The scene is set for romance, bromance, gang-fights and finger-snaps, as West Side Story returns.
There’s a certain infectious sensation that can power-through in musicals. Hairspray’s You Can’t Stop the Beat and The Lion King’s The Circle of Life are such rousing numbers. But one of the most memorable begins with the subtle finger-snapping opening to West Side Story. It’s hard to resist the alluring beat from the Jets and Sharks, as the rival gangs strut their dance moves in tees and tight jeans.
After all, when it comes to musicals, West Side Story is the original generational timepiece. It’s themes of youth, first love and cultural issues have been replicated in Hair, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Rent and American Idiot.
Set in a blue-collar neighbourhood of 1950’s New York, the plot is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. With two rivalry gangs coming from different backgrounds, The Sharks (Puerto Rican) and The Jets (Anglo American), Tony from the latter falls for Maria, sister to the Shark’s leader Bernardo. The subsequent story sees a battle between the gangs with a tragic Shakespearean conclusion.
For Tony Award-nominated director and choreographer Joey McKneely, the themes of West Side Story are just as relevant today as when it premiered back in 1957.
“The parallels are all around us in every society,” says McKneely.
“It’s sad that we are still dealing with racism, but I guess it’s just part of being human. There’s a fear of others who are different. But what I love about West Side Story is that it gets this particular story right with out being preachy. That is, hate destroys love. There is a choice. We can choose not to hate, but we have to be strong and make the choice. Children are not born with hate, they learn it.”
Todd Jacobsson (Book of Mormon) and Sophie Salvesani (La Boheme) play the lead roles of Tony and Maria, while Lyndon Watts (Aladdin) is Bernardo and Noah Mullins (CATS) is the Jets’ gang leader Riff.
With McKneely overseeing the Australian production, the element of emotion has played a major part in breathing life and complexity into the characters.
“It’s about reaching deep into the emotions of each of these characters, and pulling out the highest stake one can get to, in order to tell the story,” he says.
“Since the show is about racism, which explodes into violence and the death of three characters, it needs to have an emotional truth behind it. On the flip side, there is the creation of all those feelings of first love. Falling in love sounds easy, but putting it up on the stage takes a lot of tender moments to create that truth, and to do it as dance is the icing on the cake!”
Created by playwright Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the story was originally intended to be East Side Story, with the conflict set between an Irish Catholic and Jewish family. Either way, its Shakespearean core is one that continues to find parallels in our modern society. It’s no wonder that so many works have been inspired by the famous bard. Kiss Me Kate and The Lion King are other examples.
“I am sure over the past few thousand years, there have been many people who have mined Romeo and Juliet for inspiration,” says McKneely.
“It’s such a timeless story, because first love speaks to the human condition and Shakespeare got it so right. The authors of West Side Story brought it into the modern area, by using immigration and race as the conflict. I hope audiences will be reminded of the power of theatre and come and fall in love with West Side Story, just as they did many years ago!”
West Side Story plays at the Arts Centre Melbourne 6-28 April, and the Sydney Opera House 16 August to 6 October.
For more visit: westsidestory.com.au
