Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 14 West Side Story

M U S I C A L N O T E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O May 3 - June 2, 2019 | 31 “I Feel Pretty”: Stephen Sondheim (at the piano) and Leonard Bernstein rehearsing Carol Lawrence (Maria, far right) and the ensemble of Shark girls. Although he did impose certain rhyth- mically complicated musical structures on a musically and vocally inexperienced cast (as in the electrifying quintet reprise of “Tonight”), Bernstein took pains to create a score that would be technically manageable and wouldn’t tempt his singers into overtly operatic expression. e casting process proved challenging. ere was none of Broadway musicals’ usual “dancing chorus” and “singing chorus”; everyone needed to act the dialogue convinc- ingly, master the music and lyrics, and dance the extraordinary new stylistic fusion devel- oped by Robbins. Grover Dale, who created the role of Snowboy, noted years later that “one of the most amazing things about the choreography is that it starts in naturalism and within seconds naturalism is transformed into a form of ballet and jazz. Making that transition, nding dancers who are capable of doing that, was one of the main casting elements as that show got produced.” 4 e rehearsal period was immensely exciting, if also unnerving, thanks to Robbins, an almost terrifyingly strict taskmaster in preparing the dances. He also wanted tension and competition between Jets and Sharks, insisting not only that they avoid socializing together, but that they rehearse in di erent rooms! For Chita Rivera, a stunning dancer and the rst Anita, it wasn’t just Robbins’s work on the show that made a lifelong impact on her – it was Bernstein’s as well: It was great to walk into that rehearsal hall and hear that music. When I heard the cha-cha, I couldn’t stop crying, it was so perfect for the scene, perfect for the book, and beautiful to listen to. My heart was totally involved with his music. He gave me the library that’s in my head of knowing what a wonderful score is all about. Smart and musical and complicated and passionate scores, where the lyrics work beautifully with the music and you can leave the theater humming a beautiful melody. 5 As for Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story is hardly a favorite among his own works. Five decades after the premiere, he declared with typical frankness: “ ere aren’t any fantastic rhymes in West Side Story . ey’re almost all day and may, go and show. It would have been betraying the characters if they’d rhymed too well. I Feel Pretty’ still bothers me. It’s just too elegant for a girl like Maria to sing. I mean, “It’s alarming how charming I feel”? at wouldn’t be unwel- come in Noël Coward’s living room.” 6 But Sondheim has never denied the show’s uniqueness, noting that “its impor- tance lies in its theatricality. It was a more sophisticated blending of music, dance, song, and dialogue than anything that had been done before.” 7 e creators didn’t start out anticipating success; they were simply eager to do some- thing genuinely bold, regardless of the outcome. Having no idea what to expect, everyone involved in the show was conse- quently astounded on opening night of the Washington tryout, when the audience liter- ally screamed with enthusiasm during the curtain calls. In New York, where West Side Story premiered on September 26, 1957, the most astute critics thoroughly understood the show – especially e New York Times ’s Brooks Atkinson, who hailed the creative team: FRIEDMAN ABELES, BILLY ROSETHEATRE DIVISION, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 Ibid., p. 31 4 YouTube video posted by Grover Dale, April 20, 2012. 5 From interview on WNYC, Oct. 4, 2008. 6 From interview for “How We Made West Side Story ,” e Guardian, Sept. 18, 2017. 7 From interview for Musikspill, Norwegian television series hosted by Harold Tusberg, 1980.