Operatoonity.com review: West Side Story presented by Glimmerglass Festival
Live performance: Saturday, July 21, 8:00 p.m.
The Alice Busch Opera Theater, Cooperstown, NY
Music: Leonard Bernstein
Libretto: Stephen Sondheim
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Ensemble, West Side Story
" data-orig-size="1600,895" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" data-image-title="" data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Act-1-Tonight-quartet.jpg?fit=1600%2C895" class="size-large wp-image-9216" height="280" width="500" data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Act-1-Tonight-quartet.jpg?fit=300%2C168" data-permalink="http://operatoonity.com/2018/07/24/glimmerglass-festival-puts-the-wow-in-new-west-side-story/act-1-tonight-quartet/" alt="Ensemble, West Side Story" data-recalc-dims="1" srcset="https://i2.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Act-1-Tonight-quartet.jpg?resize=1024%2C573 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Act-1-Tonight-quartet.jpg?resize=300%2C168 300w, https://i2.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Act-1-Tonight-quartet.jpg?resize=768%2C430 768w, https://i2.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Act-1-Tonight-quartet.jpg?resize=50%2C28 50w, https://i2.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Act-1-Tonight-quartet.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://i2.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Act-1-Tonight-quartet.jpg?w=1500 1500w" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Connor Lange","camera":"Canon EOS REBEL T5i","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1530821809","copyright":"\u00a9 2018 Connor Lange","focal_length":"33","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.005","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Act-1-Tonight-quartet.jpg?fit=500%2C280" />The Glimmerglass Festival’s 2018 production of Bernstein’s “West Side Story.” Photo: Connor Lange/The Glimmerglass Festival
A jaw-dropping, eye-popping explosion of dance, beauty, and grit filled the Alice Busch Opera Theater stage Saturday night. Like a holy offering to the gods of old Broadway, Glimmerglass Festival’s new co-production of West Side Story directed by Francesca Zambello offered up delectable dichotomies to savor all evening–from romance to pathos, testosterone to estrogen, and love to hate to glimmers of hope.
Since 2011, when Glimmerglass Opera became Glimmerglass Festival, the arts organization has devoted one main stage production to a musical theater show, performed with full orchestra and no amplification. Besides no mic’ing the singers, this West Side Story also featured the original choreography created by the late Broadway legend Jerome Robbins, reproduced by protege Julio Monge to stunning effect.
Sharks dance during high school get together
" data-orig-size="1600,1067" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" data-image-title="Mambo" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mambo.jpg?fit=1600%2C1067" class="size-large wp-image-9220" height="333" width="500" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mambo.jpg?fit=300%2C200" data-permalink="http://operatoonity.com/2018/07/24/glimmerglass-festival-puts-the-wow-in-new-west-side-story/mambo/" alt="dance scene from West Side Story" data-recalc-dims="1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mambo.jpg?resize=1024%2C683 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mambo.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mambo.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mambo.jpg?resize=50%2C33 50w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mambo.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mambo.jpg?w=1500 1500w" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Karli Cadel","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1530498364","copyright":"\u00a9 2018 Karli Cadel","focal_length":"140","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.0015625","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mambo.jpg?fit=500%2C333" />Amanda Castro as Anita and Corey Bourbonniere as Bernardo | Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
Actors who can sing. Dancers who can act. Jerome Robbins may have passed away in 1998, but his ethos “Stop dancing,” i.e., “fill every movement on stage with dramatic intention,” as coached by Monge, lives on this cast of this show, delivering maximum impact.
This production evidenced other significant connections to the show’s creators. Earlier in his career, conductor David Charles Abell was a music assistant to Leonard Bernstein and later worked with the maestro on a definitive score for West Side Story. Abell’s reverence for Bernstein was deeply felt in his conducting of this production. Also, Bernstein’s daughter Jamie wrote a moving reflection of her father’s trials (circa 1957) readying West Side Story for Broadway, appearing in the Glimmerglass Festival program. In it, she says that high school shows are the most memorable in spite of their imperfections because of the passionate commitment of the players.
The high school dance during “West Side Story” | Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
True disclosure, this reviewer never liked the movie version of the show starring Natalie Wood, the non-singer. Yes, it may have won ten Academy Awards, but I happen to have a personal bias against dubbing in the Marni Nixons (God rest her soul) of the world when film actors can’t sing. By contrast, @GOpera’s production is a testament to all the singing and dancing actors in the universe. And while it is not a perfect production, it is perfectly entertaining because of the performers’ abundant passion for the story, their craft, and the show’s ultimate success, a molten passion that’s poured into every number.
Tony and Maria meet at the dance
" data-orig-size="1600,1067" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" data-image-title="Maria and Tony" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maria-and-Tony.jpg?fit=1600%2C1067" class="size-large wp-image-9224" height="333" width="500" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maria-and-Tony.jpg?fit=300%2C200" data-permalink="http://operatoonity.com/2018/07/24/glimmerglass-festival-puts-the-wow-in-new-west-side-story/maria-and-tony/" alt="Tony and Maria" data-recalc-dims="1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maria-and-Tony.jpg?resize=1024%2C683 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maria-and-Tony.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maria-and-Tony.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maria-and-Tony.jpg?resize=50%2C33 50w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maria-and-Tony.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maria-and-Tony.jpg?w=1500 1500w" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Karli Cadel","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1530844250","copyright":"\u00a9 2018 Karli Cadel","focal_length":"168","iso":"2000","shutter_speed":"0.002","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maria-and-Tony.jpg?fit=500%2C333" />Vanessa Becerra as Maria and Joseph Leppek as Tony | Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
As star-crossed lovers, soprano Vanessa Becerra and tenor Joseph Leppek had wonderful chemistry. Becerra was a graceful, dreamy Maria, and I give Director Zambello props for hiring a singer whose vocal talents were larger than the role demanded. That doesn’t always happen in Glimmerglass musicals, much to my consternation. (Remember Marian in The Music Man and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd?) Sometimes her rapid vibrato complimented the song as in “Tonight.” Sometimes it rendered an unsettling pitch to a note altogether, as in “I Feel Pretty.” Singing the role of Tony demands an otherworldly vocal range, which Leppek ably delivered, assisted by a capable falsetto. His rendition of “Something’s Coming” was a tour de force. Like Becerra, Leppek is also a trained opera singer but pulled his vibrato to sound less operatic for this role, which made him earnest and believable.
