hoodrivernews.com
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 B1
HOOD RIVER NEWS | Hood River, Ore.
Photos by Kirby Neumann-Rea
RIVAL GANGS: Sharks, led by Bernardo (Nik Portela, center left) and Jets, led by Riff (William Thayer-Daugherty, in hat at right) prepare to rumble in “West Side Story,” performed in Odell.
ON STAGE: ‘WEST SIDE STORY’
MEETING AT the dance: Maria (Lily Galvez) and Tony (Orville Grout) share a first kiss, moments after first setting eyes on each other. In a moment, Maria’s brother intercedes. Talk-back sessions with
selected cast members are planned after matinee performers, to give audiences an opportunity to discuss racism and other prevailing themes of the musical.
Amidst hate, Maria sings, ‘I have a love and that’s all I have’
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
“West Side Story” is like a
time capsule never closed or
buried.
Its lyrics and rhythms move
and entertain just as they did
when it debuted more than 60
years ago, and its contents also
disturb.
“It is fundamentally trou-
bling that some of the more
explicit themes, dialogue and
language of the script sound
as relevant now as they did in
1957,” Director Mark Steighner
said.
Racial and class disparity
and gender identity are time-
less concerns that are dealt
with outright or hover just
below the surface.
“West Side Story” appeared
on Broadway in 1957, the prod-
uct of a creative team that
included such luminaries as
Leonard Bernstein, Jerome
Robbins and the newly arrived
Stephen Sondheim.
The Columbia Gorge Or-
chestra Association version of
the tale debuted March 6 at
Wy’east Performing Arts Cen-
ter, and continues the next two
weekends. (See Tickets and
Times, at right, for details.)
“The show was innovative,
challenging, shocking and not
a big success,” Steighner said.
“It wasn’t until the film ver-
sion arrived in 1961 that ‘West
Side Story’ became a staple of
American culture.
“It’s about people co-exist-
ing in the world and trying to
live in the same space, which
is a theme now,” said Gorge
theater veteran William Thay-
er-Daugherty, who plays the
central role of Riff, leader of the
Caucasian street gang, the Jets.
■
Thayer was in the 2016 local
production of “Romeo and
Juliet,” the Shakespeare play
“West Side Story” is based on,
in the parallel role of Benvolio.
As the Jets and rival Latino
gang Sharks, led by Bernardo
(Nik Portela) vie for inner city
turf, a secret love develops be-
tween Tony (Orville Grout) and
Maria (Lily Galvez). The racial
divide is what fuels the hatred
that makes the love ill-fated —
“star-crossed” as Shakespeare
put it.
“Stick to your own kind,” her
friend Anita (Amalia Vasquez)
tells her in a key scene.
But love, tragically, prevails.
“This is something we’re
dealing with still today,” Petrela
said. “These kinds of issues,
and it’s going to be interesting
to see what the community has
to say about us like embody-
ing these stereotypes and is
it harmful we’re doing some-
thing like this or does it shed
light on the reality of where
we’re living right now? It’s a re-
ally intense play for something
so campy.”
Steighner said, “Over 60
years later, West Side Story
still retains its capacity to chal-
lenge audiences to think about
American attitudes around
race, culture and our treatment
of immigrants — in short, and
sadly — issues that are still
headline news and the topics
of political rallies.”
■
“‘West Side Story’ is, like the
Shakespeare play from which it
draws inspiration, a love story
first, but its context is an Amer-
ica that continues to struggle
when asked to accept and em-
brace immigrants or those that
are ‘different,’” Steighner said.
“Of course, at its fundamen-
tal level, ‘West Side Story’ is
simply about conflict and mis-
understanding, suspicion and
tribalism and innocent lovers
out of step or uncaring about
the violence around them (as
it was in Shakespeare’s original
play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’).”
In his playbill notes, Steigh-
ner wrote, “As lyricist and
composer Stephen Sondheim
recently remarked, theater is
an art form in which there is
constant re-invention.”
Susan Sorensen based her
choreography on Robbins’
original, but modified it for
a less experienced cast; and
dance captains Claire Rawson
and Maza Brady (who are
Jets members on stage) have
helped to shape some of the
dances and fight scenes.
Steighner said the musical
“will always have a fundamen-
tal dissonance between the
violence of the characters and
story and the fact that they are
— unrealistically — expressing
IN EARLY REHEARSAL, Jets gang members Diesel (Christian Conway), Big Deal (Claire Rawson) their rage through stylized
dance. It is simultaneously
and Baby John (Amy Courtney) express their anger and wish for respect and recognition.
one of the most brilliant and
least convincing aspects of the
show.
“Our production of ‘West
Side Story’ follows both the
leads of the 2009 Broadway re-
“West Side Story” runs March 13-14, 20-21 at 7 p.m. and March 8, 15, and 22 at 2 p.m.
vival and the current Broadway
Tickets are available at the door.
production in setting the story
Prices are $20 ($15 for CGOA members), and $5 youth ages 10-17 and free for kids under 10.
not in the 1950s but in some-
Tickets and more information at gorgeorchestra.org.
TICKETS AND TIMES
Wy’east Performing Arts Center is located on Wy’east Road on the Wy’east Middle School Campus in Odell.
See WEST SIDE, page B10