the San Francisco Symphony performs Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story at Davies Symphony Hall, June 27, 2013

San Francisco Symphony
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA
8:00 PM, Thursday, June 27, 2013

Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story

[7:58 PM go! 8:02 PM lights down]

1. Prologue
2. Jet Song (Riff, Jets)
3. Something's Coming (Tony)
   
   the Dance at the Gym
4. i. Blues
5. ii. Promenade
6. iii. Mambo
7. iv. Cha-Cha
8. v. Meeting Scene (Tony, Maria)
9. vi. Jump
   
   
10. Maria (Tony)
11. Balcony Scene: Tonight (Tony, Maria)
12. America (Anita, Rosalia, Shark girls)
13. Cool (Riff, Jets)
14. One Hand, One Heart (Tony, Maria)
15. Tonight (Riff, Bernardo, Anita, Tony, Maria, Sharks, Jets)
16. The Rumble
    [9:00 PM set ends]

[9:21 PM lights down]

1. I Feel Pretty (Maria, Francisca, Rosalia, Consuelo)
   
   Ballet Sequence
2. i. Scherzo
3. ii. Somewhere (Girl)
4. iii. Procession and Nightmare (company)
   
   
5. Gee, Officer Krupke (Action, Diesel, A-rab, Baby John, Jets)
6. A Boy Like That (Anita) and I Have a Love (Maria)
7. Taunting Scene
8. Finale (Maria, Tony)
   [9:52 PM set ends]

• Julia Bullock as a girl: vox;
• Louise Marie Cornillez as Consuelo: vox;
• Zach Ford as Diesel: vox;
• Juliana Hansen as Rosalia: vox;
• Cheyenne Jackson as Tony: vox;
• Justin Keyes as Action: vox;
• Kelly Markgraf as Bernardo: vox;
• Chris Meissner as A-rab: vox;
• David Michael Laffey as Big Deal: vox;
• Alexandra Silber as Maria: vox;
• Cassie Simone as Francisca: vox;
• Michael Taylor as Officer Krupke: vox;
• Kevin Vortmann as Riff: vox;
• Jessica Vosk as Anita: vox.

• Michael Tilson Thomas: conductor;
• symphony members vary by program, see the current list.

• Ragnar Bolin: director;
• unidentified performers appearing as members of the Jets, Sharks and shop girls.

• Leonard Bernstein: composer, orchestrator;
• Jay Binder: casting;
• Michael Donovan: casting;
• Irwin Kostal: orchestration;
• Arthur Laurents: book;
• Sid Ramen: orchestration;
• Jerome Robbins: original conception, choreography, and direction;
• Steven Sondheim: lyricist.

What a fun show! Unfortunately, it's a lot less fun without the dancing and stagecraft that accompanied the original production, much less the incredible 1961 film.

I'll give MTT five stars for guts in reviving this work – it would be a real shame for Bernstein to become a forgotten composer – but ultimately, my take is that without the visuals, the work is just a less than compelling collection of songs.

Mark Swed – gallivanting around SF this weekend – posted a thoroughly illuminating review of the Sunday afternoon gig in the L.A. Times.