Gangs have astonishing staying power. Whether it’s the feuding Montagues and Capulets in Shakespeare’s 16th century masterpiece Romeo and Juliet—which served inspiration for the street gang rivalry of the Jets and the Sharks in West Side Story—or today’s escalating Chicago gang violence, the script’s pretty much the same.

Latino, black, white, brown, the issues separating us, fueling the violence, are exactly the same: class and race, demonizing the other, fear of the other, including such misconceptions as the Puerto Ricans (then) or the Mexicans (now) are taking our jobs. One of the Jets early on in West Side Story says, “The reason my pop went bust is the PRs are ruining free enterprise.”

Sound all too familiar?

So, although West Side Story takes place 60 years ago and is now a period piece about our parents’ and grandparents’ generation, it couldn’t be more relevant now. And why try to improve on Arthur Laurent’s hypnotic book; the magnificent, operatic Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim score; and Jerome Robbins’s compelling choreography?

Perhaps this is why the musical continues to play regional theaters and draw big audiences, while staying true to the original. Why mess with a great thing?

According to Executive Director Jacqui Hubbard, the Ivoryton Playhouse has been toying with producing this show for a long time, but finally took the bold plunge with the biggest cast ever—23 singers and dancers—on the Playhouse’s small stage, directed and choreographed by Todd L. Underwood.

The number one reason to see the show is Stephen Mir’s performance as Tony, the Jets’ second-in-command. A local young talent and University of Hartford’s Hartt School of music grad, Mir’s exquisite vocals, range, and articulation just grab your heart strings, whether he’s singing his solos “Something’s Coming” and “Maria” or duets with female lead Mia Pinero “Tonight,” “One Hand, One Heart,” and “Somewhere.”

Mir creates a likable, love-struck Tony, a Polish boy who falls for a Puerto Rican girl “named Maria.” We want to root for him, even after he lethally stabs Maria’s street-hardened brother Bernardo (performed by Victor Borjas), the leader of the Sharks—.

Pinero doesn’t have Mir’s vocal range, but she has a lovely soprano voice. She also performs a charming “I Feel Pretty” with the Shark girls and the heartrending “A Boy Like That” with Anita, Bernardo’s girlfriend, played by Natalie Madlon.

Although the mounting sense of dread and tension I’ve experienced in previous productions of the musical felt lacking, Pinero and Madlon both give gripping performances in the final scenes—courageous friends in the face of ignorance and male power, attempting to stop the inevitable bad ending.

Michael Hotkowski plays the cynical, streetwise Officer Krupke as we like to imagine the character, and Arianne Meneses deserves a mention as Consuela, one of the “Shark girls,” who stands out not only because of her bleached blonde wig but because she displays such delightful energy and movement.

The 10-piece orchestra, directed by Michael Morris, is fabulous, enhancing the modern classical score and punctuating the balletic dance numbers. In the opening “Jet Song,” the orchestra, despite being below stage, drowns out the vocals. But, later in the show, in The Jets’ humorous number, “Gee Officer Krupke,” the sound balance is much better.

Underwood deserves applause for so seamlessly choreographing more than 20 dancers in such narrow confines without the movement seeming cramped or awkward, fight scenes included. Of particular note is a dreamy, surreal number with dancers shrouded in white, preceding the oh-so-poignant “Somewhere,” sung by Tony, Maria, and cast.

Elements of Daniel Nischan’s set are nicely executed, such as the apartment buildings in the background mood-lit by Marcus Abott, but other aspects of the set are dark and drab and more clumsy than streamlined, with big boxes shifting around that detract more than add to the viewer’s imagination. Elizabeth Cipollina’s costumes add some color and fun and ground the play in the era.

West Side Story runs over two hours with one 15-minute intermission. Performances continue through Sunday, July 30 at Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or visitng www.ivorytonplayhouse.org