West Side Story Musical Review

By Amy Meros

I had very high expectations for West Side Story when I walked into the Majestic Theatre on Saturday night. This was partially because West Side Story is one of the first musicals I remember enjoying when I was younger. I also knew how talented the people involved with the Department of Theatre Arts and the Sunderman Conservatory of Music are.

For the most part, I left the Majestic as a happy critic.

For those of you who have never seen or heard of West Side Story (and for some reason are still reading this review), here’s a basic synopsis of what you would have seen: set in New York City in the 1950′s, the (Caucasian) Jets and the Sharks (made up of Puerto Rican immigrants) are rival gangs fighting over a contested piece of turf. The gang leaders, Riff (Jets) and Bernardo (Sharks) decide to settle their differences by planning an all-out, winner-takes-all rumble underneath the highway. This is further complicated by the fact that Riff’s best friend, Tony falls in love with Maria, who happens to be Bernardo’s younger sister. They are initially unaware that the other is associated with the rival gang. When Maria learns about the rumble, she sends Tony to go stop it, everything goes wrong, and everyone dies.

Okay, not everybody dies. Only some people die. But I’m not going to tell you who those people are.

Despite its many positives, the show wasn’t perfect. For starters, the set didn’t do much for me. I realize that a “bare bones” approach may have been taken in order to depict the rundown streets of the West Side as well as to make transportation of the set from Kline to the Majestic easier. However, it was hard to concentrate on anything with that humungous iron fixture looming in the background, and a few props or signs weren’t enough to convince me that scenes had changed. I also had high hopes for the costumes; specifically, I wanted to be able to tell apart the Jets, Sharks, and everyone associated with them based on their attire. While this was achieved with the Jet and Shark boys, it was not with the girls. During the “Mambo” scene, it was easy to distinguish the pastel based Jet Girls from the colorful, vibrant Shark Girls, but this pattern rapidly deteriorated throughout the show. By the end, it was difficult to tell what side any of the actresses was on.

However, this is where the criticism stops and the praise begins. There were many aspects of this modern-day Romeo and Juliet, directed by Christopher Kauffman, which I loved. For starters, the cast was perfectly, well, cast. Ben Sasnett (Tony) and Melissa Weisbach (Maria)’s voices were perfect for their roles; theirs were clearly the best of the entire cast. Robby Ford was wonderfully energetic as Riff, and set the tone for the rest of the Jets. The real standout on the Sharks’ side was Brittney Stonestreet, who played the sassy, feisty Anita. Stonestreet commanded the stage whenever she was on it, bringing passion to all areas of her performance.

Out of all the musical numbers in the show, my favorite was “Gee, Officer Krupke”. What a perfect example of comedic timing and vocal prowess by the Jets! Jacob Henkoff (Action) was wonderfully charismatic as the leader of the song. Watch out for him, Gettysburg – as a sophomore, Henkoff will have plenty of opportunities to showcase his theatrical talents, all of which will definitely be praised by the Gettysburg community.

I would also like to commend the pit orchestra for mastering one of Leonard Bernstein’s most famous works. West Side Story‘s soundtrack is both vigorous and elegant, and the pit did a great job of providing the actors the necessary background music to compliment their vocal abilities.

Was West Side Story great? No. Was it good? Absolutely. While there were certainly some mishaps in Saturday night’s show, the overall performance was fun, though-provoking, and entertaining – everything a great musical should be.