'A majestic musical': 'West Side Story' remains relevant in diverse, divided world

It's been more than three years since South Bend Civic Theatre began to plan for an April 2020 production of the iconic musical "West Side Story," featuring the South Bend Symphony Orchestra in a collaboration between the two arts organizations.

The COVID-19 pandemic, of course, led to what Civic Executive Director Aaron Nichols called a "heartbreaking" cancellation and postponement until the community could attend safely,

Now, more than two years later, "West Side Story" finally hits the stage this weekend at the Morris Performing Arts Center for two shows open to the public Oct. 8 and 9 (a third show, for 2,400 local students, takes place Oct. 10).

“This cast has, has been through a lot with having to wait through the pandemic, and a lot of people in the cast have suffered personal losses," "West Side Story" director Leah Tirado said. "When you're telling such a tragic story, it can be really difficult, but this cast has really banded together and stayed strong to get through this process.”

The appeal of collaboration

The 1957, two-time Tony-Award-winning musical explores the rivalry between two teenage street gangs in Manhattan's Upper West Side, the all-white Jets and the Sharks, a gang made up of Puerto Rican immigrants. Tony, a former Jet, and Maria, the sister of the Sharks' leader, Bernardo, fall tragically in love in the musical that composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim and book author Arthur Laurents based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

The show, which will feature a 24-piece orchestra, is the first collaboration between Civic and the SBSO, at least in recent memory. Nichols said it is one of the theater's biggest productions of all time.

"'West Side Story' is a majestic musical. I mean, it has been a classic since it came out. It is known for its remarkable score, it's beautiful book. It's one of Stephen Sondheim's first contributions to the American theater canon and (includes) Jerome Robbins' iconic choreography," Nichols said. "So it really is one of the biggest, most important musicals, really, ever. In deciding to tackle this musical, we didn't go in without bearing that in mind."

Such a major production, Nichols said, required four times the typical sponsorship dollars needed to put on a Civic show. He credited five major sponsors ― the University of Notre Dame, the Shein Trust, Kahn Ruthrauff and Associates with Merrill, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, and Mike Leep, Sr. ― along with many donors, with helping make the show a reality.

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“It’s a really unique collaboration, and it's something that, when we were figuring out how we wanted to do this, how we wanted to cast, it was definitely a big draw," Tirado said about attracting actors to the production. "You're gonna be able to perform on the Morris Performing Arts stage, and we're going to be able to perform this with the symphony, which is a really unique experience for a lot of performers. So it was almost an incentive that we used to get people to come out and audition, because it is such a cool experience to get that full sound.”

Amplifying 'Latinx voices'

Nichols said the idea to bring "West Side Story" to Civic first came to him after the theater put on a production of Lin Manuel Miranda's "In The Heights" in 2018, also directed by Tirado.

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Miranda's musical tells the story of residents in the largely Dominican-American neighborhood of Upper Manhattan's Washington Heights. Civic's version, Nichols said, was a "successful collaboration" with South Bend's Latino artistic community.

"We said 'How can … we continue working to amplify the Latinx voices in our community?' And one of the first musicals that came up was 'West Side Story,'" Nichols recalled. "So, at that point, we said 'OK, can we do this? And if the answer is "yes," who do we need to involve to make it a success?' And the first organization that came to mind was the symphony."

It was important to Nichols that Civic worked with Latinos behind the scenes, as well as in the cast. Tirado, for instance, shares the Sharks' Puerto Rican background. Assistant music director Juan Carlos Alarcon and choreographer Jon Martinez also have Latino heritage.

"I remember being in a musical theater history class, and they were talking about how there was only one Puerto Rican in the whole thing," Tirado said. "And if you are going to tell a story about someone's culture, and this is very much about our culture, I think those people need to be in the room so they can say, ‘Hey, but Puerto Rico's actually not like that’ (or) ‘Oh, we actually don't use that expression, that's more of Cuban or Mexican thing.’ If you’re going to tell somebody’s story, they’re going to need to be in the room so they can tell you what you got right and what you got wrong.”

It hasn't always been that way in the arts, in general, or with "West Side Story," specifically.

Carol Lawrence, Broadway's original Maria, is of Italian descent, for instance, while the 1961 film's Maria, Natalie Wood, was the daughter of Russian immigrants.

“I am Puerto Rican, and my family did not like the representation of the original 'West Side Story,'" Tirado said. "It was something that I actually wasn't allowed to watch as a kid because my mom didn't want me, as a bi-cultural person, … to have this this negative view of of one of my cultures.”

Given some of the musical's subject matter, she said, getting it right is particularly important.

