And Stephen Russell is unusually affecting as the sympathetic Doc infuriated and sickened by the senseless violence that surrounds him.
Douglas Paraschuk's large impressive sets alternate almost cinematically, with clever effects like having the hanging dresses of the shop where Maria and Anita work slide down to actors on the great thrust stage from above the audience to change to that scene. Jess Goldstein's costumes seem dramatically right, if sometimes stagy for the women. Kevin Fraser's lighting lends more variety and subtlety than the other designs and underscores the drama splendidly. Simon Fon's never overstated fights seem subtly real onstage. I hope that this will become one of Stratford's filmed-live performances for sale and archives.
