Review: WEST SIDE STORY Makes a Classic Feel Fresh at Pittsburgh CLO

There is no greater musical theatre staging preservationist than Baayork Lee, who has devoted much of her career to preserving and restaging the original direction and choreography to A Chorus Line. Lee has worked that same magic with Jerome Robbins's legendary staging of West Side Story, which she has restaged at Pittsburgh CLO. In any of these recreated productions, the question is always valid, "where does Robbins end and Lee begin?" The truth is, it doesn't actually matter. Even though these are many of the dance movies and staging beats you've seen a thousand times, they're executed with a freshness, vitality and sometimes violence that makes them feel brand new.

You already know the plot of this show, right? Polish-American boy Tony (Spencer LaRue) is trying to get out of gang life, but his former gang leader Riff (Davis Wayne) drags him in for one last rumble with the Puerto Rican gangleader Bernardo (Giuseppe Bausilio). This leads Tony to fall for Bernardo's younger sister Maria (Sabina Collazo). Sparks fly, people die, boys dance. It's a classic for a reason.

Right from the start, we're getting a classic WSS, but with some stylistic tweaks that make it feel a little fresh, a little new. The sceneic design by Leo Meyers and backdrop videos by Brad Peterson lean towards abstraction, all German Impressionist angles and painterly silhouettes; one tenement backdrop even echoes the iconic "painted on black" artistry of Batman: the Animated Series. The costumes by Robert Fletcher thread a needle between extremely period looks and a more abstract and contemporary style (much like the Spielberg film's costumes did): other than the extremely late-Fifties "dance at the gym" costumes, these could mostly be 1959 or 2024. 

Spencer LaRue is a gentle, contemplative Tony in Act 1 before finding his darker side in Act 2. His voice is a lovely contemporary theatrical sound, without the somewhat operatic affectations that are often applied to the role. His counterpart Sabina Collazo is a pitch-perfect Maria, navigating both the musical theatre and operatic demands of the role, as well as the sometimes ponderous and awkward Spanglish dialogue by librettist Arthur Laurents. (Yes I'm a Tony Kushner apologist, deal with it.) It's Davis Wayne who truly rockets off the stage as Jets commander Riff. His performance is a master class in coiled, controlled intensity. 

The four "adult" roles deserve a shout-out as well, because they're doing a lot with a little and represent four of Pittsburgh's most notable local faces. Allan Snyder gives a genuinely sinister, noirish performance as racist cop Lieutenant Schrank. He's all sneer, swagger and barely-veiled threat until erupting on the "spics" and "polacks" in the famous drugstore interrogation scene. J. Alex Noble continues his history of playing right-hand-man as beat cop Officer Krupke. Noble leans more brute than buffoon in his portrayal, giving a little genuine threat to a character too often treated as a clown. Ken Bolden is a gentle, empathetic Doc, balancing the bad vibes from the cops with his own soft, grandfatherly affection. And of course, don't sleep on Dixie Surewood, Pittsburgh's already-iconic musical theatre drag queen, as social worker Gladhand. Surewood's cameo may be brief, but comes close to stealing the show, especially thanks to a genuinely hilarious double-take that would make Nathan Lane jealous.

In general, I would say I'm sick of West Side Story, but that's only because most productions are nowhere near as fresh as Baayork Lee's staging for CLO. It's a rare thing to make a fairly traditional production of a museum piece feel fresh, and Lee has done it in spades. Whether you're a Shark or a Jet, go root for your team (and then regret rooting for a team at all by the end) before it's too late!

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