A romance heats up as rivalries reach boiling point on the streets of the Big Apple in the classic musical, West Side Story. Dramatic Productions brings big song and dance numbers and this romantic storyline that pulls on the heartstrings to Gungahlin College Theatre on 6-21 October.
Leaving Verona, Shakespeare’s genre-defining romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet travels through place and time, landing in modern-day New York City. Two star-crossed lovers are caught between rival street gangs – the white American Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. As tensions increase, can these young romantics break away and be together?
“It’s still something that is still very relevant today; the story of Romeo and Juliet itself is maybe a little farfetched … I think there is so much value in the humanness of the story and the different elements that we’ve chosen to bring out and to celebrate,” says Teresa Wojcik, musical director.
Keeping true to the script, Ms Wojcik says the production is one of the most enduring musicals of all time, not requiring any rewrites. The high-energy dances, stage fights, and the incredible musical score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim keep audiences coming back for more.
“Lenny [Leonard] Weiss is going to be conducting, which is an absolute treat for us as well, so the music is in amazing hands,” she says.
While the musical has been seen on the stage in Canberra before, Ms Wojcik believes it hasn’t been done like this before, with an authentic Latino cast, something she is excited to be part of.
“We worked really hard to reach out to the Latino community and to make sure that we had communicated what this opportunity was. There are some wonderful performers here in the Latino community in Canberra, but a lot of them have never done a musical before.”
Ms Wojcik was eager to sign up for West Side Story, her third Dramatic Productions show, to help introduce lots of new people to the local musical theatre scene.
“They are bringing all of their life experience and their culture and their interpretation that is also so valid to this musical. It [the play] is a real celebration of that and the idea of what is really possible if you put in the effort to create that space.”
The dedicated team features Canberra theatre staple Dick Goldberg, a cast of passionate performers, ferocious dancers and fabulous musicians. Ms Wojcik says the behind-the-scenes team has constructed an enormous stage for the production; there is nothing abstract about it. The dilapidated neighbourhood has a bus station, vending machine and other goods that rival gangs might cross in the streets of NYC.
According to Ms Wojcik, the story features characters anyone in the audience can relate to; a lot of people know the feeling of trying to integrate into a new community, going somewhere unfamiliar, or feeling they are on the sidelines.
“There’s a lot of people who have experienced hardship and rejection and a lot of people who have found their special person or would love for that to be their story,” she says.
Believing that art should always encourage the audience to think, Ms Wojcik says that West Side Story leaves you wondering if and where is the place that all members of society could co-exist.
“It’s almost like John Lennon’s Imagine – where is that utopia, that future where we can really, truly just be friends and live together, and how are we going to make that happen?” she says.
Witness the rivalry and romance in Dramatic Productions’ West Side Story at Gungahlin College Theatre, 6-21 October; stagecenta.com
Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
