Broadway Across Canada presents West Side Story, Feb. 4-9 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 630 Hamilton St., Vancouver. Tickets start at $35, available at ticketmaster.ca.
Those foreign-language opera lessons MaryJoanna Grisso took in college are finally coming in handy.
In her role as the lovestruck Maria in the North American touring revival of West Side Story, she is required to sing in Spanish from time to time. In fact, about 10 per cent of the dialogue and lyrics in this touring production have been loosely translated from their original English into Spanish.
"But it's nothing that everyone can't understand," Grisso assures, explaining the actors use body language to keep the audience up to speed.
Director David Saint has said the inclusion of Spanish is meant to add authenticity to the well-known story, which focuses on two rival street gangs on Manhattan's Upper West Side: the Polish-American Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. In reality, new immigrants from Puerto Rico would be likely to speak amongst themselves in their native tongue.
Translating bits and pieces of the musical is just one tweak that sets this version of West Side Story apart from the original 1957 Broadway hit created by Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics).
"It's a little more honest, it's a little more truthful," Grisso says of the production, which stops off at Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre Feb. 4 to 9. She says it's a "harsher" take on the tragic tale of starcrossed lovers Tony, one of the Jets, and Maria, the sister of the Sharks' leader. For example, the duelling street gangs are more intimidating than their often-spoofed ballet-dancing, fingersnapping predecessors. "These characters are a little more scary, I think, and it makes them a little more truthful because they're gang members."
The director sought to remove much of the coy musical comedy theatre jargon of the 1950s, making it easier to take the characters more seriously as troubled youth.
"Before, the Jets kind of seemed like the good guys and the Sharks seemed like the bad guys and now everyone seems equal, everyone is violent, everyone is mean," Grisso says.
In this revival, choreographer Joey McKneely has reproduced and rejuvenated the original choreography work of Jerome Robbins, but he's also made the dance moves edgier, harder and more passionate.
"Instead of it being beautiful and pretty, it's infused with this acting behind it and with this energy behind it that's hatred and violent."
The gritty nature of the production also affects Maria's character and her relationship with Tony.
"It makes it that much harder for love to survive in a world of bigotry and hate and violence," Grisso says, explaining that over the course of the two-hour show, Maria transforms from an ingénue into a mature woman.
"It's an incredible journey for her to go from being this sweet young little girl who falls in love - and that in itself can make someone grow up a lot - but then to someone who has to fight for her love, literally."
Despite the changes, the essence of West Side Story remains and fans of the original Broadway musical can still expect to hear all the same catchy tunes.
"It's those iconic songs and the iconic story - the Romeo and Juliet story - so many people can relate," Grisso says. "It's something that people are just going to have so much fun seeing."
Grisso has been on tour for two years with close to 300 shows under her belt, but says performing "I Feel Pretty" and "Tonight" never grows tiresome. She had her sights set on the role of Maria ever since she first watched the 1961 movie adaptation of West Side Story in elementary school - at which time she says she bore a resemblance to leading lady Natalie Wood. A few years later, while working as an usher at a theatre in her hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia, a touring production of West Side Story came through town.
"I remember standing and taking everyone's tickets and then watching the show and thinking 'I could do that someday, I really think it could do it.'"
Four days after graduating from West Virginia University with a BFA in vocal performance, Grisso relocated to New York to pursue her career.
Just last year, she returned to the same Morgantown theatre where she used to rip tickets, this time to play Maria in front of her family, friends and former teachers. It was, without a doubt, "the most spectacular night of my life," she says.
