NEYT offers 'West Side Story' just when we need it
It's sad to know that the issues it raised are still with us today.
But they are.
Issues of racism, always present, have boiled to the surface in our community again. Empathy, understanding and harmony are a crying need locally and globally.
Enter the New England Youth Theatre.
At a time when many high schools and community groups shy away from producing "West Side Story" because of its violence and racial language, NEYT is rushing right in, with a production of the famed musical that opens tonight and continues through Sunday.
"Just because you don't give the message, doesn't mean the issue is going to go away. Whether or not the play is going to be done, (racism) is still there," said cast member Jacob Knapp.
So why not do it?
With a seriousness of purpose and an awareness of the timeliness of the message, NEYT musical theater summer campers have gamely tackled the musical Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents wrote about the gang warfare and racial tensions of a New York neighborhood, with a pair of star-crossed lovers in the eye of a violent hurricane.
"NEYT has always done things that people don't expect they're going to do," said cast member Emma Bliss.
The seeds of this production were planted in the decision to expand NEYT's summer camp from
two to three weeks with the aim of mounting a full production instead of a cabaret. NEYT founder Stephen Stearns cast abut for a show that would feature great music, lots of dancing, real substance and something relevant to teens. "West Side Story" was the logical choice.
With the discovery in June of an organization of high school students whose name, at least, had racist overtones, the issue has become part of the local conversation again.
"NEYT offers this play to the Brattleboro community, and the surrounding towns, in the hope that the story will cause each and every one of us to look more deeply into ourselves; to find that seed of love and respect which so longs to be set free and nourished," Stearns wrote.
His young cast members, who range in age from 12-17, have embraced this responsibility.
"It's amazing how ('West Side Story') is still relevant. The play is still fresh," said cast member Moriah Martel.
Still, Stearns and the NEYT staff have been careful to nurture the students in that mission. Camp time has included plenty of dancing, singing, stage work and rehearsing, but there's also been time for discussion. Stearns devoted a whole session early on to dealing with the issues and emotions raised, separating the cast members into small discussion groups.
"It was a little bit awkward at first. We didn't know how to start," admitted Chloe Lake.
"I asked them, 'Are you ready to do this? Am I teaching you violence and bigotry and lack of empathy?' They said, 'no, quite the contrary,'" Stearns said. "They were almost militant about their right to keep anybody from putting their heads in the sands."
The challenging process of mounting a production of "West Side Story" in three weeks also involved exercises in which Stearns coached, goaded and incited the actors to feel some of the emotions the musical evokes.
"Sometimes, I really do get ... angry," Knapp admitted.
"Some of us were crying," Bliss added.
"It's really hard to go to those places, but it's really important to the show, because there's so much truth in it," cast member Emily Seymour said.
"It's about trust," actor Clark Glennon chipped in. "We did a lot of work in building up trust. If we didn't have that trust, we couldn't go to the levels we need to go to. ... I don't think I've ever been in a show that's had this much content."
To support the campers as they explore their emotions and get at the truth in "West Side Story," Stearns and his staff have used a three-word mantra -- Trust. Permission. Commitment.
"We're not performing this piece. We are trying to be this piece," Stearns said. "We're about putting as much truth on stage as possible."
And let's remember -- that truth includes plenty of romance, beauty and joy.
Who can't smile at songs like "I Feel Pretty," "I Like to be in America" and "Gee, Officer Krupke"? Who doesn't see the sweetness in the romance of Tony and Maria or get swept up in it in songs like "Maria," "Tonight" and "One Hand, One Heart"?
Cast members were ready with a unanimous "Oh, yes!" when they were asked if they were having fun, even if that fun is always tinged with the darkness to come.
Who can't cry at the tragic ending?
"The whole show is an emotional roller-coaster," Seymour said.
"The two emotions of the show are this complete hatred and this pure love," said Martel. "It's a tragic ending, but it has hope in it. It's crushing, but there's a little bit of hope."
Offered at just the right time.
"It seems to me that our society in some ways keeps going back to the old solutions that power will fix everything. The message here is amor vincit omnia ... love conquers all," Stearns said.
To emphasize that message, not only through content but in practice, NEYT has made some inspired decisions about how to do the show. For one thing, several campers get to play Tony and Maria throughout the show, handing the role off seamlessly from scene-to-scene and song-to-song. It sounds strange, but it works, and it allows more young actors a chance to shine. Likewise, the lines between the two gangs -- the Sharks and the Jets -- are similarly blurred.
"I'm actually a Shark, a Jet and Tony," Knapp said.
"It didn't allow them to choose sides," Stearns said.
And that, in the simplest of words, is what it's all about.