The story of \u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d finds its 20th century counterpart in \u201cWest Side Story,\u201d presented by Broadway By the Bay.<\/p>\n
With music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents, Shakespeare\u2019s battling Capulets and Montagues in 16th century Italy become the Sharks and Jets, street gangs in New York\u2019s Upper West Side in the mid-\u201950s<\/p>\n
In the BBB production, the star-crossed lovers are played by Nikita Burshteyn as Tony, a member of the white Jets, and Samantha Cardenas as Maria, part of the Puerto Rican Sharks.<\/p>\n
Both are noteworthy in songs like \u201cMaria,\u201d \u201cTonight\u201d and \u201cOne Hand, One Heart.\u201d As the two gangs vie for turf, Tony and Maria become its victims.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re well supported by Taylor Iman Jones as Maria\u2019s friend Anita and others in the 40-member cast, ably directed by Amanda Folena.<\/p>\n
The 1957 Broadway smash was originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Nicole Helfer recreates some of that original choreography and adds some of her own with dynamic results. The outstanding orchestra is conducted by musical director Sean Kana.<\/p>\n
Kelly James Tighe\u2019s set of scaffolding, with lighting by Joe D’Emilio, evokes the neighborhood’s grittiness, as does the sound design by Jon Hayward. The \u201950s costumes are by Margaret Toomey.<\/p>\n
This is Folena’s final show after four years as the company\u2019s artistic director. She \u201cwill be pursuing a teaching opportunity,\u201d she says in the program. The company will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Oct. 4 at LV Mar restaurant in downtown Redwood City.<\/p>\n
Although \u201cWest Side Story\u201d is based on an old story updated to the \u201950s, \u00a0it\u2019s still timely today as gangs, sects and nations throughout the world fight over territory and innocent people suffer.<\/p>\n
It will continue at the Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway St., Redwood City, through Aug. 30. It will then move to the Golden State Theatre, Monterey, Sept. 4-12.<\/p>\n
For Redwood Citytickets and information, call (650) 579-5565 or visit www.broadwaybythebay.org<\/a>. For Monterey, call (831) 649-1070 or visit www.goldenstatetheatre.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The story of \u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d finds its 20th century counterpart in \u201cWest Side Story,\u201d presented by Broadway By the Bay. With music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20924","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-judy-richter"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"