West Side Story at LA Opera

For purists of WSS, perhaps the greatest show of Broadway's Golden Age, LA Opera is now providing a magical opportunity to behold the show in its original shape, with splendid singers and dancers reanimating Jerome Robbins original choreography (recreated by Josh Bergasse). Who wouldn't want to go back in time to see what 1957 audiences saw?

Some caveats here: you won't get Oliver Smith's '57 set designs with their abstract doodles of red fire escapes (Peter Davidson's hefty new unit set of steel-beamed facades works fine), or Irene Sharaff's costumes (here the aggressively contemporary street clothes by Jessica Jahn actively hurt your eyes). But you will get to hear every word of Arthur Laurents' brilliant and funky libretto. And you will get to experience a glorious 28-piece orchestra led by James Conlon, and a spectacular singing and dancing chorus that will bring goosebumps in numbers like the Prologue, or "Cool", or the (somewhat abbreviated) "Somewhere" Ballet.

Speaking of "Cool", how great to see it back in the Act I drugstore scene following a run of ballads and comedy numbers where it properly tightens the audience's sphincter ratcheting up the tension leading us toward the Act I climax. As for sticking the hilarious "Gee Officer Krupke" back in Act II, well the cast landed the hilarity a little too brightly for me. Why didn't we feel their freaking out at their buddy's death mixed with the comedy?

And speaking of the direction, Francesca Zambello's work had some wins and some losses: Most of Act I moved with confidence and efficiency, hitting each beat with gusto if not nuance. But the "Quartet" was a major loss, with the entire company directed to just stand there, and park and bark those gorgeous notes. The Rumble was underpowered; "I Feel Pretty" seemed puny and amateur; and oddest of all, the final beat of the play with the gangs uniting to carry off Tony's body was no more-- the cast scattered across the stage instead simply turned to face front (accusingly?), wait 4 beats, and fade to black as the curtain fell. Huh???

Zambello was lucky to have such a skilled cast papering over weak moments with ravishing singing. Taylor Harley made a terrific salt-of-the-earth Riff. Yurel Echezarreta was damn entertaining as Bernardo but was shortchanged any singing solos since "America" here reverted back to its all-female version. Amanda Castro nailed Anita's arc from comedy relief in Act I to the heart and soul of the story in Act II. And Tom Virtue's Doc was dynamite in a heartbreaking part.

There's no avoiding the fact that Gabriella Reyes is not a natural fit for the classic Maria, a big girl faking innocence but with a very mature operatic voice. Her sound made for some odd pairings on the love duets, but was absolutely ravishing on "Somewhere", here sung as a solo by Maria. No question the MVP of the night was Duke Kim as Tony, with a spectacular tenor voice that easily scaled the heights of "Maria" and "Tonight", and even made some of Laurents' cringiest dialogue ring true. Bravo to him!

I've run on way too long. For all the ways I wished it were better, it was still a magnificent night. Thank God there's still a place like LA Opera to show audiences why the Golden Age masterpieces were golden!

Agreed that the song tempos seemed slower than we're used to from the classic OBC album. But I believe Sondheim has told the tale of attending the OBC recording in '57, where all the tempos were forcibly sped up -- to Lenny's utter horror-- in order to fit all the tracks on the LP. So maybe the timing we heard at the LA Opera is how the Broadway show originally sounded...?

Cool insight into the details of the OBC recording, Eric. Thanks for that.

And your guess is correct about the shortening of the "Somewhere" ballet-- no nightmare section, either in the choreo or the score. The staging in LA was pretty effective: Maria and Tony move from her bedroom set (one floor up from the stage) to the fire escape. From up there they watch the ballet dancers in the street below as Maria sings all of "Somewhere". Simple and effective, but just the happy, love-y parts of the ballet.

Re: "America", I'm pretty sure the Ivo Van Hove 2020 revival that I saw just before the shutdown used the men vs women version of the song like we saw in both movies of WSS. I know it's heresy to say, but honestly I prefer that version since it gives Bernardo and the Sharks a real song to sing, and having men vs women gives way more hot sexiness to the number than the insipid all-girls staging. (If I remember correctly, Sondheim and Bernstein originally wrote the song as guys vs girls, but changed it in rehearsals to accommodate Jerry's need to have an all-girl number. And I believe Jerry was already fired from the '62 film when they staged the guy/girl version that worked so well there.) Off into the weeds again...