West Side Story: The Review
I went to see the Marymount Players preform the iconic American musical: West Side Story, directed by Gina Ferrarin, on the opening night, and I have to say that overall I was impressed. The story is inspired by William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet; however it is set in New York’s Upper West Side in the 1950’s. The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets, an American gang, and the Sharks, who are from Puerto Rico, taunted by the Jets for their ethnicity. The rivalry between the two gangs ends when former Jet leader, Tony (Ramzi S.) falls in love with the leader of the Sharks, Bernardo’s (Michele M.) sister, Maria (Azzurra M.). Of course, being based on Shakespeare’s tragedy, the rivalry between the two gangs will only end with the tragic end of the “star-crossed lovers’” love story, resulting in Tony’s death and Maria’s desperation.
The relationship between the entire cast was comfertable and realistic, resulting in a successful suspension of disbelief for the audience. The female characters, Maria and her best friend/brother’s girlfriend, Anita (Alya J.), had great chemistry on stage and sang harmoniously together. Azzura portayed a naive and quite fanciful Maria, perfectly reflecting the démodé character. Alya played a sassy and hopeful Anita, which presented a nice contrast to Maria, enhancing their relationship even more.
The male protagonists Tony, his best friend Riff (Giulio S.) and Bernardo (Michele M.) also interpreted their roles very well. Like Azzura, Ramzi offered a naive and sensitive protagonist who was juxtaposed to every other male character in the play, making him stand out from the cast. Starace also interpreted the role of the Jets’ leader well and skillfully developed the character of an American stud, which turned out to be softer than what the audience expected. Michele also played a charismatic and credible Bernardo.
The rest of the cast was also very good: the Jets hilarious and modern in comparison to the rest of the play, and the Shark girls charmingly portrayed the expectations and dreams of Puerto Rican girls living in America in the 1950’s.
The music of the play was by far the best element of the performance. The cherubic voice of Azzurra M. in the last song gave me chills, and the performance of Azzura M., Costanza F., Roberta S. and Elle P. in “I Feel Pretty” was incredibly enjoyable. Ramzi and Azzura’s duet in “Tonight” was also exceptional; however, due to technical problems with the microphones, sometimes one of the two voices was less audible. The best song was definitely “America” with Alya’s amazing voice leading the Sharks in a fun and well-performed act. The band led by Rocco S. accompanied the actors superbly, enhancing the lyrics, voices and instrumental elements of the band. Mr. Sbardella did a great job conducting and teaching the songs to the actors and band alike, delivering a professional performance. The only criticism I have is that sometimes the band was too loud relative to the actors’ voices. The directing by Ms. Ferrarin was impeccable as always, producing a school production that can definitely compete with some semi-professional companies in Italy. The exits, entrances, changes of scenery, lighting, blocking, and preparation of the actors were evidently a success. A fine example of this was the love scene between Maria and Tony, which was conducted with elegance and refined taste, enhancing their sentiment of true love that is central to the entire play.
Congratulations and well done to all!