The first musical of the Alhambra Theatre & Dining’s 2025 season is underway, and it is an American classic as well, with West Side Story hitting the local stage and being shown through March 30.
The Musical won four Tony Awards in 1961 and since then, it has been captivating audiences on the Broadway trail with its tale inspired by Romeo and Juliet but with a twist of American flair.
Many of the actors in the production are from other parts of the country and are performing at the Alhambra for the first time, but bring with them experience, especially when it comes to West Side Story, and that was evident throughout the performance.
Brayden Schilling plays Tony and Lauren Henriques plays Maria, who are the young couple and love interest that the play revolves around, and together they put forth a great performance that had a mix of both passion in their portrayal of their characters and a chemistry on stage that could be felt in the audience.
Their acting is spot on and helps transform the roles into something that the crowd can truly relate with, which in turn captures the emotions of the production and keeps the audience engaged in the plot throughout.
Another thing that kept people on the edge of their seats was the fight scenes, which did an excellent job of mixing acting, lighting and sound to pull off some tense moments and really set the mood at those times.
Thaddeus Walker made his ninth production appearance at the Alhambra and had double duty of serving as fight choreographer for the production as well as playing Lieutenant Shrank.
Ken Uibel played the role of Doc and West Side Story marked the 100th show that he had been a part of at Alhambra since making his debut at the theatre in 1985.
He has performed in more than 300 productions of various shows during his career, and he is happy to perform his final one at the Alhambra as he will retire from acting once West Side Story wraps up.
According to Alhambra owner Craig Smith, Uibel is someone very recognizable by those who have been coming to Alhambra for years and a true Alhambra legend.
He is most known for his portrayal of Marley in A Christmas Carol, a production he has been in 25 times over the years and even met his wife Becky at the Alhambra 30 years ago.
For tickets to see West Side Story, go to www.alhambrajax.com.
