More critical commentators often argue that Leonard Bernstein never quite lived up to his lofty early promise.
After becoming the musical director of the New York Philharmonic in 1957, the great American icon was consumed by conducting and, some would say, distracted by the ensuing whirl of TV appearances and glitzy Manhattan parties.
It does not seem to be a coincidence, therefore, that Bernstein's best-loved work, West Side Story, which begins a five-night run on Tuesday (February 14) at Dubai Opera, debuted on Broadway less than two months before he took the job.
Never again would he find the same creative space or spark. After leaving the Philharmonic, in 1969, Bernstein's big comeback commission came from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with Mass. A kaleidoscopic theatre piece, it attracted widespread critical ire which, many supposed, blunted his creativity.
None of this detracts from the majesty of West Side Story, for which Bernstein composed a score that artfully draws from musical cultures high and low. It blends the buzz of the street with the sophistication of the concert hall.
Listen carefully, and you can detect shades of Schoenbergian atonality, bebop chromaticism and Latin rhythms amid hearty doses of classic Tin Pan Alley songwriting.
Jenna Burns — who plays the lead role of Maria in this 60th- anniversary production — says that even at the age of 7, when her aunt gave her a copy of the soundtrack, she was taken by the score’s underlying urbanity.
"My family is very musical, so I grew up listening to Singin' in the Rain and all the classics — but I could tell West Side Story was nothing like any of the others," she says. "I was like: 'wait, this is completely different — this isn't just happy people singing and dancing — there's something going on here'."
It is so different, there remains an argument that despite the presence of dramatic, non-sung dialogue, West Side Story should be considered not a musical, but an opera.
This type of revaluation was previously applied to George Gershwin when, 40 years after its 1935 debut, his masterpiece Porgy and Bess was tacitly upgraded from theatre to opera house.
West Side Story's feel-good, singalong favourites America and Gee, Officer Krupke are pure pizzazz — but there are also moments, such as the sombre Maria or Somewhere, that would not be out of place in opera.
The 25-minute segue of musical themes Bernstein reclaimed as Symphonic Dances from West Side Story are also regularly performed in concert halls worldwide.
So far, revivals have remained firmly in theatres, but one imagines an elitist opera upgrade would please Bernstein.
In 1956 he hailed America’s fertile theatrical boom as the birth of a “new form” requiring fresh definitions.
“There must be a more exciting word for such an event,” said the composer, who died in 1990 at the age of 72.
“It’s almost as though it’s our moment in history, as if there is a historical necessity that gives us such a wealth of creative talent at this precise time.” In tone as well as technique, the production’s book, by Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics also straddle the borders of serious art and light entertainment.
The premise is scintillatingly serious — as a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, the inevitability of heartbreak and death hang over the audience from the start.
Moreover, transplanting the action to 1950s New York — specifically, an impoverished West Side populated by rival gangs and rife with ethnic tensions — allowed the writers to have inner-city urban anxieties play out on stage.
“This story is one that, unfortunately, will always be relevant,” says Burns.
The 24-year-old actress is making her international debut in director Joey McKneely’s production, which began its year-long tour of Europe and Asia in November. Maria, a character memorably brought to life on the big screen by Natalie Wood in the 1961 film adaptation, is the sister of Bernardo, a leader of streetwise Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks.
She falls in love with Tony, a former member of white rock ’n’ roll gang, the Jets. The two factions are at war with each other, and the police, in a story that still resonates.
“We’re always going to have things we disagree with people on,” says Burns.
“That’s what makes this world so special and unique, that we’re all so different, believe different things and come from different places.
“What we struggle with is how do we live together and love together and not let our fear of people who are different to us, our fear of the unknown, turn to hatred and violence?
“And so this story, especially now, is extremely important to be telling — and I feel really privileged to be a part of it.”
• West Side Story is at Dubai Opera from Tuesday, February 14 until Saturday, February 18, at 8pm daily, plus a 3pm matinée on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Tickets start at Dh250 from www.dubaiopera.com
rgarratt@thenational.ae
