'West Side Story' opens the 2015-16 season at Sarasota's Asolo Repertory Theater
Up until 1957, if you called a show a musical, it was pretty much understood that you meant it was a musical comedy.
Then came "West Side Story."
"It changed the idea of what could be done on a musical stage," Joey McKneely said. "Before 'West Side,' everything ended in happy-ever-after."
McKneely's a "West Side Story" specialist. He's been directing and choreographing it all over the world for several years, and when the people at Sarasota's Asolo Repertory Theatre decided to open their 2015-16 season with the Leonard Bernstein classic, they invited McKneely in to stage his version here.
As vibrant as "West Side Story" remains, and as timeless as its songs still are, it's often staged almost as a period piece. McKneely says he tries to make the story of the Sharks and the Jets more immediate.
"People know 'West Side Story,' but they don't know the production that I do,'" he said. "It's far more energetic than people have ever seen."
Asolo audiences, he said, will experience a 'West Side Story' that's not so firmly set in the past. "I grew up with 'Grease,' the musical," he said. "So when I see the slicked-back hair and the poofy skirts, that's what I think of."
But it's tricky to bring a show about street gangs into a modern context, he said, because of the reputation of contemporary street gangs. The Sharks and the Jets are kids who carry knives but probably don't imagine they'll ever use them. They don't kill each other every day. Assault weapons and drug deals aren't in their frame of reference, and for the show to work they can't be."
" 'West Side' is a show about the extinguishing of innocence, " McKneely
said. "I try to put the emphasis on the transition of these characters."
He can't change the story or the songs, so McKneely has worked with sets and costumes to make the action feel more contemporary. He also casts younger actors, as close in age to their characters as possible. His cast at Asolo includes a 16- and 17-year-old.
On a more basic level, "West Side Story" is a retelling of the "Romeo and Juliet" story, with teenagers affiliated from rival gangs, one Anglo and one Puerto Rican, failing in love, with fatal implications.
The music came from Leonard Bernstein, and incorporated Latin rhythms with heavy elements of classical music and jazz. The lyrics came from a newcomer named Stephen Sondheim (some sources says Bernstein co-wrote the lyrics but declined credit) and featured revolutionary choreography by Jerome Robbins.
Even though he's trying to make "West Side Story" more contemporary, McKneely's not tinkering with Robbins' dances.
"West Side Story" was the first big Broadway show that didn't have a chorus of singers and an ensemble of dancers. The central characters had to be able to do all that.
Besides, McKneely said, the dances aren't interludes. They're part of the story. They advance the plot and define the characters. That was new in 1957.
Even people who have never seen the show or its movie adaptation -- with Natalie Wood playing a Puerto Rican -- probably know almost every song from the show. There are heart-rending ballads ("Maria," "Somewhere"), lighthearted numbers ("Gee, Officer Krupke," "America") and even a few that sound like typical Broadway fare for the era ("Something's Coming," "I Feel Pretty").
For all that, though, "West Side Story" didn't immediately cause the splash that one might think. It won only two Tony Awards in its initial Broadway run, one for Robbins' choreography and one for Oliver Smith's scenic design. ("The Music Man" won the Tony for Best Musical that year.)
McKneely learned "West Side Story" directly from the people who knew it best. He was the choreographer for the 2009 Broadway revival that was directed by Arthur Laurents, who wrote the musical's book. In that revival, Laurents also aimed to make the story more relevant to contemporary audiences.
Twenty years before, McKneely had been a performer in "Jerome Robbins Broadway," which Robbins himself directed and choreographed. "We spent six months in the rehearsal studio," McKneely said. "I'm a torch-bearer. I'm passing on the torch. He gave it to me and I've been carrying it ever since."
Details: Nov. 13-Dec. 27, Mertz Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $15.50-$100. Information: 941-351-8000, asolorep.org.
Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.
This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 4:46 PM with the headline "'West Side Story' opens the 2015-16 season at Sarasota's Asolo Repertory Theater ."