WEST SIDE STORY
In an interesting coincidence, two of the summer’s major musical revivals climax with the same tableau: a woman kneels over her prostrate lover, just felled by a bullet. The image sums up the telling contrasts between West Side Story and A Little Night Music. In the first show the scene is tragic–almost remorselessly so, though the creators of this jazzy juvenile-delinquent version of Romeo and Juliet pull their punches by having Maria, unlike Juliet, survive her lover Tony, shot dead by a rival gang member. In A Little Night Music the image is turned on its head: the victim, Fredrik, has shot himself in a game of Russian roulette inspired by jealousy–and missed. He shrugs as he dusts himself off, helped by his relieved, bemused lover Desiree.
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Gunshots aren’t all these two landmark shows have in common. Both boast lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, of course; the 1957 West Side Story marked his Broadway debut (he accepted the assignment reluctantly because he was only writing the words), while the 1973 Night Music cemented his reputation as an innovative composer as well as a clever lyricist. Both shows owe their existence to Harold Prince: it was he who produced West Side Story following the 11th-hour withdrawal of Cheryl Crawford, and it was he who brought together Sondheim and playwright Hugh Wheeler to create a musical composed almost entirely of waltzes. It was also Prince, as director, who dictated the commercial compromises that make Night Music a lightweight entertainment: for all its intricate loveliness and wit, it falls short of the transcendent beauty and power that make West Side Story compelling despite its dated depiction of urban crisis.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Greg Kolack.
