By Martin F. Kohn
"West Side Story" is about belonging — to another person, to a group, to a culture, to America itself — and its opposite: being left out. Without that connection, as Tony sings to Maria, "the world was just an address, a place for me to live in, no better than alright."
Amid other themes, "West Side Story" has always been about inclusion, but Arthur Laurents brings this idea front and center in his illuminating production whose national tour was officially launched Wednesday at the Fisher Theatre. Laurents, who wrote the book for the 1957 original — music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, respectively — amplifies the concept to give a landmark American musical new vitality.
To be sure, everything enduring about "West Side Story" remains intact: the Romeo-and-Juliet tale reset among rival gangs, the "American" Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks; choreography, fluid and intense, that could tell the story by itself if there weren't any words; songs that became classics in what seemed like an instant: "Tonight," "I Feel Pretty," "Somewhere," "Something's Coming," "America," "Maria." All of it performed by a cast of mostly triple-threat (act/dance/sing) artists led by Kyle Harris as Tony and Ai Ewoldt as Maria.
The biggest innovation that Laurents brought to his still-running 2009 Broadway revival which the current tour (directed by David Saint) replicates is having the Puerto Rican characters speak and sing in Spanish, not just English. Non-Spanish speakers (like me) will easily grasp what's going on, even if they don't understand every word and even if they've never seen "West Side Story" before. If you feel a little left out, welcome to the Sharks' experience in English-speaking New York.
It brings a little more evenhandedness to a show that's already balanced remarkably well. Musicals tend to be front-loaded, but both the first and second act of "West Side Story" have great songs and high drama. Each faction gets its delicious comic number: "America" for Anita (Michelle Aravena) and the Shark Girls; "Gee, Officer Krupke" for the Jets. Both Tony and Anita reluctantly try to be peacekeepers, with disastrous results.
While the added Spanish has garnered the most attention, the most brilliant innovation suggests that inclusion means everybody — and Anybodys.
Anybodys is a would-be Jet, a girl who looks, dresses and acts like one of the boys. The boys regard her as an oddity, not quite female, not really one of them. Today we would understand her as a transgender person. Who better, then, to begin singing "There's a place for us, somewhere a place for us" in the dream scene that envisions a better world? Sung by Alexandra Frohlinger as Anybodys, the moment registers with astonishing power.
Making great impressions, too, are the set change from the neighborhood to the rumble under the highway and some raunchy, hilarious sight gags that spice up "Gee, Officer Krupke."
As the new incarnation of "West Side Story" begins life on the road, I feel pretty good about its chances.
REVIEW:
'West Side Story'
Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit. Tuesday-Sunday through Oct. 16. $39-$89 (includes parking and facility fees). 1-800-982-2787. http://www.broadwayindetroit.com.
