West Side Story Today, A Critique

It's amazing how invincible the young think they are! They are overly optimistic - they think everything is going to turn right just by wanting it to be. They have an eye-for-an-eye sense of justice. They are emotional individuals. They easily give in to destructive anger. They love violence. Most of all, they have a strong penchant for romance. This is how Arthur Laurents' and Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story describes the youth.

The West Side Story story revolves around the lovers Tony and Maria who were caught between warring gangs: the American Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. Notice that this play borrowed the premise from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet - the families of the lovers hate each other. This time, though, only the boyfriend dies.

The University of San Jose-Recoletos in celebration of their College of Arts and Sciences Month presented an adaptation of the musicale last Feb. 15-16. Titled West Side Story Today, it was directed by Mila C. Espina. Today, because they'd like to emphasize that this 50's tragic story can still happen in the present.

In the version that I was able to watch, the performers were not the main cast. To most of them, it was their first time on stage. Winjun Dakay as Shark's leader, Bernardo, was awesome. He had the air and mannerisms of a gang leader. He was a braggart and recklessness personified. Carmel Ardiente, as Bernardo's girlfriend Anita, was equally amazing. She sang her lines with the right amount of passion and haughtiness needed. She was so significant on stage that she was actually stealing the scenes. I dare say she should have been Maria.

There is nothing wrong with Gail Frejoles' version of Maria. She can effortlessly go from innocent and sweet, to a heartbroken and hardened-by-experience Maria at the end. Except that I expected Maria to be a statuesque young woman because she is supposed to be the center of the whole story, her character should shine among the rest. Alex Usman had the voice quality needed for the many song numbers of Tony and he was convincing as the gang founder who wanted change. But, he wasn't able to pull off that guy-in-love look. He needs to improve on facial expression.

Bernard Gilbuena looked like a gang leader all right; partly because of his bearing and costume. He dances well, too. But I envision Riff as a tough-looking guy with a fierce face. Gilbuena's rather cherubic face is more fitted for Tony's role as a guy in love.

Von Adrian Dadula was admirable as the love-scorned Chino. He was able to give justification to the climactic scene as he shot Tony dead. Bro. Raymund Alcedo has the bearing of a police assigned to discipline violent youngsters as Officer Krupke, but he just doesn't look fearsome. (Well, he's a priest and priests usually exhibit the beatific look, don't they?)

These performers were so young and one would think inexperience will hinder them from giving full life to the drama. Yet, these people gave everything they had and judging from the audience's reaction it wasn't bad. (Except, maybe with the lapel microphones that were working badly.) As expected, the mushy scenes of Tony and Maria garnered the most attention. Besides, there is something enchanting in musicales. It could be because of the sung dialogues - singing while acting is one great feat. Or it could be the dance numbers. And then again, it could be that a musicale is just so entertaining as a whole. Where else could you have a play, with singing and dancing in between? Plus, not to be overlooked is the lesson that the story tries to impart. The youth plays a great role in achieving peace and harmony in any community, in any country in the world.