Orlando Shakes Theatre Play
The West Side story production put on by the Orlando Shakes theatre was written by play right Stephen Sondheim, and directed by Jim Helsinger. This play had spectacular acting, music and choreography, costume design, scenery, lighting, use of environmental sounds, and centralized messages. While sitting down to watch this play in the company of my ex boyfriend we had a few laughs over what was said. Tony being a Polish boy like me, and Maria being a Puerto Rican like my ex we had a bit of a connection to this play, this led us to a bit more of somber topic of why they were doing this play. My ex, and I used to visit Pulse Latin night all the time before the massacre, and could see a direct reference between the show, and tension felt from the
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spanish communities after the incident. I was happy to realize I was not the only one who felt this way when I read a review for the show saying “It's cliche to remark that after June's mass shooting of mainly Latino and gay men at Pulse nightclub that everything changed for us in Orlando. But listening to Stephen Sondheim's familiar lyrics on Saturday was like hearing them for the first time”. Knowing this I would say the play's main goal is to express that not everything has to be solved by violence or death, and that you should accept people for who they are and not what you want them to be.
“West side story is a timely re-telling of the Romeo and Juliet legend against the raw violence of youthful gang wars” that takes place in 1961 (Coleman). The story follows many different characters, but the most important ones are Maria, and Tony. Tony falls in love with Maria the first time he lays eyes on her at a dance that was designed to unite the two youthful gangs that ruled the turf the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, and the Jets a white gang. Tony was recruited to Jets, which he used to be a member of, for a fight between the rival gangs. Tony’s friend ends up dieing by the hands of Maria's brother Bernardo, in a fit of rage Tony kills Bernardo. Even with the blood of Bernardo on Tony’s hands Maria takes him back, and the couple try to flee until a member of the Sharks kills Tony, who dies in Maria’s arms.
Maria and Tony's chemistry was undeniable in this play, the actors performed in a way that really made me think that they were in love. One of the number one scenes that drove this home was when Tony climbed up the balcony to be with Maria, and spent only a few minutes talking with Maria which was enough to cement their love.
I am a carpenter, a photographer, and have done my fair share of sowing so breaking down lighting, costumes, and scenery design is up my alley, but choreography, and music is something I have not worked with. The Choreography in this play was beautiful to watch, not necessarily for how well they dance, they did a amazing job though, but for how synchronized the dancers were together. The number one scene for dancing that stuck out to me was at the beginning of the play when the turf war between the Sharks and Jets was first being established. The Sharks and Jets constantly brought out more gang members to try to scare off the rival gang, in doing so every time one gang would win the turf they would dance in celebration, or dance to ward of stragglers from the other gang who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of the most intense moments of the play was the death scene after the Jets and Sharks rumbled under the overpass, and everyone came out in all white. The music in that scene was light, and fun. This completely contradicted the horrible events that happened. Thanks to the director's choice made the audience feel on edge with almost scary happy feeling the music forced.
A major part of that I imagine could be easy to miss its mark would be designing easily distinguishable outfits for the Sharks, and the Jets.
The Sharks a Puerto Rican gang wore more traditional style spanish clothing that always incorporated the colors red and black. The Jets a rivaling white gang wore clothing time appropriate for a 1960’s teenager, like collared bowling shirts, and plain t-shirts. The Jets also kept with a color scheme of blue and white. One of my favorite scenes that sums up the great job the costumes did on making the play great was when Anita, the girlfriend of Bernardo, at the beginning of the play is creating a dress for Maria, Bernardo's sister, who is constantly teasing Anita telling her that the dress should not make her look to up tight. After a good bit of whining Maria finally puts on a beautiful white dress, and continues to spin in front of the mirror admiring herself. In one of the most moving scenes of the play when everyone on stage is wearing white to symbolize purity, and innocence after two influential characters have been stabbed to death. The people who have been stabbed come out in the same white clothing, but it is covered in blood to show. This choice of clothing shows the death of innocence of the young boys who have been corrupted after the murders they committed.
Light played a large role in making the dancers stand out in such a close space. Ellipsoidal usage during the Mambo dance number was happening was the most noteable light useage. The dancers spun as if they were tops in a children's game. The dancing was complimented by a red gel that made the women's black, red, and white dresses pop with just a little bit of extra latin
flare.
The scenery that stuck out the most to me was the bridge where the Jets and Sharks had their battle. The bridge over their heads was incorporated by a large metal looking skeleton of a bridge that hung just over head of the actors, and was able to be lifted and removed at any point in time by based on the sounds was a hydraulic system, and not a pulley system. The stage behind the actors was a catwalk/ balcony that was constantly used in the play. It consisted of mostly metal stairs, a few ladders that the actors used to climb up, and the balcony that Tony and Maria had their love scene where Tony climbed up the ladder to get to Maria. The bed that Tony and Maria shared after Tony had killed Maria’s brother stood out the most to me out of any other prop, because of the size of it. I doubt many people caught onto it, but since I was sitting so close to the stage I could tell how short the bed was. The bed they shared must have been just barely over four feet long, and looked very uncomfortable for the actor who played Tony when Maria and him were cuddling.
