Charleston Stage ready for 'West Side Story'

When "West Side Story" opened on Broadway in 1957, Americans were not especially eager to see musicals involving the issue of race, but the explosive, magnetic music of Leonard Bernstein brought them in.

And the show's racial subtext could not be denied. During the 1980 Democratic Convention in New York, those of us who saw the show's revival there were greeted by Puerto Ricans in front of the theater protesting for better job opportunities.

"It has taken 30 years for us to build a theatre company with the capability to produce a Broadway musical on this scale," said Charleston Stage Founder Julian Wiles. "Therefore, we've held back until we felt the day had come when we could do this justice. And we honestly now believe that day has come."

Wiles invited New York guest actor Aaron Velthouse to take the role of Tony; members of Charleston Stage's Professional Resident Acting Company, all who have college theater degrees, have key roles. Taking the lead of Maris is Viveka Chandrasekaran with Michael Lasris as Bernardo, Sara Claire Smith as Anita, Brian Zane as Riff and Sonny Kong as Action, among the cast of 30.

The story, based on the concept of "Romeo and Juliet," is set on the West Side of New York and enters the world of warring gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, who battled for territory on the city streets where neighborhoods were divided by those of different nationalities.

The Sharks were mainly Puerto Ricans and the Jets were local whites. Their rivalry becomes intensified when Maria, whose brother Bernardo is a Shark, falls in love with Tony, who had been a Jet.

Read more in Sunday's editions of The Post and Courier.