{"id":232804,"date":"2015-02-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-13T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/west-side-story\/"},"modified":"2015-02-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T08:00:00","slug":"west-side-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/west-side-story\/","title":{"rendered":"West Side Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

A timeless tale still very relevant today<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Catherine Spearnak<\/p>\n

Art as activism is the way James Vasquez sees the upcoming production of \u201cWest Side Story\u201d by the San Diego Musical Theater, slated to open Feb. 14 at the Spreckels Theatre Downtown.<\/p>\n

\"WestSideStory_square2<\/a>\u201cOur goal is to make a statement,\u201d said Vasquez, the show\u2019s director. \u201cI hope the audiences leave moved and angry and with a desire to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The musical, based on Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cRomeo and Juliet,\u201d pits rival gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, for dominance over a blue-collar neighborhood in the Upper West Side of New York City.<\/p>\n

Racism marches in front and center as the Sharks, Puerto Ricans, and the Jets, Americans, vie for the blue-collar neighborhood. When Maria, sister of the leader of the Puerto Rican gang, falls in love with Tony, a member of the white Jets, the results are violent and catastrophic.<\/p>\n

The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theatre.<\/p>\n

West Side Story premiered on Broadway in 1957 and in 1961, won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Music is by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and book by Arthur Laurents. Jerome Robbins directed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brilliant thing is that it is 67 years old, yet it is still relevant today,\u201d Velasquez said about the musical. \u201cIt\u2019s a classic, so it\u2019s a real honor to work with this music and these dancers and this story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jacob<\/a>
Jacob Narcy plays \u201cChino\u201d in \u201cWest Side Story.\u201d
(Courtesy San Diego Musical Theatre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the dancers, and also a supporting actor, is Jacob Narcy, 24, of Chula Vista. Narcy plays Chino, \u201cthe little buddy\u201d of Bernardo, leader of the Sharks. Narcy, who is a trained dancer accomplished in every aspect of dance including ballet, hip hop, modern, tumbling and musical theater, said he is thrilled that there is so much movement in the piece. In one scene, 28 of the 31 cast members dance together on stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWest Side Story is one of the iconic pieces that you dream about doing one day,\u201d he said. \u201cI am just excited that I am getting the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is only Narcy\u2019s second musical. He performed previously in \u201cOklahoma!\u201d at the Lawrence Welk Theatre in Escondido.<\/p>\n

Kikau Alvaro, who plays Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, is certainly familiar with this musical. He has appeared in it twice, once in Olmey, Maryland, and once in San Jose, California, his home, but as different characters in each.<\/p>\n

\"Kikau<\/a>
Kikau Alvaro plays \u201cBernardo\u201d in \u201cWest Side Story.\u201d
(Courtesy San Diego Musical Theatre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI have matured and grown into myself,\u201d said Alvaro, who is 34 playing a 20-something. \u201cI wasn\u2019t necessarily ready to play the part before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alvaro agrees with director Vasquez that race relations are still relevant today. He praised the genius of Bernstein and Sondheim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that people who have not seen the show are able to see it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s in the canon of Shakespeare. There is something about it that is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWest Side Story\u201d runs through March 1 at the Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway, Downtown. Tickets can be purchased through the Spreckels box office or through Ticketmaster. Visit sdmt.org<\/a> for tickets and showtimes.<\/p>\n

\u2014Catherine Spearnak es una escritora independiente que vive en San Diego. Ella puede ser contactada en <\/em>catherine.spearnak1@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A timeless tale still very relevant today By Catherine Spearnak Art as activism is the way James Vasquez sees the upcoming production of \u201cWest Side Story\u201d by the San Diego Musical Theater, slated to open Feb. 14 at the Spreckels Theatre Downtown.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":232805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11557","_seopress_titles_title":"West Side Story","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11557,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-mission-valley-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}