Review: 'West Side Story' by Holy Cross Student Theatre

Waterbury, CT - Holy Cross Student Theatre decided to take on the challenge of ‘West Side Story,’ the musical written by Arthur Laurents and intricate music by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. The original production was directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Not any easy choice, for it requires young performers that are both strong dancers and singers and leads that can handle the glorious score. Holy Cross Director Paul J. Whealon with his assistant Lori Conetta put together a group of nearly 100 high school students and a few adults that were willing to work hard to bring back the musical that was seen on this stage back in 1989.

“Even though it is based on ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ it acquires its flavor, its zest, its spark from the character of New York City and our students have immersed themselves in that culture.Unfortunately for them, gang culture is still an aspect of life in 2018; but, it has a very different look than the 1960’s. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.” - Director Paul Whealon

Mr. Whealon writes that “‘West Side Story’, to a certain generation of Broadway lovers, can be considered the first really modern musical.” Of course, it has had a huge number of international productions, revivals and movie adaptations. The director reminds his program readers that Stephen Spielberg is planning to film a new version of the musical sometime in 2019 and notes that this theatre company is proud to be a part of that distinguished line of productions.

Overall this production was a good one. The choreography by Todd Santa Maria ‘94 had the mark of the era and the students gave it their best effort. The various fight scenes were well-executed. Justin Wallace was the Dance Master and Maddie Smith ‘18 was the Dance Captain. Mr. Wallace also served as Technical Director and Scenic Designer of the urban set. The work of vocal coach Gabrielle Brazauskas was evident in the performances of the leading players. Costumes were mostly classics, with the Sharks in lots of strong reds and the Jets in more neutral colors.

I wasn’t a fan of the “orchestra computerized augmentation” provided by Realtime Music Solutions, LLC from New York, not because it sounded bad, but because it seemed to limit the ability of the conductor (Ms. Brazauskas) to truly control the accompaniment. This is not to say that the addition of four live musicians did not make it better; kudos to Leo Lavalle ‘78 on trumpet, Vincent Packer ‘18 on clarinet, Jonathan Barney ‘17 on piano, and Tim Walsh on trap drums. I loved the sound of the “Tonight” quintet and “Gee, Officer Krupke” was an audience favorite.

The adults were played by HCHS students. Charles Spreda played both Doc and Glad Hand. Seamus Bowler was the police officer named Krupke and Will Guglielmo was a strong Lt. Shrank.

The Shark gang members included John Vito as Chino, Kingsten Zenick as Pepe, BSS Children’s Theatre alum Dillon Sanzari as Indio, Tanner Linhard as Luis, and Chris Moreira as Anxious. Their girls were played by Madison Smith, Jessica Sanchez, Galvin Brayton, Cameron Rivers, Eileen Xue, Sabrina Santopietro and Grace Parenti.

The Jets gang members included Nicholas Pietrorazio as Action, Andrew Russo as A-rab, Billy D’Avino as Baby John, Justin Alamo as Diesel and Meghan Diorio as Anybodys. Their girls were played by Jenna Rohlman, Nicole Rohlman, Destiny Butler, Jenna Hulstrunk, Angelina Failla and Christina Failla. Shout out to Meghan Booth, a very strong dancer as Velma.

Meg Diorio did a lovely job with her “Somewhere” solo during the ballet. Jack Boushie was Bernardo and Jacob Gannon, a BSS Children’s Theatre alum, was a very strong Riff. Jaelie Jackson was able to shine when she sang the “A Boy Like That” duet.

Michael Perkins was a very strong Tony, despite some sound issues that plagued his early solos. Christina Finkenzeller (a narrator in ‘Joseph’ in 2017) was outstanding in the role of Maria. This young woman has a soaring soprano voice that never failed her and was also a strong actress. Everything that she sang was my favorite part of her performance.

‘West Side Story’ continues at Holy Cross through Sunday. Remaining performances are May 5th at 7:00pm and May 6th at 2:00pm. Tickets are $12.00 and can be purchased at the door. Seniors will be admitted free for the Sunday, May 6th matinee only.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues and she posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theater Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417