One of our favorite SoCal summer nights is spent at Vista's Moonlight Amphitheatre. Tonight, we witness the fantastic production of West Side Story, the beloved 1957 musical.

Our gang was the usual suspects: Mike, Tricia, Karen and David, with the addition of the very interesting, Mary.
For those not in the know, West Side Story transfers Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to 'present-day' New York. The love story of Romeo and Juliet becomes that of Tony and Maria. The feud between the houses of the Capulets and the Montagues is re-created in one involving two teen-age gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The famous balcony scene of the Shakespeare drama transpires on a fire-escape of a New York tenement. Moonlight is exceptional at their scenery so we were totally in NY.

I have to admit that this was my first foray into the world of the Jets & Sharks. What a fabulous introduction to the magnificent score composed by Leonard Bernstein, and the iconic lyrics written by a then 25 year-old Stephen Sondheim, making his Broadway debut.
The story is a tragic one and unfortunately 60+ years later, still current. Reviewer Pat Launer wrote, "What’s striking is the relevance of the narrative to today: gang warfare; prejudice against immigrants; caustic, racially-based name-calling; whites (even though their families were immigrants, too) rejecting people by the color of their skin, and insisting that they’re not Americans." 
Jerome Robbins' amazing choreography was spectacularly executed by a mega-talented (32 member) cast, providing the best dancing seen on any local stage in a long time. Interestingly, only two people in the country are certified by the Robbins estate to precisely reproduce the phenomenal choreography, and Moonlight snagged one of them- Hector Guerrero. Since Steven Spielberg is directing the 2020 remake of the movie version of the musical, the Robbins choreography is about to be frozen, made unavailable for six years. So no one will be seeing another live version of Robbins’ legendary work any time soon. What a fortunate night with musical magic and wonderful friends.