While Maria and Tony get star billing, the production numbers are the bona fide big deals in this West Side Story. Each musical number affirms the genius of its creators–the brilliant and daring score; the witty, wistful libretto; the drama-filled choreography–while showcasing fiercely multi-talented performers.
In mezzo Amanda Castro, Zambello found a sturdy singer, a great actress, and a helluva great dancer. She led a troupe of Shark Girls in the showstopper of the night “America,” a riotously entertaining frenzy of spinning, kicking, clicking, and hamming it up, replete with humor and sarcasm that the audience relished and rewarded with a minutes’ long ovation.
The Shark Girls stopped the show with “America”
" data-orig-size="1600,1067" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" data-image-title="America" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/America.jpg?fit=1600%2C1067" class="wp-image-9227 size-large" height="333" width="500" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/America.jpg?fit=300%2C200" data-permalink="http://operatoonity.com/2018/07/24/glimmerglass-festival-puts-the-wow-in-new-west-side-story/america/" alt="Lead dancer in "America"" data-recalc-dims="1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/America.jpg?resize=1024%2C683 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/America.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/America.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/America.jpg?resize=50%2C33 50w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/America.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/America.jpg?w=1500 1500w" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Karli Cadel","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1530499464","copyright":"\u00a9 2018 Karli Cadel","focal_length":"140","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/America.jpg?fit=500%2C333" />Amanda Castro as Anita | Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
The Jets and Sharks dazzled as singers/actors/dancers. Every time the gangs hit the stage, the energy-level erupted like rumbles by the river. The “Dance at the Gym” was a monster of a number in Act I, particularly for the Sharks and their Shark Girls, who electrified the stage with their mambo and cha-cha.
dancing at the high school in West Side Story
" data-orig-size="1600,1067" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" data-image-title="Dance at the Gym" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dance-at-the-Gym.jpg?fit=1600%2C1067" class="size-large wp-image-9233" height="333" width="500" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dance-at-the-Gym.jpg?fit=300%2C200" data-permalink="http://operatoonity.com/2018/07/24/glimmerglass-festival-puts-the-wow-in-new-west-side-story/dance-at-the-gym/" alt=""Dance at the Gym"" data-recalc-dims="1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dance-at-the-Gym.jpg?resize=1024%2C683 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dance-at-the-Gym.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dance-at-the-Gym.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dance-at-the-Gym.jpg?resize=50%2C33 50w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dance-at-the-Gym.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dance-at-the-Gym.jpg?w=1500 1500w" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Karli Cadel","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1530498207","copyright":"\u00a9 2018 Karli Cadel","focal_length":"145","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.0015625","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dance-at-the-Gym.jpg?fit=500%2C333" />L to R: Amanda Castro as Anita, Corey Bourbonniere as Bernardo, Wm. Clay Thompson as Gladhand, Rachel Kay as Graziella and Brian Vu as Riff | Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
The Jets were just as potent in every act, in every scene of theirs. “Gee, Officer Krupke” was the scene-stealer of Act II. Though not pictured below, PJ Palmer as Action was a particular standout as one of the “American” rough-and-tumble gangbangers.
The Jets: Tucker Reed Breder as Big Deal, Michael Hewitt as Diesel, Brian Vu as Riff, Tyler Whitaker as Baby John, Conor McDonald as Snowboy | Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
The second-act fantasy ballet was sheerly lovely.
ballet scene
" data-orig-size="1600,1067" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" data-image-title="ballet" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ballet.jpg?fit=1600%2C1067" class="size-large wp-image-9238" height="333" width="500" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ballet.jpg?fit=300%2C200" data-permalink="http://operatoonity.com/2018/07/24/glimmerglass-festival-puts-the-wow-in-new-west-side-story/ballet/" alt="Act II ballet" data-recalc-dims="1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ballet.jpg?resize=1024%2C683 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ballet.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ballet.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ballet.jpg?resize=50%2C33 50w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ballet.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ballet.jpg?w=1500 1500w" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Karli Cadel","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1530849552","copyright":"\u00a9 2018 Karli Cadel","focal_length":"90","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.002","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/operatoonity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ballet.jpg?fit=500%2C333" />Vanessa Becerra as Maria and Joseph Leppek as Tony with members of the ensemble | Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
And while it’s a treat to see the very same ballet on stage as theatergoers did 60 years ago, the second act of this musical is far less successful than the first. Would the Shark Girls really have enough time to sing a happy, sappy number (“I Feel Pretty”) before learning about Bernado’s death? Would the Jets yuk it up to such an extent after their leader was murdered in the rumble (“Gee, Officer Krupke”)? The story’s weaknesses are almost always overlooked but are chiefly the reasons West Side Story has never been one of my favorite musical theater offerings. No matter the dramatic form–musical theater, opera, straight play–every element must serve the story.
L to R: PJ Palmer as Action, Michael Hewitt as Diesel, Vancesa Becerra as Maria and Schyler Vargas as Chino | Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
