‘West Side Story' author keeps the musical young, relevant
The finger-snapping, pirouettes and liberal use of “gee-whiz” have been stripping the essential grittiness from the themes at work in “West Side Story” since its stage debut in 1957. But the 2009 revival coming to the Fox on Jan. 25 promises sharper edges.
Arthur Laurents, the 92-year-old original script writer, updated the musical for a Broadway run from March 2009 to Jan 2, 2011. Laurents served as a consultant to the cast on this current tour, and director David Saint worked alongside Laurents as associate director during the Broadway run.
“I felt the gangs in the original production were sweet little things,” Laurents said in a statement. “And the truth is, they’re all killers. This whole production is radically different from what it was back then.”
For Ali Ewoldt who plays Maria, witnessing firsthand the creator's evolving vision for the musical helped flesh out her character.
“He didn’t direct it originally,” she said. “In this production, he’s been trying to fulfill his intentions as much as possible.”
For one thing, there is much more Spanish in the dialogue to punctuate cultural differences between the Jets and the Sharks. Police officers brandish guns, and the word “abstinence” is used sarcastically.
“Tony and Maria get to kiss a whole lot more,” Ewoldt said. “In the movie and in the original production, there were some chaste kisses here and there, but if you really think of what teenagers in love would do, they wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off each other. We were allowed to express our passion as people would in real life.”
While the Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim score along with Joey McKneely’s choreography anchors the work, Laurents said he wanted to emphasize the acting as much as the singing and dancing. He coaxed the kind of performances he envisioned from each actor individually.
“In my first audition, I would do the scene, and he would get up from behind the table and walk all the way across the room to where I was, motion me to the piano and whisper in my ear,” Ewoldt said. “A lot of his direction conveyed the idea of knowing things for the first time, in that moment, and really being able to be honest and not play Maria with a put-upon innocence.”
"West Side Story"
8 p.m. Jan. 25 – Jan. 28. 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Jan. 29. 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Jan. 30. $18-$57. The Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E. 800-982-2787. www.ticketmaster.com.
