"WEST SIDE STORY"
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

SPRING MUSICAL 2009

• Director: Barbara Ridenour
• Music Director: Rick Murphy
• Choreographers: Kim Alexander, Alicia Cross Engelhardt
• Costume Design: Mary Stasheff
• Performances: 7 p.m. Thursday;
  7:30 p.m. Friday; 2:30, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, North Attic Playhouse
• Tickets: All shows are sold out

WHEN CONSIDERING WHICH Uni students might fit the roles of "West Side Story," music director Rick Murphy thought of Miguel "Teddy" Zamora-Mills, whom he knew from Chorus and Madrigals.

So he approached the senior and asked him to audition. Without ever having seen the movie or the play, Zamora-Mills tried out and got one of the lead roles: Bernardo, the brother of Maria and leader of the Puerto Rican "Shark" gang.

"I didn't want to be anyone too main cast, like Tony," he said, "because that would be a lot of pressure. But Bernardo is not a small part, so I didn't feel like I was wasting my time."

Two months later, his portrayal of Bernardo is one of the highlights of Uni's sold-out production of the Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim classic. Onstage, Teddy exudes charisma whether he's flirting with girlfriend Anita, taunting the rival Jets, looking after his sister, or leading the Sharks into battle.

Bernardo was a character that Teddy fell into easily because of their shared Latin backgrounds, even though Teddy's family is from Guatemala and Bernardo is Puerto Rican. The Spanish role allows Teddy to add his own touch to the lines with words from his extensive Spanish vocabulary.

The accent, however, is another matter. Speaking both Spanish and English comes naturally to Teddy, but speaking English with a Spanish accent was a hurdle he had to overcome.

Bernardo meets with the Jets in a war council to determine the weapons for their rumble. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

Bernardo takes a swing at a Jet during the fateful gang fight that would leave both him and Riff dead. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

"Teddy was chosen because of a combination of his singing, acting, and dancing skills," said Murphy. "The fact that he can speak English and Spanish well does help but it isn't why we chose him.

"He is doing a fine job of playing Bernardo. With his audition and his background he looked good for the part. At practices he has a very good stage presence and carries himself the way Bernardo would. He is doing a great job."

The role of Bernardo incorporates acting, singing, and dancing. With Teddy's strong background in music as a singer and musician (violin, saxophone, guitar, bass, and some piano), the singing wasn't very difficult for him to pick up.

In contrast, acting was foreign territory for him. He walked into the play with no experience in theater.

But he learned quickly during rehearsals and grew confident in his abilities. He acclimated himself to working with the many scene changes and the smaller set of Uni's theater.

Along with singing and acting, the role of Bernardo also called for Teddy to do some dancing.

While there are many choreographed fight scenes, the scene called "Dance at the Gym" features Bernardo and Anita facing off together against Jet leader Riff (junior Zack Goldberg) and his girlfriend, Graziella (junior Anna Gooler), in a dance contest.

The first time trying the choreography went well, but he had some timing issues attempting it in other rehearsals.

"Dancing [I thought] I could do," he said, "because I can salsa, do the merengue, and other dances from Latin America, but it's not [those]; it's choreographed movement. It's something new, but it's fun."

Eventually, though, everything came together, and Bernardo acquits himself quite well on the dance floor.

Other cast members have enjoyed having Teddy on set.

"It wasn't hard to fall into the brother-sister relationship with him since I've known him most of my life," said senior Sheri Grill, who plays Maria. "So it was pretty much already there."

"Teddy's a fun-loving guy, and it can be hard being his enemy and pretending to be angry with each other, but we're having fun," said Goldberg.

Added senior Sarah Lake-Rayburn, who plays Bernardo's girlfriend, Anita: "Teddy is a little more laid back about the whole thing than I am. He still does a good job, though, and it's fun working with him."

As for Teddy, he remained calm and cool during the final weeks of rehearsal. When asked how he felt about opening night, which was quickly approaching, he simply said: "We'll see."

Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, makes a point to Jet leader Riff (senior Zack Goldberg) during a war council between the two gangs. Gargoyle photos by David Porreca (click any photo to enlarge and to create your own slideshow)

Bernardo and Riff agree on the terms of their rumble.

Tony (senior Daniel Borup) weeps over Bernardo after accidentally — and fatally — stabbing him.

"WEST SIDE STORY" CAST, Orchestra, and Crew MEMBERS

The Jets

• Tony: Daniel Borup (sr)
• Riff: Zack Goldberg (jr)
• Action: Jared Doyle (jr)
• Diesel: Will Erickson (fr)
• A-Rab: Ben Zehr (so)
• Baby John: Charlie Newman-Johnson (so)
• Snowboy: Johnny Shapley (fr)

Their Girls

• Velma: Brittany Scheid (jr)
• Graziella: Anna Gooler (jr)
• Anybodys: Stefanie Senior (so)
• Minnie: Erin Berl (su)
• Clarice: Sierra Marcum (sr)
• Pauline: Vivian Robison (jr)
• Jet Girls: Brianna Hajek (su), Ella Lubienski (su), Juliana Trach (su)

The Sharks

• Bernardo: Miguel Zamora-Mills (sr)
• Chino: Aramael Pena-Alcantera (fr)
• Pepe: Rodney LeNoir (fr)
• Luis: Stirling Lemme (su)
• Toro: Jack Gillette (su)
• Shark Members: Kaila Simpson (su), Alex Valdez (su)

Their Girls

• Maria: Sheri Grill (sr)
• Anita: Sarah Lake-Rayburn (sr)
• Rosalia: Karen Han (sr)
• Consuela: Lauren Piester (sr)
• Teresita: Kahlilah Cooke (so)
• Francisca: Martha Yoshida (so)
• Margarita: Maia Gersten (fr)
• Shark Girls: Melissa Rosas (su), Kaila Simpson (su), Alex Valdez (su)

The Adults

• Officer Krupke: Steve Rayburn (English teacher)
• Doc: Rob Diehl (sr)
• Lt. Schrank: Jeremy Kemball (sr)
• Glad Hand: Hannah Leskosky (sr)

Orchestra

• Percussion: Adam Joseph (so), Chris Mathy (so)
• Clarinet: Jacob Druker (sr), Katherine Floess (so), Leif Hague (su)
• Saxophone: Clement Dossin (sr)
• Tuba: Hannah Johlas (fr)
• Bass: Carl Pearson (sr)
• Violin: Chelsea Edwards (su), Annie Rong (fr), Joey Smith (fr), Chae Won Park (su)
• Trombone: Aaron Wilson (su), Lisa Sproat (so)
• Trumpet: Robbie McMillen (fr), Ian Slauch (so)
• Flute: Francois Dossin (fr), Marie Lilly (fr)
• Cello: Petra Rantanen (su)

Production Staff

• Directing Assistance: Steve Rayburn
• Stage Manager: Tianna Pittenger
• Lighting Design & Board Operator: Natsuki Nakamura
• Sound: Natsuki Nakamura
• Set Design: Sierra Marcum
• Poster: Margarita Mouschovias
• Program: Lauren Piester
• T-Shirt Design: Lauren Piester