A '90S STORY STUCK IN THE '50S IN REVIVED 'WEST SIDE STORY'.

Byline: Daryl H. Miller Daily News Theater Critic

Arriving in Los Angeles at the beginning of an election year that promises to be dominated by concerns about gang violence and immigration, the touring revival of "West Side Story" - with its story of bloodshed between two ethnic gangs - hardly could be more timely.

Gasps and scattered sobs greeted the show's tragic ending at the Tuesday launch of a weeklong engagement at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, indicating the musical had delivered its stop-the-madness message, despite uneven acting, off-key singing, an uncohesive orchestra and an overall sense that this re-creation of Jerome Robbins' original 1957 staging is more preserved than alive. (You can almost smell the mothballs.)

Last October, this production played in Orange County to hostile reviews and some of the worst word-of-mouth this critic has ever heard. Fortunately, the show seems to have benefited from a key cast change (a new Tony) and time on the road.

This staging works best when everyone shuts up and starts moving. In its day, "West Side Story" broke ground for conveying so much of its story through dance, and it speaks most forcefully here when Robbins' original choreography is performed by the energetic company. (If nothing else, these kids sure can dance.)

The opening image of leaping, finger-snapping street toughs, for instance, feels as dangerous and thrilling as ever.

Still more compelling is the second-act dream ballet, in which lovers doomed by bloodshed between their gangs momentarily glimpse a perfect world in which everyone lives in harmony. The lovers float through balletic lifts and dips, mimicked by other couples in the background. At the climax, the dancers form a line, join hands and glide in perfect synchronicity.

One admires this production - helmed by Alan Johnson - for trying so hard to capture the old magic. But let's face it: That production is nearly 40 years old. Robbins' dances still speak forcefully, but Irene Sharaff's costumes - which put gang members in electric-colored jackets and ties for a neighborhood dance - feel dated. How about updating the context, dressing the youths in flannels and baggy pants? And how about tweaking the orchestrations - contemporizing the sound with additions of rap, rock and '90s jazz, as is done on the star-studded compilation "The Songs of 'West Side Story,' " due to hit record stores on Tuesday?

While we wait for that better production to come along, we can appreciate the supple, ethereal vocal work that Scott Carollo - as Tony, the doomed lover from a white street gang - brings to such songs as "Something's Coming," "Maria," "Tonight" and "One Hand, One Heart." We can be enchanted by the sweetness and naivete (if not always the vocal finesse) of Marcy Harriell as Maria, whose brother leads the rival Puerto Rican gang. And we can applaud the spunk with which Natascia A. Diaz attacks her role as the outspoken Anita, Maria's friend and would-be sister-in-law.

The off-key singing of much of the rest of the cast simply MUST be corrected, however. Ouch!

THE FACTS

The show: "West Side Story."

Where: Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena.

When: 8 p.m. today and Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday.

Running time: Two hours, 38 minutes; one intermission.

Tickets: $27.50 to $50, available at Ticketmaster outlets or by calling [phone].

Our rating: Three Stars

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PHOTO

Photo Scott Carollo stars as the ill-fated Tony in "West Side Story," at Pasadena Civic Auditorium.