ARTISTIC DIRECTOR - JUSTIN MALLER
Good evening and thank you for coming to share in Gleneagle Performing Arts presentation of West Side Story. When I arrived here at Gleneagle in the fall there was a different show in the planning. After auditions and meeting the production team I knew the production had to change. Change for the primary reason that the students here at Glen are extraordinary. This unique group of individuals needed something more. And what could be more than perhaps the most iconic Broadway musical of all time, “West Side Story”.
Originally titled East Side Story the plot centered around an ongoing conflict between Irish Catholic family and a Jewish family living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Arthur Laurents would prepare a full draft in 1947, but with Bernstein wanting a more operatic score and Robbins/Laurents wanting a more lyric theatre approach to the musical, the project was abandoned by the team and shelved for almost five years. When they returned to it years later, newcomer Stephen Sondheim was added to their team. Anti-Semitism was removed from the story and replaced with racial prejudice and the setting moved from the lower east to the upper west of Manhattan. The Irish catholic gang became the Polish (white) Jets and the Emeralds (The Jewish Gang) would become the Puerto Rican Sharks. The Emeralds name survives with a mention in the final show but the story shifted to explore racism against immigrants in America.
West Side Story’s development was not the only struggle the production faced. Most believed it was an impossible project. The singing lines contained challenging intervals. The characters not only had to sing, but dance and act and be taken for teenagers. Therefore, the ensemble was given more freedom than Broadway dancers had previously been given to interpret their roles, and the dancers were thrilled to be treated like actors instead of just choreographed bodies. The goal was gritty realism and true physical expression. It was a new path from the Golden age of musicals from before. West side’s exploration of darker themes focusing on social problems with extended choreography sequences, glorious ballads and Jazzy, Latin symphonic passages, defined a new era for the American Musical. It demonstrated the idea that the principles of serious drama could be applied to serious musicals.
So, the show was the perfect choice for our very talented cast and crew. The students have also had the privilege of working with Lyndsey Britten who has choreographed a very expressive and amazing collection of storytelling through movement that I have ever seen.
Finally, I believe this show comes to us at an important time in all our lives. Though originally produced in 1959 the themes and storytelling are very meaningful and still resonate today. Love may conquer all but bigotry, racism, fear and hatred are very powerful destructive forces in our society. Friction between groups of diverse backgrounds has always been a part of American history and it is still spreading. WE must stand against it or share Maria and Tony's fate. Maria says to Tony, “I see only you [because]we are the same”.
I invite you to come with us on this emotional journey. Confront the darkness, find the light and experience a piece of Musical Theatre History.
Break a Leg Gleneagle and thank you for reaching high to meet this challenge.
- Justin Maller
