Theater review: West Side Story

by Gina Robertson of John Garcia's The Column

The Sharks and the Jets are ready to rumble at Artisan Center Theater in Hurst in its long-anticipated opening of West Side Story. With switchblades flashing and fingers snapping, the boys from the hood and their ladies all bring marvelous energy to the stage.

This classic 1957 musical, based on Shakespeare's most famous love story, puts street gang violence to music with a tight score and hip dance moves that convey through the poetry of music what Shakespeare conveyed with words. Their common themes are the impulsive intensity of youth, the senselessness of violence, and the all-consuming magnificence of young love. In West Side Story, Tony and Maria are the star-crossed lovers from rival gangs who get caught in the tide of violence and retribution when gang leaders are killed during a rumble gone wrong.

Director Dennis Canright, always a personal favorite of mine, puts in an appearance as the comically meek Glad Hand, who chaperones the school dance and becomes overwhelmed at the hostile adrenaline simmering amongst the young people.

Paige Wells is sweet and authentic in her role as Maria. She nails the accent and the mixture of excitement and displacement of having recently arrived from Puerto Rico. She is most especially pleasing in her performance of "I Feel Pretty." Her performance is strong except for the scenes with Tony, in which she seems wooden and completely uninspired. Unfortunately, this is a love story, and those are the scenes that need to sell more than any other.

Part of the problem is that Michael Sisemore as Tony is miscast. His voice, though remarkable, wasn't up to the challenge of "Maria" Friday night. He lacks the charisma and charm Tony is known for. The other characters refer to him as "pretty boy," and even the Sharks girls admit that Tony is one foxy Jet. The romance between him and Maria blossoms from the moment the two set eyes on each other, so for this romance to be believable, Tony really needs to possess the physical attributes of one who would catch the eye of such a lovely girl as Maria, who already has quite a nice-looking boyfriend, Chino.

Sisemore can't pull this off because he's physically wrong for the part or because his hair and costume are dressed to make him look more like Richie Cunningham than a street gang tough guy. There's little chemistry between him and Wells, which is the element this story relies most on.

Where Tony is supposed to be the Jets right arm, the man with the wits and the strength the gang depends on to help them beat down the Sharks, he comes off instead as rather passive, indecisive, and dreamy-headed. When Maria remarks, "Imagine being afraid of you!" the line should be ironic in that the audience knows exactly why the Sharks should be afraid of Tony.

Andrew McGlothen, who plays Riff, would make an outstanding Tony, for he exudes charm and confidence. He also possesses the sort of macho good looks that a girl like Maria would be taken by at first sight.

Natalie Berry is perfect as the feisty, hot-blooded Anita, girlfriend of the Sharks leader who shows courage and maturity when her friend falls into forbidden love.

James Long is delightful as Doc, and mini-Jets Caleb White (Geetar) and Michael Pandolfo (Baby John) are a pleasure to watch in the dance numbers. Pandolfo's wiry frame and exceptional timing are a perfect fit for the jazzy rhythms.

Anybodys, played by Jennie Titiryn, is a young female Jet who wants to be one of the boys. She steals every scene, especially the emotionally-gripping climax in which she upstages even Maria with her heartfelt weeping over the tragic mess made of things by her heroes the Jets and their rival Sharks.

Sharks leader Bernardo, played by Lloyd Harvey, is deliciously complex as a young man having assumed a role given to him by the prejudices and challenges of being a Puerto Rican immigrant who only wants a safe and happy life for himself and his family. He broke character just a bit in the opening scene in which he could be seen suppressing a smile at his cast mates when he's supposed to be looking all bad and mean, but from that point on he exudes the kind of charisma that would inspire Anita to take a Black Orchid bubble bath.

Randy Sarver stands out as the cool cop "Schrank" who wants to put an end to the gang violence on his turf but also seems to be drawn into it. He is unable to see that his heavy-handed methods have simply made the police a sort of third gang for the primary two to contend with.

There are a few technical problems that need to be worked out in this production. The lighting often leaves the characters singing or dancing in near darkness. During his first number "Something's Coming," for instance, Tony's under lit face looks like a ghoulish Halloween mask when he's meant to be looking earnest and hopeful. The balcony/fire escape scene is performed on a wheeled apparatus on which Tony and Maria stand to sing their love song while two crew members roll it around on stage. This is an idea that would seem very clever and visually appealing until you put it to practice and find that the two performers are being flung off balance by the movement of the ride, which distracts them while they gamely sing on. Relief was apparent in their body language when the song was finished and they could finally step off the thing onto a solid piece of the set.

The highlight within this production is the choreography (by Eddie Floresca), both in the dance numbers and the fight scenes. The entire company is in sync, especially during such production numbers as "Tonight," "America," and "Gee, Officer Krupke."

Still, even with its few hiccups, ACT's production should be commended for mounting a classic musical such as West Side Story -- and in the round, even. That shows a theater company taking artistic risks, resulting in still rewarding theater. So get your tickets now!