'West Side Story' is still a kick
Why squander precious foreign currency to fly to London or New York to watch a musical when you can see an award-winning one right here? If you still have not done so, you have several weekends until Oct. 12 to catch Stages’ production of West Side Story at the Meralco Theater. Written by Arthur Laurents with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the Broadway musical is regarded as one of the best of all time with its immortal songs (Tonight, Maria, Somewhere, America, One Hand, One Heart, I Feel Pretty) and show-stopping dance numbers. It was first presented on Broadway in 1957 and had a run of 732 performances (considered a feat at that time) before going on tour then returning in 1961 for another 253. The production earned nominations for Best Musical and Best Choreography in that year’s Tony Awards with its choreographer, Jerome Robbins, eventually emerging victorious. A movie version in 1961 romped off with 10 Oscar awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director, a record surpassed by only three films — Ben Hur in 1959, Titanic in 1997 and Lord of the Rings in 2003. All three have won 11 Oscars.
Singing, acting and dancing skills are de rigueur for West Side Story cast members. These requirements formed the basis of executive producer, Audie Gemora’s decision to revive the play. Gemora and veteran thespian, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, who debuts as stage director in this re-staging, have made it their mission to pass on the torch of artistic excellence to the next generation of Filipino theater performers. “During our time we had to excel in all three. Lately we noticed that this is no longer the case so we decided to do something about it,” says Gemora.
To say that they have succeeded is an understatement. Stages’ West Side Story is an impressive showcase of outstanding Filipino talent that can hold a candle to the best in the West if not surpass them in many instances. Actor-singer Christian Bautista plays the lead Tony while Filipina West End star Joanna Ampil takes the role of Maria. A modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, it is set in the Upper West Side of New York City in the late 1950s with conflict between rival gangs instead of families who tangle over turf encroachment in the neighborhood. The Jets, an Anglo gang, could very well be the Montagues while the Sharks, made up of young Puerto Rican immigrants, stand in for the Capulets. Maria is kid sister to Sharks leader, Bernardo, played by Jake Macapagal, while Tony is the best friend of Jets leader, Riff, played by Gian Magdangal. Macapagal and Magdangal both give strong and powerful performances. Together with the other actors, who play the gang members, they convincingly draw you into the maelstrom of racial antagonism, mistrust and hatred between the two factions in well-choreographed fight/dance numbers that are full of spirit and vigor. The syncopated beats and dramatic lighting effects further add to the viewing pleasure.
Australian-born Filipina Rowena Vilar is an excellent choice for the role of Anita, the Puerto Rican girlfriend of Bernardo. Rowena not only possesses a good singing voice, she can really kick up a storm on the dance floor, too. Highly recommended by Leo Valdez, who played The Engineer in Miss Saigon, she recently played the roles of Kim and Gigi in the Australian tour of the musical. In the stirring duet of A Boy Like That/ I Have A Love with Joanna Ampil, the power of her voice and depth of feeling is at par with the latter.
Finally, after an absence of 16 years, London-based thespian Joanna Ampil comes home to do her very first musical theater project in Manila. She had long wanted to perform in her own country but never had the chance until she heard of the casting for West Side Story. Despite her impressive credentials (Kim in Miss Saigon, Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar handpicked personally by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber for the role, Eponine and Fantine in Les Miserables and Mimi in Rent), Ampil was humble enough to request an audition. As she was still doing Les Miserables in London, she sent along a digital audio track of her rendition of Think of Me from Phantom of the Opera. After listening to it, the judges were unanimous in offering her the role of Maria. She was also told that Stages could not afford to pay her West End rates. That was fine with her; what she wanted most was to work with Gemora and to perform for her countrymen who cannot go to London to watch her in a musical.
As Maria, her beautiful voice does justice to Leonard Bernstein’s compositions. To hear her render songs such as Tonight, Somewhere, I Have A Love and One Hand, One Heart is well worth the price of the ticket. In her duets with Christian Bautista, she tempers her voice so as not to overpower Bautista’s softer one, only letting it soar in her solo numbers and in her duet with Vilar whose vocal chords are similarly powerful.
The boyishly handsome Bautista manages to give credence to his role of Tony — an idealistic and romantic young man who only sees what is good in this world. His fire escape scene with Maria is reminiscent of the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. It’s love at first sight when Maria and Tony meet at a dance. Suddenly the other couples on the dance floor “freeze” and only the two of them exist and matter: “When love comes along, there is no right or wrong. Your love is your life.” Incurable romantics will empathize with the lovers as they fight for their love. If you are not that sentimental, the fight scenes and fantastic choreography will keep your eyes wide open.
Choreographer James Laforteza, tasked to reconstruct Jerome Robbins’ original Broadway choreography, does a monumental job in making even the non-dancers in the cast move like professionals. Since West Side Story is primarily a dance musical, very strong dancers from professional groups were handpicked for the supporting cast and the results will delight dance lovers.
Equally deserving of special citations are Gerard Salonga for musical direction, Mio Infante for set design, Eric Pineda for costumes, Bobbit Jacinto for sound design and John Batalla for lighting. Play director Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo passes her “baptism of fire” with flying colors.
Other cast members are Karylle (who alternates with Joanna in the role of Maria), Jaime del Mundo, Anthony Ong, Jordan Aguilar, Pam G, Jeff Singson, James Paolelli and Richard Cunanan.
It is safe to say that in this Stages production, there are no bit players. Everyone is a star in his own right. Collectively, they present us with real cool stuff!
Remaining performance dates are Oct. 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12. Call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or Stages at 818-1111 local 225 for tickets.
