A WEST SIDE STORY not to be missed

And it is not on Broadway. It is at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario (about 90 minutes west of Toronto.)

Everything the Broadway production botches this one gets so right and they are playing to sold out houses.

Stratford takes this 52-year-old show and revitalizes it with a staging that fits so well onto the thrust stage of the Festival theatre, that anyone seeing the show on stage for the first time will wonder how it could ever be presented in regular proscenium stage.

The production is played with tremendous passion and energy. The dancers burn up the stage. From the moment the gangs appear in the prologue, you know this WSS is going to crackle with excitement. The cast execute the steps with precision and director Gary Griffin has seen to it that the excitement generated by the dances doesn?t lag in the book scenes.

When Paul Nolan?s Tony meets Chilena Kennedy?s Maria at the Dance at the Gym they are given less than dozen lines to communicate their instant attraction. In lesser hands the scene seems forced?but these two know how to bring it life. Nolan?s Tony makes the song ?Maria? a tour de force, before he literally leaps onto Maria?s fire escape for the famous ?Tonight? duet. Kennedy, for her part, knows how to give Maria some spunk without ever losing wholesome innocence until the crucial final scene when pours out her rage over Tony?s lifeless body. You know this girl has been robbed of something that can never be replaced.

And so it goes down to the smallest of supporting roles, even the adults are allowed their moments to shine. So what if the book?s made-up 50?s slang has a strangely dated scan to it and who cares if Sondheim?s lyrics occasionally fumble the balances between cleverness and character. There is still Bernstein?s famous jazz oriented score that can still electrify when properly played as it is here.

It's on the Festival stage through Oct 31. I you are in the area between now and then don't miss this one.

(Stratford is also staging FORUM in the smaller Avon theatre and it too is a gem.)


WEST SIDE STORY at Stratford

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Updated On: 8/8/09 at 05:01 PM

I agree. It is a spectacular production. I also highly recommend Cyrano de Bergerac.

I didn't think it was great, and I didn't think it was terrible. It was just okay.

Standouts were Andew Cao (Bernardo) and Jennifer Rias (Anita) - both of whom are non-Canadians I believe. Chilina Kennedy (Maria) was serviceable yet she faded in and out of her accent and Paul Nolan (Tony) was a train wreck. His Something's Coming was painful. Kolton Stewart (Boy) butchered Somewhere and his character felt out of place. Did the first act AND the finale have to end with him fading out? Really? Best numbers were America and Gee, Office Krupke, the latter receiving the most applause of the night. The finale was rushed and awkwardly staged. The whole evening had a very 'community theatre' type feel occasionally breaking into what I'd expect from Stratford.

Between that photo and this description...

the passion of the lovers finds its expression primarily in song, though there is one brief and dimly lit moment of partial nudity.

... I'd love to see Laurents' reaction to the fact his "all about sex" production has just been out-sexed.

I never thought of casting Anita with a dancer...

someone should tell Karen Olivo that's how it's supposed to be danced.

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Notice how the music on the TV commercial is dubbed in from teh OBC and not the Stratford cast? Very curious. (You can't mistake that lush open sound the old Columbia cast albums had.)

The "nudity" is nothing. Paul Nolan gets out of bed and dressed in dim light. I couldn't even tell if he had underwear on or not it was that dim. So its nothing to shock the U.S. visitors.

Tag, I don't know when you saw the production but if Andrew Cao was Bernardo it must have been very early on as he is no longer in the show. Your comments also mirror those of a friend of mine who saw it in previews and reported that it needed a lot of work. By the time I saw it 2 weeks ago it was playing beautifully.

Jennifer Rias (Anita) was inded a standout. So was Brandon Espinoza as Riff (he had just returned after 5 weeks off tdue to an injury.) Chilina Kennedy (Maria) was far better than serviceable and as for her accent, she did not not seem to be forcing it so maybe she has toned it down since you saw it. Paul Nolan (Tony).... a train wreck? Not at all! If the Tony and Maria don't work the whole show goes down the tubes. I have seen enough mediocre community theatre productions where the leads had no chemistry. These two worked well and Nolan was in excellent voice at the matinee I attended.

The one point I agree with is the boy soprano's faltering "Somewhere" which if sung well can have a really powerful impact and I felt that Kolton Stewart missed the mark. That said I think the boy can be more effective than having just an offstage soprano sing it. (The movie solved this by turning it into a duet for Tony and Maria.)

The final scene did not seem rushed to me. By that point I was into the rhythm of the show and if anything it seemed a tad drawn out.

Has anyone else seen a recent performance? What were your thoughts?

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I'm planning on going down in late September and am very much looking forward to WWS.

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I saw the show on August 8th and Andrew Cao was in the show. I saw him bicycling to and from the performance also. I loved the production and I have never liked the show prior to seeing this production. The way the thrust stage was used was brilliant. There was one understudy in a very minor role. I've seen 4 shows at Stratford over the years and have never seen an understudy in a significant role.

I have no desire to see the Broadway production mainly because it's on a proscenium stage. I can't imagine it being as intimate and emotionally involving as the Stratford production

Oh wow, Chilina Kennedy. I remember seeing her in Mamma Mia, she was fantastic. Good to know she's still working. This production looks great.

i just saw the Stratford show on the weekend. Absolutely breathtaking! No understudies. I have been going to Stratford for more than 40 years and cannot recall understudies in any major roles. The performances of Paul and Chilina just couldn't be bettered. The show looked spectacular on Stratford's thrust stage. What was the problem with the boy's singing? It was very strong and moving. I was glad to see Kolton had recovered from the truly grisly throat cutting he endured during the afternoon performance of Macbeth at the same theatre where he played Macduff's son. The director Gary Griffin is returning for Evita at Stratford next season. Bravo to all!

No answer to your second question but it was Robbins' choreography. However, his that choreography is for a proscenium stage a choreographer was needed to tailor the dancing to Stratford's thrust stage.