West Side Story

It's not just the exposure to countless editions of “West Side Story” that causes us to stagger dazed and elated from the Chance Theater. Less a revival than a whole-scale reinvention, this stunning chamber version of the landmark 1957 musical by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents yields breathtaking, deeply moving results. Dispensing with the original iconography of Jerome Robbins' epochal staging, director Oanh Nguyen and choreographer Kelly Todd concoct an elemental, viscerally charged production that nonetheless honors the property's “Romeo and Juliet” source.

He had his tough side. As a kid he loved backpacking, camping, boating, flying down zip lines and a vigorous game of capture-the-flag. Sgt. 1st Class James F. Grissom was a Green Beret in the U.S. Army, after all. But the 550 people who filled San Leandro's Fairhaven Bible Chapel two weeks ago to remember Grissom were reminded that he also had his soft side. Grissom 31, of Hayward, died March 21 at Germany's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center of wounds suffered in a small-arms firefight March 18 in Paktika province, Afghanistan.

Actor Nick Nolte has put a Malibu compound up for sale that has seen a galaxy of stars come through its arched entryway. Besides Nolte, other notables to have owned the house include comedian Tommy Chong, Don Felder of the Eagles and music producer David Foster. Priced at $8.25 million and set in the Bonsall Canyon area, the two-acre retreat is covered with sycamore and pine trees. The main house, built in 1963, features 19-foot vaulted ceilings, skylights, six stone-and-carved-wood fireplaces, marble floors and mahogany French doors.

"Well they began it!" snarled the Jets perched on the scaffolding that lines the Chance Theater's long, narrow shoe box of a performance space. Facing them off - and in spitting distance of the audience - the Sharks echoed in return: "Well they began it!" This group-hiss propelled "Tonight," one of 11 fresh and lucid song-and-dance numbers that choreographer Kelly Todd has laced into the Anaheim Hills theater's critically lauded production of "West Side Story" (extended to Aug. 19). Tasked by Chance director Oanh Nguyen to garnish his update of the theater classic by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents with in-your-face dance numbers, the 20-year musical theater veteran and a UCLA theater grad, found herself boxed in. Not only was Todd's 12-foot wide, 30-foot long working area hugely constrained but she was thrust in the shadow of a genius.

'West Side Story' What: Screening of remastered film, score performed by Los Angeles Philharmonic with conductor David Newman Where: Hollywood Bowl When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday Tickets: $11 to $158 Information: (323) 850-2000 or http://www.hollywoodbowl.com

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's classic musical "West Side Story." The reasons for the show's continuing popularity and, more important, its relevance are evident in the national touring production that stops this week for three nights at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

"Well they began it!" snarled the Jets perched on the scaffolding that lines the Chance Theater's long, narrow shoe box of a performance space. Facing them off - and in spitting distance of the audience - the Sharks echoed in return: "Well they began it!" This group-hiss propelled "Tonight," one of 11 fresh and lucid song-and-dance numbers that choreographer Kelly Todd has laced into the Anaheim Hills theater's critically lauded production of "West Side Story" (extended to Aug. 19). Tasked by Chance director Oanh Nguyen to garnish his update of the theater classic by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents with in-your-face dance numbers, the 20-year musical theater veteran and a UCLA theater grad, found herself boxed in. Not only was Todd's 12-foot wide, 30-foot long working area hugely constrained but she was thrust in the shadow of a genius.

"West Side Story" (1961) will screen Wednesday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the Aero Theater, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, as part of an ongoing series of special events organized to keep the theater operating. The landmark Streamline Moderne theater was built to serve World War II aerospace industry workers, and its screenings were scheduled to accommodate round-the-clock work shifts. Tickets for the benefit are $20 and include a wine and cheese buffet. Information: (310) 395-4990.

West Side Story took an early lead and paced to victory with the fastest mile of the meet in the featured $8,000 invitational Saturday at Los Alamitos. Irresistible Magic, the 2-1 favorite, held a clear advantage until the far turn. West Side Story and Steve Desomer quickly closed the gap and came up on the outside at the top of the lane. Irresistible Magic held on gamely, but West Side Story went by and finished in 1:55 4/5, 1 3/5 faster than his previous best.

