West Side Story brings in the crowds. That must be why Los Angeles Opera chose to kick off its 40th anniversary season on Sept. 20 with this iconic work of American musical theater. The strategy clearly worked — due to popular demand, the company has added two extra shows on Oct. 11 and 12 to its slated eight-performance run.
Confronting the explosive issues of immigration, migration, and racism in America, West Side Story is perhaps more relevant today than when it premiered on Broadway in 1957. Audiences love this raw and joyful celebration of America’s melting-pot, not to mention its star-crossed lovers who stand in for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Leonard Bernstein's raucous, jazzy, and tender score is a landmark in contemporary American music. His complex fusion of classical and popular styles, while dated remains surprisingly fresh and vital.
On opening night, LA Opera's ambitious and attractive production, directed by Francesca Zambello, had many fine moments but suffered from some unfortunate casting choices and would have benefited from a stronger directorial hand.
Zambello originally directed this production for Houston Grand Opera in 2018 and has mounted it at many other opera houses in recent years. Basically traditional, with set designs by Peter J. Davison that create a Manhattan tenement streetscape complete with water towers silhouetted against the sky, it leaves the work's original realistic visual concept intact. Jessica Jahn's costumes remain true to the 1950s aesthetic, with some arresting bright colors: red for Amanda Castro's feisty Anita and yellow for Gabriella Reyes's naive Maria.
It didn’t help that Taylor Harley, the performer originally cast as Riff (gang leader of the Jets), was replaced by P. Tucker Worley at the last minute, which posed some special challenges. Despite the circumstances, he gave a spirited and engaging performance although he was out his weight class in “The Rumble.” No doubt the show's rhythm and flow will improve in subsequent performances.
Recreating the ground-breaking down-and-dirty choreography by Jerome Robbins, the dancing for which the show is famous pulled the action forward. A large and youthful ensemble swept across the spacious stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with zest and bounce. Dancers reveled in the sizzle and humor of the big song-and-dance numbers "Cool" and "Gee, Office Krupke.” Always a highlight, the "Tonight Quintet" seethed with anxious anticipation on the eve of the disastrous rumble.
But the real star of the show was the orchestra, brilliant and brassy and jazzy, conducted with hip style and panache by LA Opera's outgoing music director James Conlon. Conlon's keen and loving understanding of Bernstein's eclectic style, due to his own Manhattan childhood, infused the production with vitality and immediacy. Conlon drew out the score's intricate and operatic patterning of recurring motifs and its sophisticated rhythmic variety, from mambo to cha-cha to ballet.
When an opera company produces a Broadway musical, it faces the dilemma that few opera singers are comfortable with the demands of musical theater. The best performances in LA Opera’s show all came from musical theater veterans.
Castro has it all as Anita — powerful and expressive singing, surefire delivery of her sassy repartee, and a dynamic physical presence. She prances through Stephen Sondheim's rapid-fire lyrics for the defiant immigrant's anthem "America" like a fine race horse.
As Bernardo, Anita’s swaggering boyfriend and leader of the Sharks gang, Broadway veteran Yurel Echezarreta pivots from danger to charm with dizzying speed and finesse. In "The Rumble," he moves with the menacing grace of a tiger. He is the macho bully no one dares to defy and owns the stage whenever he appears.
But this West Side Story falls down in romantic chemistry and vocal incompatibility of the Maria and Tony. When Gabriella Reyes as Maria and Duke Kim as Tony first meet across racial boundaries at the dance at the gym, their love-at-first-sight seems forced.
Although a capable actor, Reyes uses her lovely, large, and cultured opera house soprano that carries to the farthest corner, but doesn't blend well with Kim's lighter, lyrical tenor. He sang Tony's two big numbers — "Something's Coming" and the show-stopping "Maria" — well but without special flair. His delivery of the dialogue was wooden and stiff and certainly not New York.
LA Opera’s West Side Story offers much to admire and enjoy. The large opening night audience responded with cheers and bravos for an ensemble and orchestra that delivered high-powered entertainment and incredible dancing.
