West Side Story: As delightful as the movie

I should thank Girlie Rodis for insisting that I watch West Side Story last Sunday at the Meralco Theater, complete with a “bait” of two VIP tickets. Actually, Girlie didn’t have to because I really wanted to watch the musical produced by STAGES, with Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as director (and Gerard Salonga as musical director).

I watched it with Ibarra Mateo (stay tuned for his review soon in The STAR) and I thanked Girlie for being “insistent.”

Before the three-hour musical began, Carlo Orosa, discoverer-manager of Christian Bautista who is playing the male lead Tony (Richard Beymer in the movie version by Rodgers & Hammerstein), sat beside us and told us that, remember, it was Menchu who played Maria (now with Karylle and Joanna Ampil alternating) back in 1981 when West Side Story was first staged here by Repertory Philippines. “That was the year Christian was born,” volunteered Carlo.

I’ve watched West Side Story the movie countless times (both on DVD and in TV reruns) and I could memorize (well, almost!) every scene and every song, every step of the way, and I still choke with emotion at the end of the movie when Maria (played by Natalie Wood) cradles a lifeless Tony on her lap while singing Somewhere — you know, There’s a place for us, somewhere a place for us. Peace and quiet and open air, wait for us somewhere... Rita Moreno as Anita won a Best Supporting Oscar for her performance and — you didn’t know, did you? — she wore a Pitoy Moreno gown when she accepted her trophy. George Charikis as Bernardo (with Jake Macapagal in the STAGES version), leader of the Sharks, is an eye-popper as he executes those intricate dance numbers, and so does Russ Tamblyn as Riff, leader of the Jets. 

The movie is, I think, even better than any of the movies about Romeo & Juliet by which the musical was inspired.

Oh yes, the movie was on my mind when I went to the Meralco Theater, so I expected (“unfair,” was it?) the actors to equal, if not surpass, the performances of Natalie and company. That’s what usually happens when you watch the movie version ahead of the theater version, right? Just like when, after reading the novel, you expect the movie version to be faithful to it, right?

Well, STAGES’ West Side Story doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it’s as delightful as the movie, perhaps even more so because it’s always better and more exciting to watch the characters come alive (and kicking!) right before your very eyes, thanks to brilliant actors.

Among the performances that stuck to memory:

• It was my first time to see Gian Carlo Magdangal perform “live” and he was such a pleasant surprise. His take on Riff was even more engrossing than that of Tamblyn because of his magnetic stage presence (yes, height is might, indeed!), his sexy body movement and body language (even the tip of his fingers were “acting”), his powerful voice (distinct in both the speaking parts and the singing parts) and his intense facial expressions.

I regret not having seen Gian in his previous plays (Saturday Night Fever, Man of La Mancha, Beauty & The Beast, Little Mermaid) and I make sure to watch the future ones.

• Rowena Vilar as Anita was a joy to watch, a sprightly counterpart of Rita Moreno (although minus Moreno’s burning Latin eyes). I was wondering where this theater brilliance came from until I checked the souvenir program during intermission and learned that —- ay naku, kaya naman pala! — she was trained in classical ballet (RAD) in Melbourne where she quit an office job to pursue a career in dance, making her professional debut in the original Australian cast of We Will Rock You (2003-2005), working with UK comedian/author Ben Elton, plus rock idols Brian May and Roger Taylor, and then with Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz on its Australian tour in 2006, partnering with him in some of the dance sequences. No wonder. Her wealth of experience showed — and the audience paid her a tribute with the loudest applause at curtain call.

• Joanna Ampil was, I think, just a teeny-weeny bit too mature and just slightly heavy for the Maria character who is supposed to be “untouched” (that’s why Anita won’t cut her party dress an inch shorter).The West End veteran’s (as Kim in Miss Saigon, etc.) Maria seemed to have lost her “innocence” on the Meralco stage but Joanna more than compensated for it in the singing parts where she sparkled like a morning star. (Karylle took her dayoff that Sunday, and I wondered how she fared as Maria. Some “insiders” told me that what she’s going through now with boyfriend Dingdong — her baptism of heartache, heartbreak? — is helping Karylle inject more “depth” into her performance. Sayang, we didn’t get to see her.)

• Christian Bautista as Tony was oh-so-wholesome and oh-so-vulnerable, so cuddlesome cute, that beside Joanna’s Maria, he appeared to need a protective arm instead of the other way around. Watching Christian in the demanding dance sequences and jumping ober da bakod in the finale sequence, you wouldn’t believe that as a kid, he was stricken with polio. His energy and stamina were amazing. Earlier that day, I saw Christian singing on the ABS-CBN noontime show A.S.A.P. ’08 and, barely two hours later, there he was at Meralco, portraying a credible Tony.

As I’ve said, West Side Story was a worthwhile experience that drizzly otherwise lazy afternoon. I wouldn’t mind watching it again — and again — even without Girlie Rodis insisting that I should.

(Note: Don’t miss West Side Story. It’s guaranteed to give you a musical high. More performances on Oct. 10 at 8 p.m.; Oct. 11 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and on Oct. 12 at 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. For tickets, call TicketWorld at 891-9999. Or STAGES at 818-1111 local 225).

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