Where: Orpheum Theater,
409 S. 16th St.
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday;
11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Thursday;
8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $25 to $68
Information: 402-345-0606,
toll-free 866-434-8587 or online
at www.ticketomaha.com
They say Shakespeare’s plays are timeless because they still speak to the human condition today.
Well, 53 years after it opened on Broadway, “West Side Story” feels as fresh and alive and as sadly relevant as ever. Based on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the story of forbidden love and ethnic gang conflict set in New York City can still clobber an audience, as it did Tuesday night at the Orpheum Theater. The Broadway musical’s revival tour is here through Sunday.
A lot of what makes this first-rate tour great is what always made “West Side Story” great.
Jerome Robbins’ stunning choreography, an athletic mix of ballet and contemporary jazz shot through with sexual electricity, is as beautiful and lusty and moving as ever.
Leonard Bernstein’s revolutionary score, with its complex rhythms, melodies and time changes, still gets under the skin, aided and abetted by Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics and an excellent 16-piece orchestra.
Arthur Laurents, who wrote the original book and directed the Broadway revival last year, has done a masterful job of staying true to the 1957 version while punching up the realism with more Spanish, tougher gangs, even a less hopeful ending. Laurents was ruthless about removing anything that felt dated or false. That all works.
But you have to hand it to this cast, packed with great dancers and standout ensemble work. Not only did they create and sustain a mood, but they also did it while crisply executing Robbins’ tortuous dance moves as fully realized characters.
Just as good as the dance sequences was the staging of Tony and Maria’s key love scenes. Kyle Harris and Ali Ewoldt deliver deeply moving renditions of the classic “Tonight” and “One Hand, One Heart,” and the chemistry between them is appropriately steamy.
Michelle Aravena is everything you want Maria’s best friend Anita to be: spirited, naughty, angry, loyal, a terrific singer and dancer. German Santiago and Joseph J. Simeone are spot-on as gang leaders Bernardo and Riff.
What sticks in the mind is so many young, young cast members, making you believe when the show’s big emotional moments arrive.
They send your heart flying, and then they break it but good.
And that’s what “West Side Story,” like “Romeo and Juliet,” was always meant to do.
Contact the writer:
444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com
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