The sound that stood out the most in this play was the laughing during the white purity scene after the fight between the Sharks and Jets. The sound of laughter was not part of the music, and had its own organic role to play. When everyone was wearing all white and the laughter started it reminded me of the pixies or nymphs in the forest, nymphs were supposed to be according to legend beautiful creatures that found joy in the misery of humans. The happy joyful tone, and the smiles on all the faces was extremely intimidating and creepy, and has still stuck with me after the play has been over.
After Tony is shot he falls lifeless into Maria arms she is so full of rage and sadness that she grabs the gun from the gang member that shot Tony, and threatens to do away with all of the people watching what had just happened. Maria in this moment is not just feeling the anger of having her lover die in her arms, but also feeling the death of her brother a wound still fresh. Maria then proceeds to point the gun at her own head, and for what felt like the longest moment of the play thankfully had an anticlimactic ending when Maria chooses to put down the gun instead of taking her own life. To me this spoke as a very important lesson in the play which was that there is always another day, always another love, but only one life to live, and it is not worth wasting by killing yourself no matter how sad and full of depression you are. Based on how every problem in this play has been based on hatred of another person based on where they are from, race seems to be a big role in this play. The Sharks said that the first day they showed up off the boat someone jumped one of the Puerto Rican men, and started this dispute. This leads me to think one of the central messages in this play is that you can not just judge someone based on their heritage, or the color of their skin. As the play progressed the Jets leader and other Jets constantly asked for support from other members like defending the turf was a way to prove that they were real men. From what I have seen all that did was get their friends killed, and turn boys into murders. This leads me to think that another message this play is expressing is that sometimes bravery and stupidity go hand in hand, and being able to distinguish between these two makes a man a man.
Parking was easy, but we showed up thirty minutes early so I guess parking would be good no matter what. The staff was very nice, and always greeted us with a smile. The theatre itself was simple, but elegant. For intermission they had a bar and an art shop which sold various little knick knacks. I was always able to hear the actors who had microphones strapped to them.
This production of West Side Story left me satisfied from “Maria, Maria, Maria” to the very end (Sondheim). The acting was superb as well as music and choreography, costume design, scenery, lighting, use of environmental sounds, and centralized messages. Director Jim Helsinger did a fantastic job conveying that we are all just people trying to express ourselves and live our lives, and that violence and death never bring about the kinds of changes people expect. I hope that after the recent shooting “Someday, somewhere, we'll find a new way of living, we'll find a way of forgiving”(Sondheim).
spanish communities after the incident. I was happy to realize I was not the only one who felt this way when I read a review for the show saying “It's cliche to remark that after June's mass shooting of mainly Latino and gay men at Pulse nightclub that everything changed for us in Orlando. But listening to Stephen Sondheim's familiar lyrics on Saturday was like hearing them for the first time”. Knowing this I would say the play's main goal is to express that not everything has to be solved by violence or death, and that you should accept people for who they are and not what you want them to be.
“West side story is a timely re-telling of the Romeo and Juliet legend against the raw violence of youthful gang wars” that takes place in 1961 (Coleman). The story follows many different characters, but the most important ones are Maria, and Tony. Tony falls in love with Maria the first time he lays eyes on her at a dance that was designed to unite the two youthful gangs that ruled the turf the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, and the Jets a white gang. Tony was recruited to Jets, which he used to be a member of, for a fight between the rival gangs. Tony’s friend ends up dieing by the hands of Maria's brother Bernardo, in a fit of rage Tony kills Bernardo. Even with the blood of Bernardo on Tony’s hands Maria takes him back, and the couple try to flee until a member of the Sharks kills Tony, who dies in Maria’s arms.
Maria and Tony's chemistry was undeniable in this play, the actors performed in a way that really made me think that they were in love. One of the number one scenes that drove this home was when Tony climbed up the balcony to be with Maria, and spent only a few minutes talking with Maria which was enough to cement their love.
I am a carpenter, a photographer, and have done my fair share of sowing so breaking down lighting, costumes, and scenery design is up my alley, but choreography, and music is something I have not worked with. The Choreography in this play was beautiful to watch, not necessarily for how well they dance, they did a amazing job though, but for how synchronized the dancers were together. The number one scene for dancing that stuck out to me was at the beginning of the play when the turf war between the Sharks and Jets was first being established. The Sharks and Jets constantly brought out more gang members to try to scare off the rival gang, in doing so every time one gang would win the turf they would dance in celebration, or dance to ward of stragglers from the other gang who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of the most intense moments of the play was the death scene after the Jets and Sharks rumbled under the overpass, and everyone came out in all white. The music in that scene was light, and fun. This completely contradicted the horrible events that happened. Thanks to the director's choice made the audience feel on edge with almost scary happy feeling the music forced.
