NORTHPORT -- It may be a presidential election year, but the yard signs and bumper stickers cropping up in Northport these days are for an even more rancorous contest: the Jets vs. the Sharks.
The rival gangs of "West Side Story" will face off July 24-Aug. 3 as part of the Northport Community Arts Center's performance series.
The Oscar-winning musical is one of several the arts center has presented over the years. Others have been produced mostly by local talent, but the center is bringing in Theatre North TC to do the honors this time, said Norma Neve.
"We did the 'Sound of Music' last year and exhausted everybody. What was it -- 'The Boy Friend' before that?" recalled Neve, NCAC executive director. "People (in the village) are saying, 'You know what? We haven't had the boat in the water for two or three years and we want a year off.'"
That's good news for director Mike Kelly, whose Traverse City-based Theatre North is accustomed to taking its shows on the road. The company's weekend production of the small musical "Forever Plaid" drew big crowds at Northport last summer, he said.
Kelly has assembled the company's largest and youngest cast for "West Side Story," including 26 high school and college students from Traverse City and Northport. The edgy show -- a 1950s remake of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," with white and Puerto Rican gangs in New York subbing for the two feuding families-- stars Jody Kluck and Sarah Niven, both of Traverse City, as the star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria.
Kluck has been in all but a few Theatre North productions and is best known for his work in "The 1940s Radio Hour." He also has performed at the Old Town Playhouse.
"Tony is one of those legacy roles every guy wants," said Kluck, 26, a self-described "karaoke nut" and a drummer and singer with his family's band.
Niven, 20, attended the Boston Conservatory of Music and will study opera at Grand Valley State University in the fall. That makes her a natural for Leonard Bernstein's melodic but challenging music, said Music Director Tom Stokes.
"His score is not your typical musical theater score," Stokes said, referring to songs like "Tonight," "America," "Maria" and "Somewhere." "I think he had opera more in mind than a Broadway musical."
For Niven, a "huge fan" of the composer, playing the role of Maria is a fantasy-come-true.
"'West Side Story' was my favorite movie when I was 2 years old, so it's really funny that I got this part," the DeWitt native said. "We actually have family movies of me when I was little trying to dance with 'West Side Story.'"
Tickets for the show are $20 for adults and $10 for students at www.northportcac.org or 386-5001.
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