CTORA searches out enduring truths in West Side Story

Seventy years after the classic musical’s debut, its theme of love transcending hate continues to inspire performers and audiences

By Vince Kanasoot

Cassandra Consiglio and Sayer Roberts in West Side Story. Photo by Canna Zhou

CTORA Productions presents West Side Story at the Granville Island Stage from May 8 to 24

WHAT’S THE KEY TO good storytelling? For CTORA, authenticity seems to be the driving force in its version of West Side Story. 

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the musical tells the tale of star-crossed young lovers Tony and Maria, against the backdrop of an ethnically divisive street-gang war between the “American” Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks in 1950s New York. The roles of Tony and Maria are as iconic as the show itself, immortalized in many Broadway stage and film versions. But CTORA’s stars Sayer Roberts and Cassandra Consiglio aren’t fazed. They’re leaning into authenticity.

“A thousand people have played Maria, but nobody will play Maria like I get to play her, or how Sayer is going to play Tony,” Consiglio says. “When I tell Maria’s story, if I believe it myself, the audience will as well.”

“Bringing yourself to a role is the greatest way to not only make it unique, but also make it truthful,” Roberts adds.

And while Roberts has been familiar with West Side Story for most of his life, his portrayal of Tony isn’t something that was predetermined.

“As much thinking as we can do ahead of time about how we might play a role someday, what’s more important is ‘Who am I going to be when I play that role?’” he explains. “I’m really grateful for who I am at this moment in time to find Tony, because I’ve done a lot of work on myself over the years that has allowed me to dig deeper into this material.”

The material that Roberts is referring to consists of music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Featuring songs like “Maria”, “Tonight”, and “America”, the score is one of the most beloved in musical theatre history. Then there’s Arthur Laurents’s book, which stunned audiences when the show premiered on Broadway in 1957, with its bold and poignant commentary on teenage love threatened by societal pressures fuelled by racism, classism, and hate.

“There is far more that unites us than makes us different, especially in times like these.”

The story remains hauntingly relevant today, almost 70 years later. This, too, is a significant part of the show’s authenticity.

“We see so much societal pressure these days of finding reasons to ‘other’ people and ‘other’ ourselves from each other, to find differences, and to place ourselves into different camps,” Roberts notes. “But when you get down to it, like Maria says in the show, we are the same. There is far more that unites us than makes us different, especially in times like these.”

Another element of authenticity in CTORA’s production is the casting of performers from Latin backgrounds for the Sharks characters—something that hasn’t always been done.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our Latino community,” Consiglio states. “As well, a lot of our cast members weren’t born in Canada and have immigrated here. This is an opportunity for them to shine, and for Vancouver audiences to see that we have a lot of incredible talent and diversity in our community. I think this is going to be a really cool show, especially because it’s cast appropriately.”

One other—and very significant—feature of authenticity in CTORA’s West Side Story is the re-creation of Broadway legend Jerome Robbins’s choreography, which garnered the show the reputation as one of the greatest dance musicals of all time. CTORA’s choreographer Suzanne Ouellette and dance captain Jennifer Lynch have meticulously studied Robbins’s notes to revive his choreography.

Besides truthful performances, ethnically appropriate casting, and iconic Broadway choreography, Roberts notes one other thing that makes CTORA’s production of West Side Story an authentic storytelling experience: its commentary on how love inspires a better world.

“When Tony and Maria find each other, it’s not just that they fall in love and want to be with each other. They want to make everything around them better. They want to stop the conflict between the Jets and the Sharks,” Roberts says. “And I think that’s the power of not just romantic love, but love in general. It has the power to bring us together and hopefully make the world a better place.”

Now that’s a story worth telling.

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