|
Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. West Side Story Also see Susan's reviews of Bright Star, As You Like It, and Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind
West Side Story is the largest production in Signature's history, with a cast of 30 and a 17-member orchestra, led admirably by Jon Kalbfleisch, situated above the playing area. No audience member is more than 20 feet from the stage (the MAX seats 276), bringing the viewer into the claustrophobic streets of 1950s New York where the Jets and Sharks fight for dominance. The MAX is an endlessly malleable black box space, which scenic designer Misha Kachman has reconfigured into a thrust stage with seating on three sides. An inspired innovation is the addition of a fire escape-like walkway (with a sliding ladder to the stage floor) above the orchestra seats, allowing the gang members to roam freely overhead, clattering as they go. Jason Lyons' lighting design adds to the emotional tension, sometimes trapping actors in a tightly focused beam. Gardiner's direction brings out new facets in familiar characters. MaryJoanna Grisso plays Maria as a giddy child, making her transformation that much more shattering. Natascia Diaz nails Anita's pride, protectiveness, desire, and ultimate despair. Austin Colby is appealing as a pure-voiced Tony who doesn't realize he's in over his head, while Sean Ewing's Bernardo and especially Max Clayton's Riff project hard-won authority. John Leslie Wolfe conveys understated malice as the police lieutenant who feels only contempt and disgust for the members of both gangs (he hates Puerto Ricans but says the American-born Jets are the children of "tinhorn immigrant scum") and Bobby Smith scores both as philosophical Doc and floundering social worker Glad Hand. The cast of dancing, singing actors fulfills the promise of the setting; never before has the sense of people fighting over a small piece of turf come through so visibly. Esse is working with a corps that understands the discipline behind both ballet steps and stylized violence.
Signature Theatre |
