MANILA, Philippines – Despite being set, written, and first staged in the 1950s, West Side Story still manages to strike a chord in the hearts of an audience way younger than the play. At the show’s gala night in Manila on August 11, the Theatre at Solaire was packed with a buzzing audience, many of whom were millennials and 30-somethings who were introduced to the show by their parents.

It was a second-generation audience living in a smartphone-rife, tech-driven world that the original viewers of West Side Story probably never imagined. Yet the applause at the end of the show was resounding. The story had evidently resonated through the audience. There was no generation gap there.

Much of the musical’s timelessness can be owed to its spectacular song-and-dance theatrics. The music by Stephen Sondheim is even more heartrending when played by a live orchestra, and the cast kept up with the insane vocal challenges that the songs presented.

And then of course, there is the pulsating choreography, famously punctuated by the echoing finger snaps. The choreography for this particular show, produced by Lunchbox Theatrical and directed by Joey McKneely, follows the original West Side Story choreography by American dance legend Jerome Robbins.

“You are not gonna get a more pure show than this one,” principal cast member Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva told press just before the August 11 gala show.

Waldemar, who plays Sharks gang leader, Bernardo, shared that their director learned the choreography directly from Robbins when he was in the play before.

Highly technical and physically demanding, the original choreography has kept the cast on their toes in a very literal sense, with many cast members saying that the exactness of the choreography leaves them little room for mistakes.

“It’s so difficult [to do the Jerome Robbins choreography]!” said Keely Beirne, who plays Anita. “It takes a lot of stamina. We’re lucky though, this cast is filled with very technically exquisite dancers.”

Young cast

Aside from being tehcnically exquisite, the cast is also incredibly energetic and enigmatic – which is perhaps another factor that has kept the show relevant, exciting, and appealing to a young audience.

Among them Waldemar and Keely, who steal the show as the fiery, fleet-footed first couple of the Sharks. They are joined by Jenna Burns, playing the innocent, virginal Maria opposite Kevin Hack, as the charming but idealistic Tony, and Lance Hayes, who takes on the role of the cool, charismatic Riff, leader of the Jets.

The actors that make up West Side Story’s principal cast are no strangers to the stage, with each of them clocking in a considerable number of hours in various touring productions around the world. Still, each of them manage to radiate with a wide-eyed enthusiasm, almost as if this production was their first big break, as if they hadn’t been on the road with the play for almost a year.

As Kevin shared, he and the cast do go through their fair share of down days.

“We’ve been on the road with this production for about 10 months so I don’t wanna say that it becomes work, but it is work…we could be tired one day, we could be sore, vocally not there, mentally not there, emotionally not there, whatever. There’s always days that are not gonna be great,” he said.

He said that getting over bad days is a matter of counting one’s blessings. “I sometimes just have to sit with myself and be like, ‘dude there are 3 million guys in New York City who can sing this role 20 times better than you, they look better than you, they’re more right for what you’re doing right now, you need to just suck it up and get on stage and do the best you can because there’s a million people in New York City right now who are kicking down the door trying to do what you’re doing,’” he shared. “That’s kind of the mindset I have to give myself when I’m in one of those moods.”

Enduring themes

Perhaps what really makes the play timeless is its story. It’s essentially a reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet set against the backdrop of 1950s New York, with the Puerto Rican Sharks as the Capulets, the caucasian Jets as the Montagues, and Tony and Maria as the young lovers that get caught up in the gang war.

The romance, obviously, is relatable to anyone who has felt butterflies in their stomach over a person. But it’s how the story tackles themes of immigration and racism that truly makes it endure.

“It’s sad to say that anywhere, there’s racism,” Lance said, when asked about what makes the 60-year-old musical relevant today, adding that the best part about touring the show all over the world is getting to spread the show’s anti-hate message.

“This show is really sending a message about tolerance, love, and how hate is always gonna finish bad, it’s always gonna finish sad, there’s no other way,” Waldemar said, continuing his onstage rival’s sentiment.

Like them, Jenna shared that she felt the themes of race and identity are what make the show current.

“Unfortunately I think this show is always gonna be relevant to some extent in that we’re all different. We believe in different things, we look different, we grow up differently so we’re always gonna have differences with each other,” she said. “Sometimes we’re not going to agree, but the thing that this show does which is really cool is you kind of have two different sides of the coin. You can handle it how the Jets and the Sharks do and let that fear of the unknown become hatred and violence or you can handle it the way Tony and Maria do and look at someone and see yeah, we’re different people and see each other for who they are at the heart, and we’re all the same when it comes to that.”

As current events come into play, West Side Story’s message about the dangers of race-fuelled hatred are even more powerful. Along with the stirring music by Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins’ pulse-racing original choreography, and the vibrant young cast bringing it all to life, the historic play shows no signs of stopping.

Lunchbox Theatrical’s production of West Side Story will run at the Theatere at Solaire until August 27. For tickets, head to Ticketworld. – Rappler.com