By Daniel Wallentine
On Monday night, I decided I needed some tragedy in my life, so I hopped on the Frontrunner and rode up to West Valley City to see their Arts and Culture Division’s production of West Side Story. For those not familiar with West Side Story, this show is a modern adaptation of the famous Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, with a book by Arthur Laurents, Music and Lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, and choreography by Jerome Robbins. This particular production, performed at the Utah Cultural Celebration Amphitheater, is directed and choreographed by Margene Conde, with Kenichi Nakashima as an assistant choreographer.
West Side Story is one of those iconic musicals that is well-known amongst artists and non-artists alike, so the challenge of putting together such a show is certainly daunting. However, I was pleasantly surprised over and over again during WVC’s production to see how this particular company brought such an popular piece of art to life.
One of the first things that stuck out to me was the scenic and lighting design, beautifully designed and executed by Garrin Mascaranas and Brio Technologies. Because this is an amphitheater, there are definitely venue-specific challenges to overcome. For the first act, there weren’t opportunities for complete blackouts after scenes because it was still too light outside. Instead, the transitions from scene to scene were blocked in such a way that the transitions didn’t take away from the flow of the story line. Instead, scene changes seemed very natural and normal part of the world that was being presented onstage. Rather than waiting to be in character until a scene was set up, the performers all worked the scene changes into their dialogue, making the scene changes much more fluid. The lighting scheme also seemed minimalistic, which I really appreciated. As the night progressed and it slowly got darker, the complexity of the lighting scheme changed as well. While this seemed to be a necessary part of performing in an amphitheater, it seemed to play perfectly into the plot of the production. As relationships and conflicts grew more complicated, they were reflected in the growing complexity of the lighting scheme.
The leads in this production were wonderful. The chemistry between Maria (Jessica Sundwall) and Tony (Jacob Nilsen) was tangible and believable. I mean, it’s pretty hard to believe in love at first sight. However, their chemistry pulled the audience in and made believers out of us. I was also very impressed by Kelsey Mariner, who played Anita. She displayed a depth of character that that allowed audience members to see the fire as well as the vulnerability of her personality. Jamie Jackson, who portrayed ”Anybodys”, also gave a wonderful performance. Jamie perfectly captured the impulsiveness and mischievousness of youth, along with the absolute need to belong that all teenagers feel. Her performance really helped reinforce the reality of teenagers fighting and killing each other without fully understanding the repercussions of their actions.
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For the most part, I was very impressed by the attention to detail in the production. The costumes (Akemi Nakashima) have wonderful little details added to them to give the production even more of an edge. However, there were times that both the Brooklyn Puerto Rican accents were lost, or times that the accents could have been pushed further to better solidify the time and setting of the production. There were also times that the harmonies and really complex rhythms of the show were lost or a little muddy. However, the score for this production is incredibly difficult, so the cast must be applauded for the time and work they have put into learning the complexities of Bernstein and Sondheim.
Overall, I was very impressed by the choreography. West Side Story is known for its iconic choreography, and I felt that the choreographer and assistant choreographer did an excellent job in paying homage to Jerome Robbins while still providing skill-level appropriate choreography for the production. The choreography contained the angst, impulsiveness, and hope associated with youth and teenage years. The choreography also moved the plotline along; it was cohesive and fluid. There were times where the energy level dropped off in some of the big dance numbers, and that tended to interfere with the fluidity of the choreography. However, I was impressed at how as a company overall, there didn’t seem to be a big division between the “singers” and the “dancers.” I believe that is a huge testament to the hard work put in by directors and choreographers.
Is West Valley City’s production of West Side Story worth seeing? Absolutely. Regardless of the genius of the creators of the show, the performers have put their hearts into this production, and their skill sets are obvious. The show is moving, inspiring, and eye-opening. You will leave thinking about the lessons that were taught, specifically, the beauty and strength that comes from accepting others, regardless of their background. And see this like NOW. A very short run for a very good show.
Utah Cultural Celebration Center Amphitheater presents West Side Story
1355 West 3100 South, West Valley City, Utah 84119
June 19-22 8:00 PM
Tickets: $5.00, $20 for groups of 5, Tickets available at the UCCC front desk
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