Dear
Spectator
Editorial Board,
Soon after
Hamlet
closed last spring, I chose
West Side Story
as my next production. It was the very first play I had ever seen; I was in the 6th grade and I cried like a baby! A colleague asked me, “Why do
West Side Story
?” This simple, yet powerful, question has stayed with me throughout the entirety of the rehearsal process: “Why do West Side Story?”
Based on Shakespeare’s
Romeo & Juliet
,
West Side Story
is at its core a love story. When it was first produced in 1957, it was a ground-breaking production not only for its original score, but for the diversity in its casting. With a focus on the Shark gang being primarily recent Puerto Rican immigrants, the sight of a Broadway cast that included over 20 actors of color, at that time in our nation’s history, was a unique event. Although both Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein had by this point established a solid track record in representing progressive racial issues on stage, advocating for racial justice through performance,
West Side Story
isn’t without issues when viewed through a contemporary prism. While the Sharks are meant to be primarily Puerto Rican, there is no mention of Puerto Rican culture anywhere in the script and many of the actors in the original cast of the movie were required to darken their faces with make-up as there were only two Puerto Ricans in that cast.
So, why attempt to present a play with such a problematic history, in 2019 when our sensitivities and norms are much different? Why do
West Side Story
? Theatre, since its inception, has been used to highlight social issues, to address difficult issues such as racism and sexism, to articulate the hopes and dreams of its citizens and to tell stories. At the forefront of this have been actors who are tasked with telling other people’s stories, sometimes representing other cultures, ethnicities, and genders. Within the Theatre Department at Hamilton College, we routinely break many boundaries with our casting choices as a way of broadening our theatrical offerings, of being more inclusive, of telling a more relevant story to the community at large. When we do so, we do so with a heavy emphasis on research, which allows the actors to portray and represent a three-dimensional character, not a stereotype. With color conscious casting, this production of
West Side Story
adheres to these principles and stands as the most diverse cast ever presented at Hamilton College on the theatre main stage in its two-hundred- and-seven-year history.
Why do
West Side Story
? Since 2015, the conversation about immigration in this country has taken on a decidedly xenophobic tone and many who look or sound “different” have been viewed or treated as the “other.” We ask questions within this updated version of
West Side Story
as a way of highlighting what it is to be a part of an othered group in the United States. What is it to be a recent immigrant and viewed with suspicion? Where are these immigrants from, and why did they come to the USA? With our interpretation of
West Side Story
, we have put the emphasis on the Sharks as a group of immigrants with several ethnicities represented, including Puerto Rican immigrants. More questions arose that needed answers (again, this is the purpose of art): Who are the Jets and what does it mean to be an American? That question is heightened through our casting of the character of Tony as an African American. We have chosen to lay bare in all its sometime ugliness and pain the pressures experienced by both the Sharks and the Jets, including pressures from society, their parents, their teachers and each other as part of a gang. Membership in the Sharks and the Jets creates a sense of belonging and safety for both groups, and also a sense of the violence and vulnerability of youth.
The question still begs: Why do
West Side Story
? Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim were an iconic duo who created some of the most memorable music ever heard. They also created some of the most difficult and challenging music ever played or sung! It is through challenge and struggle that we learn best and, for all the student members of the orchestra as well as the cast of actors, all have struggled and learned, me included. The choreographers were asked to create from scratch a new contemporary movement vocabulary for this production, which generated more questions, and more challenges.
Why do
West Side Story
? At a learning institution such as Hamilton College, that prides itself on teaching critical thinking, the semester-long conversations this production has generated should make us all proud as we seek a deeper understanding of societal issues faced by many othered groups today and as we raise questions around who gets to tell these stories. We can be proud of how theatre in its truest form doesn’t shy away from these issues; it instead chooses to problematize them, expose them, to make a difference through our art. With this in mind, 50 percent of the box office receipts from this production will go to Hurricane Maria relief. Finally, this production allows us to highlight a salient fact; love is not a color, nor is it reserved for a specific ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. It belongs to us all and is the tie that binds us.
Why do
West Side Story
? Because, “The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers” (James Baldwin).
Peace,
Associate Professor Mark Cryer,
Theatre-Hamilton College
