Theater Review—

Standout Performances Punctuate Sherman’s ‘West Side Story’

By Julie Stern

SHERMAN — At the opening night curtain call of Sherman Players’ presentation of West Side Story last weekend, as the triumphant joy on the faces of the entire cast expressed the awareness that they had pulled off something really special, that this young company had put on a show that was as good as they had ever dreamed of doing, while the audience cheered, there came a rumbling chant from the kids onstage: “Lan-ny, Lan-ny!”

Up in the balcony, Director-Choreographer Lanny Mitchell raised his hands in a victory salute. Clearly the man is a teacher.

Working with a group of 32 performers of various ages and backgrounds, all of them talented, with plenty of ego to go around, he did what great teachers do: he shaped them into a group that was able to work together for the good of the show. Paradoxically, as they stopped thinking about themselves, they were able to unite in a collective effort that was dynamic, powerful, exciting and moving, from the opening encounter between the Jets and the Sharks, until the tragic ending.

Probably everyone is familiar with West Side Story on some level, either from the film or from having seen it on the stage. Arthur Laurent took Shakespeare’s tale of Romeo and Juliet and set it in the mean streets of New York’s west side. The Jets, a gang made up of native-born kids from mixed immigrant backgrounds, are the sworn enemies of the Sharks – newly arrived Puerto Ricans. Right before the two gangs are to have a deadly rumble, Tony, the best friend of the Jets leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, sister to Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. As Tony tries to stop the fight, Bernardo kills Riff, and Tony, in a mad vengeful reaction, kills Bernardo, and so on…

Leonard Bernstein wrote what could well be considered his greatest musical score, and Stephen Sondheim wrote lyrics to match.

Under Mitchell’s direction, the principals were terrific. Newtown high school senior Matthew Grills looked unexpectedly young when he first appeared onstage as Tony. Then he opened his mouth to sing and the reason for choosing him was obvious.

Appropriately, Brittany Ross, in the role of Maria, is young as well; after all, Juliet was only 13 in Shakespeare’s version of the story, and her voice is a good match for his.

As Riff, Tony’s “womb to tomb” best pal, Thomas Mulhare brings a swaggering charm, both in his acting and in his delivery of his songs, especially the wonderful “Gee, Officer Krupke.” Dan McCallion brings brooding intensity to the role of the Shark leader Bernardo, and Katharine Simone Shagoury does a dynamite job with his fiery girlfriend Anita, who grieves for her lost lover yet is able to sympathize with her friend.

But all of the performances are standouts. In particular, Joseph Scalzo as Action, and Deborah Branco as Rosalia, combine beautiful singing voices with great dramatic presence. Their characters are so vivid and true that their impact on stage is positively electric. Andrew Wheelock does a fine job in the role of Chino, the shy boy whom Bernardo has chosen to be his sister’s husband.

And then there is the dancing. All the vitality and virility of the angry young gang members is captured in the numbers where they fill the stage and sweep the audience up in the energy of the moment.

In part, the theme of the play is the bitter desperation of these bad boys and their girls, alienated kids who have no prospects, nothing to look forward to, and nothing to take pride in except their few blocks of urban turf. It is ironic that the story is brought to life so vividly by this group of performers who have so much going for them – their hopes, their dreams, their talent – and the chance to come together under Lanny Mitchell’s guidance and make something that they can be so justifiably proud of.

This is a great show for the whole family, whether you’ve seen it before or not. It could well be the greatest American musical ever written, and the Sherman players have given it a production worthy of the material.

(Performances continue weekends through August 30. Call Sherman Playhouse for this production’s schedule, which is somewhat altered than the normal program; 860-354-3622.)