The kids are alright

The teens carry Forum's West Side Story

by Steve Vineberg

WEST SIDE STORY. Book by Arthur Laurents. Music by Leonard Bernstein. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Based on a concept by Jerome Robbins. Directed by Brian T. Tivnan. Choreographed by Andrea Salerno. Musical direction by Kallin Johnson. Set designed by Alan Martin. Lighting by Brian Fassett. Costumes by Paula Ouellette. With Daniel Siford, Mariel Mercado, Tim Smith, Daniel Trujillo, Jeni Reiko Fujita, Janelle DeMarzo, Paul Buxton, and Joseph Finneral. A Worcester Forum production, in East Park, through August 31.

On press night of Worcester Forum's outdoor West Side Story, the audience good will was palpable. Forum Theatre Works, an educational program that's trained approximately two-thirds of the three dozen cast members since January -- 26 young non-professionals from Worcester's city neighborhoods -- has been eagerly publicized, not only as a theatrical initiative but also, naturally, as a social one. It's a noble project, and the kids who've participated have a reason to be proud. From the moment Thurman Alex Hargrove III glides across the front of the audience on his skateboard, these young actors, who take most of the Jet and Shark roles, fuel West Side Story with an obviously authentic energy.

Unfortunately, the production surrounding them isn't very good. Some of the technical problems that beset the show on press night are sure to have been solved by this time (it was a rocky opening), but I don't think the solutions will extend to Alan Martin's tacky, cardboard-cutout set or the spotty lighting by Brian Fassett. Or to Brian T. Tivnan's staging, which is surprisingly clumsy, sometimes even baffling -- as in the finale, when Maria, who's just refused to allow anyone to touch the corpse of her beloved Tony, suddenly extends her hand to welcome his killer as a pallbearer. (The Jets and Sharks both contribute American flags to drape his body -- another flourish that makes little sense considering the Sharks' wholesale condemnation of white-bread patriotism throughout the play.) I can't even praise the usually proficient musical director, Kallin Johnson; the musicality of the show is poor, though an overhauling of the miking system, which has an odd, echo-chamber sound and pits the band against the singers, would certainly improve it.

Does West Side Story ever work? Four decades after the original Broadway production, Arthur Laurents's updating of Romeo and Juliet feels more embarrassingly dated than ever, and even those who, unlike me, are devoted to the Leonard Bernstein music would have to admit that Stephen Sondheim's lyrics belong among his juvenilia ("Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria, I've just met a girl named Maria . . . "). The musical wants to be brutal and controversial about tenement living, but every time those icky star-crossed lovers show up the ghost of Sigmund Romberg takes over. And slum ballet is a ridiculous concept -- which is why it was smart of choreographer Andrea Salerno to cut back on the Jerome Robbins stuff and go with a more contemporary choreographic feel. (Her staging of "America" and "Cool" are highlights here.) That doesn't mean, though, that you can bring West Side Story into the '90s without altering the script; Salerno's contemporary touches are more successful than Tivnan's. For instance, casting a woman (Janelle DeMarzo) as Action, one of the main Jets, makes you wonder why the other Jet girls are asked to leave during the war counsel.

Daniel Siford and Mariel Mercado are stuck with the roles of Tony and Maria. She sings with the pretty trained voice the music calls for; it's not her fault that she's colorless otherwise, since the role is pallid. And it's hardly Siford's fault that he doesn't look for a moment like a boy who's fought in a gang, since Tony isn't given a single line that might make us believe he was one of the gang's co-founders. Siford sings well (especially "Maria"), which is all you can reasonably hope for in a Tony. The personalities in this show belong, as they often do, to the Bernardo (Daniel Trujillo) and the Anita (Jeni Reiko Fujita); the temperature rises appreciably whenever they make an appearance. Unhappily, Bernardo gets offed at the end of act one, and from that point on Anita's role loses its erotic fizz (as her music gets worse). It's a pity; the sight of Jeni Reiko Fujita in the "Tonight" quintet late in act one, throwing her hair back and anticipating the sex she's going to get from 'Nardo after the Sharks rumble with the Jets, is the hottest this West Side Story gets.