LILY JANIAK’S THEATER PICK

There’s that brilliant prologue, where insistent snaps, rakish horns and truculent choreography convey the rivalry between street gangs the Sharks and the Jets more viscerally than words ever could. There’s “Tonight,” whose every note surprises yet feels like destiny, the only possibility for Leonard Bernstein’s searching melody. There’s that blazingly colorful, mambo-fueled “Dance at the Gym,” burning with the contempt and bloodlust of opposing gangs, then the fervor of love at first sight.

In transposing the star-crossed love of “Romeo and Juliet” to a forbidden relationship between members of warring ethnic groups, “West Side Story” revolutionized musical theater in both form and content. Its 1957 premiere brought to Broadway the energy of city streets; the passion of a new, antiauthoritarian generation of youth; and the tension and vibrancy of colliding cultures, and generations of Broadway shows have stood on its shoulders.

Now, with Berkeley Playhouse’s production at Julia Morgan Theater, Bay Area audiences have a chance to appreciate the Tony-winning show on an intimate scale. Rachel Robinson directs a cast of 26.

“West Side Story”: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28; 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 1; 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2; 2 p.m. next Sunday, March 3. Through March 17. $20-$40. Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. 510-845-8542. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org

Ben Krantz Studio / Berkeley Playhouse Ana Paula Malagon (left), Vida Mae Fernandez and Alyssa Fredzess perform in “West Side Story.”