Almost everyone knows about "West Side Story," but fully professional productions of it are rare. This week Pasadena Civic Auditorium hosts one of them, and musical theater fans should take note. Yes, this is the same touring production that played Orange County in October, to discouraging reviews, then in Palm Desert, San Diego, San Francisco. But the leaders of the Jets, Tony and Riff, are played by different actors than the ones reviewed in Costa Mesa.

It's not just the exposure to countless editions of “West Side Story” that causes us to stagger dazed and elated from the Chance Theater. Less a revival than a whole-scale reinvention, this stunning chamber version of the landmark 1957 musical by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents yields breathtaking, deeply moving results. Dispensing with the original iconography of Jerome Robbins' epochal staging, director Oanh Nguyen and choreographer Kelly Todd concoct an elemental, viscerally charged production that nonetheless honors the property's “Romeo and Juliet” source.

'West Side Story' What: Screening of remastered film, score performed by Los Angeles Philharmonic with conductor David Newman Where: Hollywood Bowl When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday Tickets: $11 to $158 Information: (323) 850-2000 or http://www.hollywoodbowl.com

In town conducting at the Hollywood Bowl in 1955, composer Leonard Bernstein took a break to visit with playwright Arthur Laurents at the Beverly Hills Hotel swimming pool. The two men sat at the edge of the pool, discussing not just their assorted projects but also that morning's headlines about juvenile delinquent gangs. The way Laurents put it in his memoir "Original Story By," that poolside conversation jump-started "West Side Story," one of the most accomplished musicals of all time.

Rita Moreno has flourished on stage and screens, big and small. A few of her credits: 'The Ritz' Moreno earned a Tony as hapless performer Googie Gomez in Terrence McNally's 1975 Broadway comedy and reprised her role in the 1976 film. 'West Side Story' Moreno won the supporting actress Oscar as Maria's fiery sister, Anita, in the 1961 best picture winner. 'Oz' Moreno was one of the few actresses on HBO's gritty 1997-2003 prison drama "Oz," playing counselor Sister Peter Marie.

As Stephen Sondheim is the first to point out, it's the book writers of musicals who always get it in the neck. If they're not ignored entirely (as in "Sondheim's 'Sweeney Todd'" ), then they're usually held responsible for the work's shortcomings by critics, who tend to be more comfortable criticizing the story than the score. Arthur Laurents, who died Thursday as an exceptionally young nonagenarian, was one musical theater writer who was impossible to overlook. Dismiss him — and how could you dismiss the man who wrote the books for "West Side Story" and "Gypsy"?

Arthur Laurents, a Tony Award-winning playwright and director who wrote the books for the classic Broadway musicals "West Side Story" and "Gypsy" and later wrote the hit movies "The Way We Were" and "The Turning Point," died Thursday. He was believed to be 93. Laurents died in his sleep at his home in New York City after a short illness, said his agent, Jonathan Lomma. For his work on Broadway over more than six decades, Laurents won two Tony Awards — in 1968 as author of the book for best musical Tony winner "Hallelujah, Baby!"

Karina Ruiz has never had to play the role of tough girl before. Small and slight, she is more used to simply being that shy student who quietly takes the seat nearest the teacher in class, that young woman who dutifully brings her brother's dinner to his bedroom when he tells her. But here she is, playing the role of a wannabe gang member in her school's production of the musical "West Side Story."

Turner Classic Movies has lined up screenings of such films as "Citizen Kane," "Taxi Driver," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "An American in Paris," "Shaft" and "La Dolce Vita," and appearances by such performers as Warren Beatty, Leslie Caron, Hayley Mills, Richard Roundtree and Jane Powell for its second TCM Classic Film Festival, which will run April 28-May 1 in Hollywood. The festival will screen more than 60 films and will feature salutes to Gregory Peck, Roy Rogers, Bernard Herrmann and George and Ira Gershwin.

True to its name, the musical revue "Broadway Holiday" celebrates show tunes and seasonal cheer. Musical director Neil Berg will be joined by a three-piece band and a talented lineup of Broadway alumni to perform favorite songs from "My Fair Lady," "West Side Story," "Wicked" and others, as well as a selection of holiday tunes. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. 8 p.m. Fri., 3 and 8 p.m. Sat., 2 and 7 p.m. Sun. $65 to $75. (310) 208-5454. http://www.geffenplayhouse.