Review
WEST SIDE STORY
Theatre Calgary-Citadel Theatre
Starring John Ullyatt, Mairi Babb, Pamela Gordon and Donald Mitchell
Written by Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Bob Baker
Runs until April 3
Max Bell Theatre (Epcor Centre)
A decade ago, director Bob Baker, musical director Don Horsburgh and choreographer Denise Clarke gave us their version of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, a co-production with Toronto’s Canadian Stage (where Baker was artistic director at the time) that proved to be one of the best musical shows Theatre Calgary had ever done. Now they’ve teamed up again to revive West Side Story, in a co-pro with Edmonton’s Citadel (where Baker is currently AD), and they work the same magic.
This is a terrific version of the Sondheim-Leonard Bernstein-Arthur Laurents masterpiece – tough, taut, exhilarating in its teenage-style energy and high spirits, and affecting in its final senseless tragedy. Most of us have some acquaintance with this 1950s Broadway show (which, as a film, won the Best Picture Oscar in 1961); its largely adolescent cast of characters has made it a favourite with high school drama programs for decades. It still feels inspired: Romeo and Juliet re-cast in the postwar New York slums, with rival gangs the Jets and the Sharks as the Montagues and Capulets, switchblades for swords, fire escapes for balconies and racial resentment replacing family feuds as the motive for hatred. Of course, it’s also one of those increasingly rare musicals packed with great songs – and not, as is more often the case on Broadway today, pre-packaged with already famous tunes. Bernstein’s bountiful score pours forth one hummable hit after another: "Something’s Coming," "Maria," "(I Want to be in) America," "Tonight," "I Feel Pretty," "Somewhere (There’s a Place for Us)" – Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber could get three or four shows out of it.
But Baker and company don’t treat this classic tenderly, like an antique ’50s Chevy – they attack it vigorously, as if it were a contemporary play. Only the street slang – "wise apples," "gloryosky" and the like – dates it. (I’m guessing "bling bling" and "beeatch" will sound just as quaint half a century from now.) Baker’s direction goes for the grit, emphasizing the racism, not just of the kids, but also of the authorities, and bringing out the dark mood of the second act. Designer Bretta Gerecke’s vision of multi-storey Manhattan tenements eschews crumbling brownstone in favour of hard steel, its shiny surfaces splashed with lurid red and blue by her lighting. It looks like the set for some futuristic action film, and the Sharks and Jets clamber over it like action heroes.
The boldest stroke, however, is the decision to ditch the show’s signature choreography by the great Jerome Robbins and have Clarke create her own from scratch. Her aggressive, exuberant style is a perfect fit and drives the show close to fever pitch at times. She gives us acrobatic males who fly across the stage as if they have testosterone-fuelled rockets going off inside them, and balletic females who whirl about in a frenzied physical expression of their pubescent giddiness. Still, there are traces of Robbins here and there – his style has been so influential that I can’t imagine how you’d choreograph this musical without referencing it.
This Alberta co-pro favours Edmonton (where it had its première earlier this season) and you’ve got to admit our sister city has some pretty dynamic performers. As Tony, John Ullyatt, best known down here for wacky comic roles (as in last season’s Irma Vep at Vertigo), turns out to be a marvellous leading man, much more distinctive than Richard Beymer in the film. He’s a big, handsome Romeo with a boyish innocence and a warm singing voice full of feeling. Pamela Gordon sizzles as Anita, the Puerto Rican girl who loves everything American. And as Tony’s Juliet, Mairi Babb – a Winnipegger, not an Edmontonian – gives us a small, lively Maria whose soaring vocals belie her size.
As Riff, leader of the Jets and the musical’s Mercutio figure, Donald Mitchell looks and sounds like he could’ve stepped out of Rebel Without a Cause, but I kept wishing his performance was a bit more distinctive. However, his buddies (Adam Blocka, Jade Elliott, Randy Ganne, Ryan Gifford, Sean Alexander Hauk and Noah Henne) really come into their own in the second act’s "Gee, Officer Krupke," that cynical comic number which heralded the young Sondheim’s gifts as a smart and witty lyricist.
Among the women in the supporting cast, the Sharks’ girlfriends (Victoria Lamond, Tammy Nera and Mandy Rushton) are the standouts, serving up a zesty version of "America" and investing "I Feel Pretty" with all the silliness of a sugar-stoked slumber party.
Horsburgh’s gang in the pit engages in a sonic rumble to complement the onstage action, playing Bernstein’s music with the fervour of a rock band. They make damn sure those tunes stick in your head. And they do – I’ve still got a few of them competing for attention in my cranium right now.
Strange to say, despite their similarity in size and programming, TC and the Citadel have seldom engaged in this kind of joint venture. To steal a line from Tony, let’s hope West Side Story is the start of something good. |
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