“It’s a hard part of our history that cultural gang wars are a thing," Tirado says, "so when you're telling a story as sensitive as that, you want to make sure that you're not playing to stereotypes.”

Bringing in top talent

Tirado and Civic held nationwide auditions for the production.

“We wanted to make sure that we found the right people for the roles, which meant casting things authentically and getting as many Latino people, Latina, Latinx people in the door," Tirado said. "We have cast people from Chicago, from New York, from California, from Texas, from Phoenix. So we have people all over the country that are flying in to do the show, which is pretty exciting.”

Ultimately, Civic cast Alexandra Imbrosci-Viera, an accomplished singer and Broadway actress, as Maria.

"We decided that we needed to really try to get the best of the best … to do this great work justice," Nichols said. "We wanted to make sure that, specifically, the character of Maria was played not only by a Latina but by someone who could sing a part that is considered really challenging and very operatic."

Actor Nicholas Belton, who plays Maria's doomed lover Tony, also has Broadway credits. Belton, a South Bend native and graduate of Clay High School, spent 20 years in New York City, where he was in Broadway productions of "Hair," "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812" and "Carousel." He also was in a Chicago production of "Wicked."

"We have raised the bar to bring nationally-renowned actors in to work alongside our local cohort of performers, which I think is even better than a fully professional cast because, then, there are opportunities for mentorship. …," Nichols said. "What a wonderful way to continue the education of our local actors."

For Belton, "West Side Story" will not be his first time taking the stage for Civic. In high school, he was in a production of Neil Simon’s "Laughter on the 23rd Floor" and participated in multiple cabarets at the theater.

He said returning to South Bend to be in "West Side Story" was a "cool, full-circle moment."

"I got to … spend some time reacquainting myself with this place that gave me my creative wings," he said. "Growing up, there was so much theater around, you know, for Firefly and the Civic, and that was my childhood. That's how I socialized, and it still is today."

Belton said Tirado, the director, has put a unique South Bend-inspired twist on the classic "West Side Story."

"This feels a little bit grittier and a little bit more relevant and modern," he said. "Especially when you think about how the demographics of South Bend and how the west side has blown up … in the last like 10 or 20 years."

He said he hopes the show honors both Puerto Rican culture and Latino culture in South Bend in general. In a lot of ways, he said, the show's themes of cultural conflict and socioeconomic and political differences remain relevant today.

Nichols said he hopes these themes resonate with the audience.

"I mean, the beautiful music, the beautiful choreography help to heighten the story, but, I think, ultimately, it's a tragic story of what happens when we let division drive us," he said. "Right now in the world, that's a pretty important lesson to learn."

Teaming up with the SBSO

For SBSO Music Director Alastair Willis, partnering with Civic on this show was an easy decision. As South Bend's orchestra, "we strive to embrace our community as much as possible" through collaborations with local artists and groups, Willis said.

Having participated in theater much of his life and having even performed in London's West End, Willis said, he feels "absolutely at home" working alongside Nichols, Tirado, Martinez and the rest of the actors and musicians. He said the quality of the music in "West Side Story" makes it a uniquely special show.

"Bernstein was so connected to the time he lived in. He lived in New York, he was aware of the culture. He wrote from experience and from the heart," Willis said. "These songs are timeless, and they're still relevant today, which is crazy, but you combine the music with the dance with the story with the visuals, it just stands out on another quality level."

He said it feels as if everyone he knows, himself included, has some kind of connection with "West Side Story." As a young trumpet player, about 14 or 15 years old, Willis was invited to play in the pit at another high school's production of the show.

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"My trumpet teacher had been planning to do that, but he couldn't do it and asked if I would be interested," Willis recalled. "I really wasn't at the level to be able to play it really well, but in three or four weeks, I've never practiced so hard because I love the music. I love the jazziness, I love the rhythms, and I grew so much individually and as a trumpet player because I put my heart and soul into it. It was my first paid gig as well."

He said he still remembers the huge impression that production of the show had on him.

"I credit that experience to having kept me in music, and perhaps to being where I am now," Willis said. "I have conducted the music in concert many times since then. I sing the music all the time at home … It's just such a part of who I am, and to now be able to conduct a full, proper production from the pit is a bucket list I get to cross off."

Email Tribune staff writer Claire Reid at cereid@gannett.com.

Onstage

● What: South Bend Civic Theatre presents "West Side Story," featuring the South Bend Symphony Orchestra

● Where: Morris Performing Arts Center, 211 N. Michigan St., South Bend

● When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8 and 2 p.m. Oct. 9

● Cost: $66-$15.50

● For more information: Call 574) 235-9190 or visit morriscenter.org or sbct.org.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Civic's 'West Side Story' is more relevant today than ever