Stirring emotion this morning. Heart beats and warms to work full of light and love energy. As the senior member of this creative team I have been holding a despair over racial hatred recently exposed and accelerated in this country. Disturbed and depressed, realizing since West Side Story debuted in 1957, our nation stands by, seemingly indifferent to street gang violence; kids killing kids. Sickened, I brought into rehearsal a challenge for someone, anyone, to show me the hope in this story. I just don’t see it. And then this morning happened: Tony and Maria’s “Cha Cha.” This Polish kid and Puerto Rican girl finding each other in a settlement house dance hall. You discover something about yourself when you feel attracted to someone for the first time in your young life. First love is an all-consuming true love as any there is. It overpowers everything. All boundaries and barriers disappear and anything is possible. There is Hope. William Carlos Angulo’s choreography revealed this to me in the last hour. As the turn of phrase goes: my faith in humanity has been restored. But I do take faith in that the atrocity is countered and conquered by pure love. There is a nobility and gentility in us. Bernstein’s music and Angulo’s dance manifest this through their joined artistic expression. And there is Zoe Nadal’s “Maria” and Will Skrip’s “Tony” lighting the way.
Hairspray closes this Sunday, ladies and gentlemen. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself and someone you love a favor and get your tickets. It’s full of Hope shining brightly for all of us!
Love & thanks,
Jim
BUY TICKETS TO WEST SIDE STORY
Tickets still available to HAIRSPRAY