Holy Ziegfeld, send this Houston Grand Opera production of West Side Story to Broadway! What a sizzling, dynamic account of this consummate American musical.
We last saw this Francesca Zambello staging at HGO’s make-shift theater, The Resilience, at the George R. Brown Convention Center after the water-logged destruction of the Wortham Theater in 2018 following the devastation from Hurricane Harvey.
The look is the same – Peter J. Davison’s iconic water towers and chain link fence set, Jessica Jahn’s urban chic costumes, Mark McCullough’s expressionistic lighting, Zambello’s constantly moving direction – but now the show has expanded and filled out. It pulses with life, with vibrancy, with the over-loaded testosterone energy of ‘50s youth and bad boys. Rebels with a cause. It’s cool, man. Very cool.
The 1957 musical set Broadway ablaze with Leonard Bernstein’s fiery and opulent score, Steven Sondheim’s career-starting lyrics, Arthur Laurents’ updated adaptation of Shakespeare, and most importantly, the choreography and direction from master dance maker Jerome Robbins. No musical had ever moved like this one or ever looked like this one, either. As much as is possible, the Robbins’ dances have been recreated and revived in their original glory and amazement by Joshua Bergasse and Kiira Schmidt Carper.
Robbins has created so many masterpieces in ballet and Broadway dance (Fancy Free, Dances at a Gathering, The Concert, Goldberg Variations, The Cage, Peter Pan, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof), that it’s difficult to pinpoint a quintessential Robbins touch, but West Side Story has got to be in the top three. Who else has put so much exuberance into the physical act of rebellion – or the sexy swirl of the mambo, for that matter? These dances show the story as much as Bernstein’s music tells it. The show wouldn’t exist as a classic without Robbins’ extraordinary movement.
There are hints of ballet throughout – lifts and extensions, jetés and off-kilter pirouettes, all done in sneakers or jazz shoes – but there’s also heat and danger in the gangs’ springy crouch and finger snaps, hip swivels, and slides across the floor. In the first confrontation between rivals Jets and the Sharks, you can almost hear Shakespeare’s baiting “do you bite your thumb at us” in the men’s pushes, flips, chest puffing, and cartwheels. This is show-offy dancing, the dancing of young hopped-up guys without pretense. They don’t care if you’re watching. If you don’t like it, they just might pop you in the face – or shiv you.
While tenor Brenton Ryan (Tony) and soprano Shereen Pimentel (Maria, from the 2020 Broadway revival), seem a bit too mature for these gritty star-cross’d lovers – Ryan’s rounded vowels and exceptional diction give away his operatic training – their characters are eclipsed by the ultra-vibrant supporting players.
Yes, the two lovers get Bernstein’s most lush love songs (lovingly conducted by maestro Roberto Kalb), but we’re much more interested in the subsidiary characters: Bernardo (prickly Yurel Echezarreta), Anita (spirited Yesenia Ayala, also from the 2020 Broadway revival) Riff (athletic Kyle Coffman), Action (volcanic Nathan Keen), A-Rab (P. Tucker Worley), even tomboy Anybodys (Macy McKown). Like their Elizabethan avatars (Mercutio, Tybalt, and the Nurse), the supporting players, while not enrobed in Shakespeare’s ethereal love poetry, bring the musical to jubilant life.
As an added surprise, who shows up in the role of the bridal shop owner but HGO favorite soprano Ana Maria Martinez to sing Bernstein/Sondheim’s plaintive romance “Somewhere.” As couples slowly dance in the background, Martinez glides to the front of the stage as her creamy voice caresses the song. It was glorious.
There are Broadway musicals that do not date, that are evergreen, that astonish and enliven us. West Side Story is one of them. Houston Grand Opera and the spirit of Jerome Robbins and his worthy collaborators see to that. The musical dream is alive and well and evergreen in the most magnificent way.
West Side Story continues through February 15 at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Wortham Center, 501 Texas. Sung in English with projected English text. On Saturday, February 15 at 7:30 p.m. the opera will have projections in Spanish. For more information call 713-228-6737 or visit houstongrandopera.org. $25-$255.
