Theater review part deux: West Side Story

by John Garcia of John Garcia's The Column

One of my Associate Theater Critics reviewed this production of West Side Story on its opening night. However, this production is double cast, and I was able to observe the other cast perform.

After reading my critic's review of the cast she reviewed, I thought it would be interesting to write a review on the other cast.

My connection to West Side Story goes all the way back when I was in Summerstock as a teenager. I've done the show twice (both times portraying "Chino"), and I've seen over 25 productions of WSS, with different concepts, visions, choreography, etc. Some have been riveting; others have made wish I was seated closer to the exit.

Currently I have a professional pal of mine who is starring as "Tony" in the Broadway revival of West Side Story, Matt Cavanaugh. We met when I interviewed him when he came through Dallas with the Thoroughly Modern Millie national tour. It was a great interview, so much so that we have kept in touch since. When he was doing Grey Gardens (portraying "Jerry") on Broadway with Christine Ebersole, we again had a great chat backstage. I have promised him to see WSS when I go to New York again, and cannot wait!

I only bring all that up so as to connect the thread that even now I still have some strange "connect the dots" of myself and this classic musical that used Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as its "book."

Artisan Center Theater in Hurst is in the round, which so difficult to stage and block. At anytime you are going to have backs and butts facing you, thus missing the facial expressions, emotion, etc. It's just the flaw that bruises any production that is in the round.

I was thoroughly impressed by the staging and direction by Dennis Canright. This is a huge cast, so as an actor, I know it must have been quite stressful and tedious blocking, staging, etc., all those exits, entrances, emotional moments within the book & score, and so on for an "in the round" production. The overall result was quite notable. There were some missteps here and there in a couple of songs and key moments that the staging/blocking didn't exactly pack the emotional, subtext punch it required, but overall Mr. Canright's direction was fantastic and left me very, very impressed by his work.

To restage the monumental choreography created by maestro Jerome Robbins is a herculean task for any choreographer. You need the crème de la crème dancers to truly pull off the athletic, muscular, and dramatic choreography that Robbins created.

This is hands down Eddie Floresca's finest job as a choreographer; he truly outdid himself here. Not only to re-create Robbins' vision of dance, but to set it all in the round. What added another level of appreciation was how Floresca also added his own personal touches of choreography within the work of Robbins.

Having such a large cast on stage actually added more enjoyment to this production of WSS than in some previous productions I've seen. This is a very large company, so they really added so much excitement and enjoyment to those big full numbers. Floresca's choreography duties here were first rate all the way.

Yes, it does show on stage that there are better trained dancers than others. Some members of the cast struggled here and there, and at times could not fully complete the clean, precise, muscular lines, or spins, or the massive leaps that the choreography demands. There were instances where they did mess up or forget a step, or they went "up" on a dance cue. But having said all that, you have got to give them great respect and a standing ovation for going full out and doing a dazzling job with the difficult choreography.

The ensemble of Jets, Sharks, and their girls -- well, they blew me away. This cast was so "in the moment" and committed to the story. They worked beautifully as a group, capturing the dark pathos of violence, the laughter, the racism, and the heart of this musical. They danced full out, giving it their all. And that finale. How they all reacted emotionally just left me with chills going down my spine.

The honest, truthful facial expressions that the three Jets and three Sharks give each other when they pick up Tony's body were marvelous, real. These six actors did not "act" the moment; they were "in" the moment. That just blew me away.

One of the best company numbers of the night was "The Dance at the Gym;" it was exploding with energy, dance, voice, and sheer excitement. This was by far one of the hardest and impressive ensembles I've seen all season long.

But alas, there are some problems within the production.

Within the large cast there were some off key singing and the struggling of hitting the high notes (in particular with the baritones, tenors, and sopranos). But those were few and far between.

In the number "Gee, Officer Krupke" there was a moment that I do not know if it was the actor's choice or the director's. Towards the end when the actor sang, "I have a social disease," he did a limp wrist gesture, as if saying to the doctor he was gay. I've never seen that done before. I must admit both my guest and I squirmed in our seats and looked at each other in the dark with puzzled looks. I have a big issue of stereotyping any social section of our society on stage when it is done in a "mocking" manner. So to do a "limp wrist" gesture to signify "gay" was a tad offensive. Being gay is not a "social" disease -- we all know that is not true whatsoever. There is no hint in the lyrics that the character is gay, it has to do with him being such a thug and difficult teenager. I just don't think that gesture was needed, nor was it the right subtext to send out.

The attempted "rape" on Anita also was another problem here. I completely understand that ACT prides itself on being a "family oriented" theater company. But if you are going to do mature productions like this one, you must honor the book and subtext. The staging of the Jets and Anita simply did not work here. It must be graphic, violent, angry, lustful, revengeful, racist, and hateful.

