By Manning Harris
fmanningh@gmail.com
After viewing Fabrefaction Theatre Conservatory’s new production of “West Side Story,” running through Nov. 9, I was moved and a little shaken. This young company captures the heart and soul and vibrancy of this timeless show. No matter that every aspect of the piece may not be technically perfect. Director Christina Hoff has assembled a remarkable cast that understands and transmits the beauty and power of this updated Romeo and Juliet story, and the surprising, stunning supertruth is that the show works.
They have help: book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and original direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins. If you went looking for impressive pedigrees in the creation of a musical play, you couldn’t find loftier thoroughbreds than these four men. They sat down as young men in 1957 and created the greatest fusion of music, dance, and drama that has ever graced a stage.
Tackling “West Side” is a daunting task for any theatre. You need real actors, singers, and brilliant dancers. In this “jukebox Manhattan opera,” as one critic called the original production, Jerome Robbins made dance a more integral part of the story than ever before. Choreographer Angela Harris, who has impressive dance credentials, has wrought wondrous things here. Working with people who are not, for the most part, professional dancers, she has coaxed electric performances from them.
You’re probably familiar with the show. Think Romeo and Juliet amidst the street gang violence of the home-grown Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks in late 1950’s New York. Think of such Bernstein-Sondheim classics as “Tonight,” “Maria,” “Somewhere,” “America,” “I Feel Pretty,” and many more. “When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way, from your first cigarette to your last dying day.” “West Side Story” is joyous, romantic, and tragic.
And think love! Arthur Laurents said, “This is a story of love that cannot survive in a world of bigotry and violence.” The central love story is that of Tony (Jordan Dell Harris) and Maria (Caroline Geckler). But Laurents said the entire production is motivated by love, beginning with the first scene between lifelong best friends Tony and Riff (played by Brad Coggin when I saw the show; usually played by Jeremy Varner). For the tragic story to work we must sense their brotherhood, and we do.
As for Tony and Maria, they are so gaga for each other that they blind themselves to the danger around them. In a desperate moment late in the play, Maria laments, “It’s not us; it’s everything around us.” She’s right.
Musical director Alli Lingenfelter manages to make the small orchestra sound three times its size, no small feat.
Jordan Harris’ Tony is magnetic and vulnerable, with an easy command of the stage; Caroline Geckler as Maria will break your heart; she’s especially winsome in the dream sequence in Act II, when she’s ignorant of what has happened at the rumble and is so happy, hopeful, and childlike.
This is a large cast and I cannot mention everyone; but Jelani Jones as Bernardo and Hannah Salsberg as Anita both make powerful impressions. So do Josh Brook (Action), Jordan William Snead (Diesel), Carter Best (Anybodys), and Brad Coggin as Riff; at times Mr. Coggin is a bit tentative (he was understudying that night).
The “adult” roles of Doc (Michael Shikany), Detective Schrank (Matt Lewis), and Officer Krupke (Davin Grindstaff that night) are all fine.
Other standouts include Arielle Geller, Carly Ann Berg, Troy Stephens, Lindsey Via, Megan Wartell, Troy Stephens, and Nathan James Ray. And there are others.
In the past several years I’ve seen two excellent touring companies perform this show at the Fox; I won’t say that Fabrefaction’s production has their polish, flair, big orchestra, or financing.
But what is astonishing—and the reason you should see this show—is that this company has found the talent, drive, and heart to remind us that “West Side Story” is about youth, with all its passion, heedlessness, and sweetness. It touches the germ of life, draws you in, and you will be moved—big time.
For tickets and information, visit fabrefaction.org.
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