A major part of that I imagine could be easy to miss its mark would be designing easily distinguishable outfits for the Sharks, and the Jets.
The Sharks a Puerto Rican gang wore more traditional style spanish clothing that always incorporated the colors red and black. The Jets a rivaling white gang wore clothing time appropriate for a 1960’s teenager, like collared bowling shirts, and plain t-shirts. The Jets also kept with a color scheme of blue and white. One of my favorite scenes that sums up the great job the costumes did on making the play great was when Anita, the girlfriend of Bernardo, at the beginning of the play is creating a dress for Maria, Bernardo's sister, who is constantly teasing Anita telling her that the dress should not make her look to up tight. After a good bit of whining Maria finally puts on a beautiful white dress, and continues to spin in front of the mirror admiring herself. In one of the most moving scenes of the play when everyone on stage is wearing white to symbolize purity, and innocence after two influential characters have been stabbed to death. The people who have been stabbed come out in the same white clothing, but it is covered in blood to show. This choice of clothing shows the death of innocence of the young boys who have been corrupted after the murders they committed.
Light played a large role in making the dancers stand out in such a close space. Ellipsoidal usage during the Mambo dance number was happening was the most noteable light useage. The dancers spun as if they were tops in a children's game. The dancing was complimented by a red gel that made the women's black, red, and white dresses pop with just a little bit of extra latin
flare.
The scenery that stuck out the most to me was the bridge where the Jets and Sharks had their battle. The bridge over their heads was incorporated by a large metal looking skeleton of a bridge that hung just over head of the actors, and was able to be lifted and removed at any point in time by based on the sounds was a hydraulic system, and not a pulley system. The stage behind the actors was a catwalk/ balcony that was constantly used in the play. It consisted of mostly metal stairs, a few ladders that the actors used to climb up, and the balcony that Tony and Maria had their love scene where Tony climbed up the ladder to get to Maria. The bed that Tony and Maria shared after Tony had killed Maria’s brother stood out the most to me out of any other prop, because of the size of it. I doubt many people caught onto it, but since I was sitting so close to the stage I could tell how short the bed was. The bed they shared must have been just barely over four feet long, and looked very uncomfortable for the actor who played Tony when Maria and him were cuddling.
The sound that stood out the most in this play was the laughing during the white purity scene after the fight between the Sharks and Jets. The sound of laughter was not part of the music, and had its own organic role to play. When everyone was wearing all white and the laughter started it reminded me of the pixies or nymphs in the forest, nymphs were supposed to be according to legend beautiful creatures that found joy in the misery of humans. The happy joyful tone, and the smiles on all the faces was extremely intimidating and creepy, and has still stuck with me after the play has been over.
After Tony is shot he falls lifeless into Maria arms she is so full of rage and sadness that she grabs the gun from the gang member that shot Tony, and threatens to do away with all of the people watching what had just happened. Maria in this moment is not just feeling the anger of having her lover die in her arms, but also feeling the death of her brother a wound still fresh. Maria then proceeds to point the gun at her own head, and for what felt like the longest moment of the play thankfully had an anticlimactic ending when Maria chooses to put down the gun instead of taking her own life. To me this spoke as a very important lesson in the play which was that there is always another day, always another love, but only one life to live, and it is not worth wasting by killing yourself no matter how sad and full of depression you are. Based on how every problem in this play has been based on hatred of another person based on where they are from, race seems to be a big role in this play. The Sharks said that the first day they showed up off the boat someone jumped one of the Puerto Rican men, and started this dispute. This leads me to think one of the central messages in this play is that you can not just judge someone based on their heritage, or the color of their skin. As the play progressed the Jets leader and other Jets constantly asked for support from other members like defending the turf was a way to prove that they were real men. From what I have seen all that did was get their friends killed, and turn boys into murders. This leads me to think that another message this play is expressing is that sometimes bravery and stupidity go hand in hand, and being able to distinguish between these two makes a man a man.
Parking was easy, but we showed up thirty minutes early so I guess parking would be good no matter what. The staff was very nice, and always greeted us with a smile. The theatre itself was simple, but elegant. For intermission they had a bar and an art shop which sold various little knick knacks. I was always able to hear the actors who had microphones strapped to them.
This production of West Side Story left me satisfied from “Maria, Maria, Maria” to the very end (Sondheim). The acting was superb as well as music and choreography, costume design, scenery, lighting, use of environmental sounds, and centralized messages. Director Jim Helsinger did a fantastic job conveying that we are all just people trying to express ourselves and live our lives, and that violence and death never bring about the kinds of changes people expect. I hope that after the recent shooting “Someday, somewhere, we'll find a new way of living, we'll find a way of forgiving”(Sondheim).