In the original production, they actually unzip Baby John's zipper and literally lay him on top of Anita. The Jets all ravage and attack her both verbally and physically in such graphic reality that it should make the audience squirm and feel completely uncomfortable. Remember, you are mirroring real life to the audience here. This does happen, even today. All of this done to Anita is what makes her destroy the innocent love of Maria and Tony with her own hatred. All that subtext and physical violence is what gives Anita her motivation and disgust, plus it feeds her own thirst of revenge of losing Bernardo.

For ACT's production, it was way too watered down. It involved Anita chasing the Jets to get back her wrap, or of the Jets circling around her, taunting her. The staging and subtext just did not work here. It honestly needed that graphic, horrific realism to truly hit the audience in the gut the horror of this revengeful rape.

When I interviewed Broadway legend Chita Rivera (who originated the role of "Anita") several years ago, we talked about that scene. She said Jerome really made the Jets treat her with such disgust and cruelty, and the rape became so real, she actually broke down and sobbed during rehearsal. She said the Jet boys felt so bad they kept apologizing to her. But she said she understood what Robbins wanted, so she gathered all her strength to get through that ugly, horrifying scene at every performance. But she told me that there were many times when she would run off stage after that scene and just cry off stage due to the realism of that scene.

There was also the issue with the staging and blocking for "A Boy Like That." That is such a dramatic song and major moment for "Anita." But the emotional wallop that the number needs was wounded due to the staging here. For the majority of the song, both Anita and Maria are positioned at the far end of the stage, but on floor level, so I missed so much of that number as I could not see their faces.

Finally, there were times when the accents (both the New York-ish and Puerto Rican dialects) were dropped within several of the actors.

The cast is abound with snazzy, engrossing performances, there are just way too many to list. But here are some that truly deserve glowing recognition for delivering some really swell, riveting performances:

Andrew McGlothen as "Riff;" Matt Slayter as "Action;" Lloyd Harvey as "Bernardo;" Michael Pandolfo as "Baby John;" Scout Harrell as "Rosalia;" Caleb White as "Geetar;" Samantha Padilla as "Consuela" (her ad-libs in the gym dance are hilarious!); Trent Bynum as "Big Deal;" Steve Pandolfo as "Schrank;" Gary Payne as "Officer Krupke;" Connor Bynum as "Pepe;" and Alan Carrillo as "Indio."

But there were three performances that were absolutely first rate: Sarah Dickerson as "Maria;" Gina Gwozdz as "Anita;" and Evan Ramos as "Tony."

It was these very three performances in particular that my associate theater critic did not review, so it is quite interesting on how we both saw different results in these roles.

Ms. Dickerson has a pulchritudinous soprano voice that wafted effortlessly within the score. She did not crack nor struggle with the difficulty with the range; in fact she seemed to sail effortlessly on those soprano notes. Her acting was on the right arc, that of innocent child, to woman, to grieving lover. I was quite impressed on how she kept her Latin dialect layered with realistic overtones. Her final emotional breakdown over the death of Tony put a lump in my throat.

As "Anita," Gina Gwozdz is a gorgeous looking firecracker of a girl who could make any man in New York fall under her spell. She had dazzling stage presence that never once dimmed. The second she stepped on stage, your eyes went straight to her. She was by far the best dancer on stage, her kicks went high and precise, her turns and arms were in perfect formation. Ms. Gwozdz's interpretation and performance in the number "America" was easily one of the finest show-stopping numbers of the night. While the staging for the "rape" in Act Two was not up to par, this terrific actress still brought enough amount of fright, anger, and revenge for her final scene. This girl stole my heart Saturday night.

As stated before, this is a double cast show, so on this night I watched Evan Ramos portray "Tony." He was, in a word, phenomenal. He had the looks for "Tony," those pretty boy looks that have an aura of full innocence to the cruelty of the world. For every solo he stripped off the layers to fully grasp the subtext of the lyrics. The boy "got it" in every word, every line. His performance within the organic arc of his characterization was perfection.

As for the singing, once again Mr. Ramos earns his kudos here as well. A sublime, splendiferous tenor voice that melted every heart in the audience, his vocals for the number "Maria" were one of the most beautiful interpretations I have ever heard of that song. He just let the final high falsetto note that ends the song float into the air with ravishing results. Ramos gave a powerful performance that made the show for me.

This show can fail horribly if the chemistry between Maria and Tony is not believable. I've seen it happen in past productions. Ramos and Dickerson have a fascinating, strong chemistry that is totally believable. You truly believe they are in love with each other, thus really making your heart ache at that tragic ending.

I must confess I was yet again very, very impressed with the overall result of this production of West Side Story. I didn't know what to expect, but I must say it far exceeded my expectations. This cast and production team has truly created a stunning piece of musical theater.

GRADE: B+