Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” was reimagined as star-crossed lovers from warring street gangs in 1950s New York when the musical “West Side Story” opened on Broadway in 1957.
Composer Leonard Bernstein’s score with lyrics by Steven Sondheim, the choreography of Jerome Robbins, and a book by Arthur Lawrence marked a radical change in musical theater. According to the Library of Congress, there are more than 250 domestic productions annually, and the libretto has been translated into 26 languages.
“West Side Story” is on stage now in Atlanta at the Byers Theatre, a City Springs Theatre Company production, running through July 24. Director Daniel Kutner joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom and Natalie DeLancey, executive director of City Springs Theatre, to talk about the new production.
A beloved modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic:
“It very much follows the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ tale. It’s about two warring gangs, the Jets and the Sharks; the Jets being primarily white, even though there is a European immigrant history, and the Puerto Rican community, where Puerto Rico just became part of the United States. Yet, there was not an acceptance of the community on the mainland. So we have a battle between the Jets and the Sharks, and we have a love story within that, of a Jet boy named Tony falling in love with a Puerto Rican girl named Maria, and a forbidden love with consequences,” recounted Kutner.
Unforgettable musical moments:
“I’m obsessed, you could say, with the connection between Tony and Maria,” said Kutner. “So when I see that balcony come out and I hear them sing ‘Tonight’ together, there is nothing more gratifying than hearing that duet. It just soars. It’s earnest; it’s honest. it makes you want all of the trouble and the angst and the fighting and everything that sort of looms large back then and even today, unfortunately, disappear – where we can sort of live in a moment in time between two people that’s so earnest and pure.”
“I actually love our number ‘Dance at the Gym,’ because I think in particular, our choreographer, Cindy Moore Riser, is just incredible with how she has manipulated all the people that are in that number, and the way that they kind of fight with each other in that number,” said DeLancey. “I just think it’s absolutely brilliant, and I think our orchestra backs it up just beautifully as well.”
Enduring relevance on themes of race and the immigrant experience:
“It’s that ongoing promise of a better life here, and how we romanticize what it means to be in America, either from here – well, who’s really from here, we’re such a young country – or immigrated to America, and the notion of the American dream,” Kutner reflected. “It really straddles the line, doesn’t it? Because, especially recently, and certainly within the last few years of politics, we’ve been challenged, and America has been challenged, and we’ll see what happens. I’m hopeful. I have to be hopeful, but it’s very interesting how that notion, just the notion of America, still lights people up, and there is still that optimism that this is the land of the free and the land of opportunity.”
“Roe v. Wade was… a shock, and I think our cast collectively, we had to chat about it at rehearsal. It was really something in terms of turning back the clock, and then you had Justice Thomas saying, ‘Well, we should maybe address LGBTQ rights, and maybe we should put other things on the docket,'” Kutner recalled. “You think, ‘Oh my Lord, here we are doing a show about intolerance and bigotry, and people’s fears of people who are different, and look where we are right now. Look at the national conversation….’ It’s a beautiful show, and there’s a lot of resonating things for all areas. But I feel especially, within this past month, if not these past several months and years, it’s really made this show as relevant as ever.”
“West Side Story” is on stage at the Byers Theater at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center through July 24. Tickets and more information are available at www.cityspringstheatre.com/shows/upcoming-shows/.
