No Time Like The Present To Meet A Girl Named Maria



No time like the present to meet a girl named Maria

The Sharks and Jets square off in A2CT's 'West Side Story'

BY ROGER LELIEVRE

News Arts Writer

Wendy Sielaff will admit to being a bit nervous. She’s directing “West Side Story,” Ann Arbor Civic Theatre’s season-opening show running Thursday-Sunday at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.

“It’s a beloved show, the dance is legendary and the music is known by everyone,” she said by way of explanation.

“West Side Story,” a modern take on the “Romeo and Juliet” tale, is set on the mean streets of New York. Handsome Tony, a former member of the gang the Jets, falls hopelessly in love with lovely Puerto Rican immigrant Maria. Their respective friends and families are sworn enemies, and Maria’s brother, Bernardo, is the leader of the Jets’ rival gang, the Sharks. In the heat of summer, love and hatred escalate toward a violent climax.

“The story has held up since Shakespeare,” Sielaff, who has directed three other musicals for Civic, said.

“West Side Story,” with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Leonard Bernstein, opened on Broadway in 1957, directed/choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Its success continued with a 1961 movie, and the show has become a favorite in the American musical theater canon. As such, said Sielaff, she intends to offer a staging that hews close to the original.

“You have to be really careful with a beautiful show like this that you don’t change anything,” she said. “If I changed anything it would be like putting Santa in a blue suit - people wouldn’t accept it.” She admits to one bit of tinkering, however. “We have taken out some of the things that might be considered more lighthearted when the Jets and the Sharks meet. They hate each other. I really wanted to portray the violence and the hatred between them and make that gritty and believable on stage.”

To that end, she and her thespians have had some help from cast member Aaron Pohl, a member of Ring of Steel, a theatrical combatand stunt troupe based in Ann Arbor.

“It looks like everybody’s throwing all sorts of punches up there, but everything has been choreographed, everybody knows exactly what their fight partner is doing and nobody’s going to get hurt,” Sielaff explained.

The show’s approximately 30-member cast features A2CT regulars plus many newcomers. Anthony Provenzola and Annie Reinholtz play the Rina Miller 9/8/05 star-starred lovers Tony and Maria. Rey Arceno is Bernardo, Michelle Gasco is Anita, and Dann Smallwood plays Riff. Also featured are Glenn Bugala as Doc, Bill Zimmerman as Chino, Curt Waugh as Sgt. Shrank, Pat Parsons as Officer Krupke, and Maggie Williams as Anybodys.

“We’ve got some oldies but some goodies,” Sielaff said.

“Our Maria drives all the way from Grosse Pointe. Michelle Gasco, who’s been in Ann Arbor Civic Theatre for a long time and never had a lead role, really pulled it out of the fire for Anita.”

Some behind-the-scenes roles in “West Side Story” are just as important as those on the stage, especially that of the choreographer.

“Tawna Davney makes the boys jump and leap and snap - she outdid herself this time,” said Sielaff. “You see those Jet boys leap, I don’t know where they find it. It’s like they are on springboards. This cast has sweated more than any cast I have ever seen.”

Roger LeLievre can be reached at (734) 994-6848 or by e-mail at rlelievre@annarbornews.com.

PREVIEW

'West Side Story'

Who: Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.

What: Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim musical set against the gritty backdrop of gang warfare in the streets of New York City. As two rival teen gangs battle over turf, a boy and girl from opposing sides meet and fall tragically in love.

Where: Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, Michigan League, 911 N. University Ave.

When: Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.

How much: $15 Thursday; $24 (students, seniors $21) Friday-Sunday.

Information: www.a2ct.org; (734) 971-2228.