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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Neither Eyanna Gruver nor Jon Vojtko expected they&#8217;d land the roles of Maria and Tony in &#8220;West Side Story&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;I just wanted to be a Jet,&#8221; Vojtko said &#8212; but they&#8217;re both thrilled to play the star-crossed lovers at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>&#8220;For me, it&#8217;s about the music,&#8221; Gruver, 21, of Dallas, said before a recent rehearsal. &#8220;I&#8217;ve loved &#8216;West Side Story&#8217; since the first time I saw it on TV, at my Nana&#8217;s house when I was about 8 years old.&#8221;</p><p>Echoing those sentiments, Vojtko, 22, of Wyoming, said the show&#8217;s classic songs are a huge draw. &#8220;With Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, every single word and note was written that way for a specific reason.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Bernstein&#8217;s score is so gorgeous, I listen to it and I can be taken somewhere else,&#8221; agreed Gruver, who anticipates the songs may also carry audience members off to a place where love and hate and the agony of knowing your boyfriend killed your brother make life almost unbearably intense.</p><p>&#8220;When Anita (played by Sara Pellegrini) and I were singing &#8216;A Boy Like That,&#8217; the emotions are so strong, sometimes you just have to yell,&#8221; Gruver said.</p><p>Director Christa Manning has kept the songs and slang of the original musical, which opened on Broadway in 1957, but moved the setting to the present day, underscoring the reality that gang rivalries and violence still are all too relevant.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an edgy show,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Choreographer Sean Bromiley, 23, of Hazleton, who also portrays Maria&#8217;s brother, Bernardo, updated the dance styles, as well. &#8220;There&#8217;s a little more grinding in the dance at the gym,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and a little more &#8216;shaking their booty&#8217; in &#8216;America.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>As for the rumble, he said, &#8220;We made it like a real gang fight would be, with stage combat and rolling around on the ground.&#8221;</p><p>Vojtko said the Jets gave his character a place to belong, but as Tony becomes more mature he&#8217;s trying to separate himself from the gang.</p><p>Other characters see few possibilities beyond gang life. Among them, a girl the Jets call &#8220;Anybody&#8217;s&#8221; wants nothing more than to join the all-male gang. &#8220;It&#8217;s a really fun part to play,&#8221; said Lindsay Denion, 19, of Mountaintop. &#8220;She wears the exact same kind of flannel shirt and pants as (gang leader) Riff. It drives him crazy.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;This is more than just a love story,&#8221; ensemble member Jami Sniegowski, of Long Pond, said. &#8220;It&#8217;s kind of like a race war.&#8221;</p><p>So, what will audiences come away with?</p><p>&#8220;Hopefully, people will leave here feeling tolerant,&#8221; Sniegowski said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Jon Vojtko of Wyoming and Eyanna Gruver of Dallas portray Tony and Maria in &#8216;West Side Story.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_tonyandmaria.jpg</photo0><caption0>Jon Vojtko of Wyoming and Eyanna Gruver of Dallas portray Tony and Maria in &#8216;West Side Story.&#8217; </caption0><photoCredit0>Photos submitted from Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_westsidestory.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Just like Shakespeare&#8217;s Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria come from two different worlds. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_westsidestory.jpg</photo1><caption1>Just like Shakespeare&#8217;s Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria come from two different worlds. </caption1><photoCredit1>Photos submitted from Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;West Side Story&#8217;</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Little Theatre, 537 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>When:</strong> Sept. 12 to 20 with performances 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays</p><p><strong>Info:</strong> 570-823-1875.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘More than just a love story,’ Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre presents ‘West Side Story’