Jets, Sharks Both Win in This ‘West Side’

Director Sha Newman dedicated her Redondo Beach staging of “West Side Story” to the late Jerome Robbins, the show’s original director and choreographer. It doesn’t seem at all presumptuous for this production from Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities. Newman’s superb company does full justice to Robbins’ brilliant dances and indeed to the Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim score and the Arthur Laurents book.

Stan Chandler, one of the original “Forever Plaid” quartet, is a remarkable Tony. He looks lighter and less classically chiseled than many a Tony, but his voice has more lower-register heft and upper-register grace than most Tonys, and his affable but slightly offbeat look adds warmth.

Closer to the classic mold are Frances Garcia and Enrique Acevedo, as Maria and her brother Bernardo. Garcia, whose credits are mostly in opera, makes musical magic with Chandler. Acevedo is a dynamic dancer, and easily leads the Sharks through their half of the “America” number, which here is divided by gender, as in the movie, and set on a rooftop. Both Garcia and Acevedo are Puerto Rican-born, like their characters.

Cyndee J. Esparza’s Anita and Tim Talman’s Riff add sizzle to their respective, opposing causes.

Nicholas Dorr’s freshly made set looks great under Liz Stillwell’s lighting, though it doesn’t quite live up to Dorr’s pledge, in the company newsletter, that “there won’t be any waiting in blackout for set changes.” But James May’s musical direction keeps the show on track.

BE THERE

“West Side Story,” Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends March 28. $30 to $45. (310) 372-4477. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.