Hoebee’s designers and stage management team sharply achieve the story’s swift transitions in location, such as when the dance at the gym suddenly materializes seemingly out of nowhere. Augmenting the speedy flow of the show, Mr.
Hoebee fleetly paces the timeless “Romeo and Juliet” narrative about young lovers divided by their warring clans, which the librettist Arthur Laurents tautly updated to a murderous rivalry among teenage gangs in 1950s New York City. His fine revival is driven by Alex Sanchez’s faithful replication of those famously high-flying dances created by Jerome Robbins, the original director-choreographer, who is credited with coming up with the idea for the 1957 musical. Hoebee, who is also Paper Mill’s producing artistic director, lovingly gives “West Side Story” a traditional staging that is performed very well by a talented company. The current revival in Millburn is aptly timed: The theater is the state’s pre-eminent house for musicals, and it was just recognized with the 2016 Tony Award given to regional theaters. A lyrical fusion of memorable songs, affecting story and dynamic choreography, the classic musical has returned to Paper Mill Playhouse after a 25-year hiatus. “West Side Story” falls easily into this category. Yet a handful of them are so replete with passion and the human experience - so superbly conceived, structured, composed and choreographed - that they never lose their punch. Musicals come - and then most musicals go.
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