‘West Side Story’ topped playhouse performances

Tom Titus

Many years ago, back in 1984 to be exact, the Huntington Beach

Playhouse mounted a production of the sizzling musical “West Side

Story” in the cramped conditions of its Seacliff Village storefront

theater. Some said it couldn’t be done, but the show was the best of

the year.

Fast-forward to 2003, with the playhouse now ensconced in a “real”

theater and once again “West Side Story” rumbles across the stage.

And, once again, it must be applauded as the Huntington Beach

Playhouse’s best show of the year.

With director Kysa Cohen at the helm of the latest version, the

Bernstein-Sondheim musical classic throbbed with life as the opening

production of the 2003 season -- and the one to beat thereafter.

In Cohen’s pulsating Huntington Beach production, the accent was

on the show’s outstanding choreography, created by Stephen F. Agosto.

Numbers such as the “Dance at the Gym” and “America” throbbed with

ethnic fervor, while the Jets’ intense “Cool” dance -- repositioned

where it should be, after the fatal rumble -- was a masterful

depiction of barely controlled fury.

Runner-up honors for 2003 at the playhouse go to another revival,

William Inge’s Midwestern drama “Picnic.”

The set of a rural back yard in the early 1950s was realistically

designed by James Gruessing. This timeless romantic drama benefited

from the attention to atmospheric detail as much as from the sterling

performances under the meticulous direction of Terri Miller Schmidt.

Rounding out the top five productions in an eight-show season,

“Mister Roberts” takes third position in Gigi Fusco Meese’s lively

staging, followed by the musical “Quilters,” directed by Marla

Gam-Hudson. Jack Messenger’s staging of “Ten Little Indians”

completes the honors list.

Not often does an actor in the worst show of the season earn

“best” laurels, but in addition to headlining the unfortunate “Heaven

Can Wait,” David Farkas also shone in “Picnic” and is a clear choice

for the honor.

Right behind Farkas, however, were Matthew Gilbert as Riff a

dynamic gang leader in “West Side Story” and Phil Andrews as the

killer judge who conveyed a sense of restrained power in “Ten Little

Indians.”

Louise Marie Cornillez was a radiant Maria, in “West Side Story,”

last January, and her performance held up as the best by an actress

at the Huntington Beach Playhouse in 2003.

Not that it was a runaway. Tree Hanson was like a young Carol

Burnett, “Quilters,” and it was good for runner-up honors.

Other performers who distinguished themselves at the Huntington

Beach Playhouse during 2003 were Shaun McNamara in “Mr. Roberts,”

Robin Borovic and Ryan Abraham in “Don’t Dress for Dinner,” Heather

Smith and Marsha Collins in “Picnic,” Jasmine Curry in “Quilters” and

Amy Oldham and Dimas Diaz in the outdoor summer show, “As You Like

It.”

Congratulations to all concerned, and to the playhouse for

presenting such an exciting and interesting season.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.