Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Four-alarm blazer

Lamb’s Players continues the streak with West Side Story

West Side Story at Lamb’s Players
West Side Story at Lamb’s Players

West Side Story

Musicals have iconic images: a Huey helicopter? Miss Saigon; white semi-mask? Phantom; Julie Andrews’ 360 on a green hill, dressed like a risqué Puritan? Sound of Music, the movie.

How about a chain-link fence and rusty iron fire escapes? Easy: Jets, Sharks, culture-biased lovers, and a “west side” story older than Shakespeare and as pertinent today.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In the last few years, Lamb’s Players Theatre’s become the site of smash hit summer musicals. Their West Side Story should continue that trend. It’s a blazer.

It starts with the choreography. In the famous opening sequence, no one says a word as rival New York gangs “rumble.” Master-choreographer Colleen Kollar Smith and fight choreographer Jordan Miller fling dancers all over the stage, throwing and dodging punches, leap-frogging into the fray.

As with Jerome Robbins’ original “ballet d’action,” Kollar Smith adds an element of danger: the fight’s staged, but played so in-close that someone could get hurt.

(One of the tragedies of West Side Story for me: it’s as if each dancer were two possibilities — the violent street fighter and the graceful artist they might have become.)

West Side Story at Lamb’s Players

One of the hallmarks of Deborah Gilmour Smyth’s direction is a youthful vigor and innocence — faced with life and death consequences.

Kevin Hafso-Koppman’s engaging Tony and Olivia Hernandez’ outstanding Maria are just kids. They’ve seen enough of the world to be wary, but not enough to blunt their idealism. They really fall — nay, hurtle — into ardent, breathless, four-alarm love, convincingly.

The sense of threatened youth extends throughout. When Maria sings “I Feel Pretty,” it’s as if she and her girlfriends are giggling at a slumber party.

Some parts of the song are in Spanish. This choice may have come from the 2009 Broadway revival, which made changes to the original, as may the equally great move to turn Tony and Maria’s unforgettable “Somewhere” into a choral number. The cast sings in white outfits, stripped of labels and differences.

And what an eerie jolt: Tony and Maria face each other center-stage for the biggie. You hear “There’s…a…place for us,” only their lips don’t move. Look up: the character Anybodys is singing on the second tier of Mike Buckley’s Manhattan playground set. Then the cast joins in, and “Somewhere” becomes a rousing anthem a la “Climb Every Mountain” and “Let the Sunshine In.”

The set has something I don’t think I’ve seen before: Patrick Marion’s nine-person band’s on two levels, stage right, and provides strong support.

As does the sprinting/soaring cast, especially Patrick J. Duffy (Bernardo), Daniel Kermidas (a powerhouse as the uneasy Action), Jesse Abeel (Riff), Christopher Lesson (Officer Krupke), and Shaun Tuazon-Martin (Chino).

Lamb’s Players is renowned for ensemble shows. As Anita, Michelle Alves does an un-Lamb’s thing. She often plays front, winking or nodding to the audience as if they were in cahoots. Given Lamb’s approach, Alves’ asides stand out in a negative way. But then again, every other move she makes stands out in a positive one.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
West Side Story at Lamb’s Players
West Side Story at Lamb’s Players

West Side Story

Musicals have iconic images: a Huey helicopter? Miss Saigon; white semi-mask? Phantom; Julie Andrews’ 360 on a green hill, dressed like a risqué Puritan? Sound of Music, the movie.

How about a chain-link fence and rusty iron fire escapes? Easy: Jets, Sharks, culture-biased lovers, and a “west side” story older than Shakespeare and as pertinent today.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In the last few years, Lamb’s Players Theatre’s become the site of smash hit summer musicals. Their West Side Story should continue that trend. It’s a blazer.

It starts with the choreography. In the famous opening sequence, no one says a word as rival New York gangs “rumble.” Master-choreographer Colleen Kollar Smith and fight choreographer Jordan Miller fling dancers all over the stage, throwing and dodging punches, leap-frogging into the fray.

As with Jerome Robbins’ original “ballet d’action,” Kollar Smith adds an element of danger: the fight’s staged, but played so in-close that someone could get hurt.

(One of the tragedies of West Side Story for me: it’s as if each dancer were two possibilities — the violent street fighter and the graceful artist they might have become.)

West Side Story at Lamb’s Players

One of the hallmarks of Deborah Gilmour Smyth’s direction is a youthful vigor and innocence — faced with life and death consequences.

Kevin Hafso-Koppman’s engaging Tony and Olivia Hernandez’ outstanding Maria are just kids. They’ve seen enough of the world to be wary, but not enough to blunt their idealism. They really fall — nay, hurtle — into ardent, breathless, four-alarm love, convincingly.

The sense of threatened youth extends throughout. When Maria sings “I Feel Pretty,” it’s as if she and her girlfriends are giggling at a slumber party.

Some parts of the song are in Spanish. This choice may have come from the 2009 Broadway revival, which made changes to the original, as may the equally great move to turn Tony and Maria’s unforgettable “Somewhere” into a choral number. The cast sings in white outfits, stripped of labels and differences.

And what an eerie jolt: Tony and Maria face each other center-stage for the biggie. You hear “There’s…a…place for us,” only their lips don’t move. Look up: the character Anybodys is singing on the second tier of Mike Buckley’s Manhattan playground set. Then the cast joins in, and “Somewhere” becomes a rousing anthem a la “Climb Every Mountain” and “Let the Sunshine In.”

The set has something I don’t think I’ve seen before: Patrick Marion’s nine-person band’s on two levels, stage right, and provides strong support.

As does the sprinting/soaring cast, especially Patrick J. Duffy (Bernardo), Daniel Kermidas (a powerhouse as the uneasy Action), Jesse Abeel (Riff), Christopher Lesson (Officer Krupke), and Shaun Tuazon-Martin (Chino).

Lamb’s Players is renowned for ensemble shows. As Anita, Michelle Alves does an un-Lamb’s thing. She often plays front, winking or nodding to the audience as if they were in cahoots. Given Lamb’s approach, Alves’ asides stand out in a negative way. But then again, every other move she makes stands out in a positive one.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Next Article

20 Best Online Casinos USA For Real Money (2024 List)

USA Online Casinos: Top 20 Online Casino Sites of 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.