"One Hand, One Heart" and one thrilling musical

Loving "West Side Story" can mean holding your breath and crossing your fingers at the start of any live staging of this totemic 1957 Broadway musical.

In the 5th Avenue Theatre's 50th-anniversary revival, you can start breathing again in the very first scene, as two street gangs — the (Puerto Rican) Sharks and the (Anglo-American) Jets — mark their turf with Jerome Robbins' thrilling choreography, set to Leonard Bernstein's matchless music.

And once that swingin'-est ode to street brotherhood, "The Jet Song," ends, and Louis Hobson as ex-Jets member Tony launches into the soaring reverie "Something's Coming," you can uncross your fingers, too.

Under the crackling direction of Bill Berry and tender musical care of conductor Ian Eisendrath, this exhilarating revival does not rethink "West Side Story."

Original director-choreographer Robbins' wall-to-wall dances are recreated down to the last swiveling hip and finger-snap by Bob Richard, and dispatched with panache and pizzazz by members of Seattle's Spectrum Dance Theater and other hot movers.

Martin Christoffel's set is a semi-abstract variation on the old fire-escape-and-tenement theme.

And with 43 performers onstage and 25 musicians in the pit, the show is as teemingly vibrant as its creators intended — yet more intimate than the 1961 movie edition.

So why does this primal fable still entrance many of us who grew up on it? Why, despite its trappings of faux '50s hipster talk and retro-pop sociology, is it still cool to subsequent generations?

Yes, it's a story about the power of young love and the power of social forces to crush love. But its main engine is Bernstein's score, a many-textured synthesis of bebopping jazz, Latin mambo, Broadway dazzle and sweeping symphonic motifs. And dig this: It has some of the best Broadway melodies ever, with witty/ecstatic lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Fully singing, dancing and acting that score, from the "Jet Song" to the elegiac reprise of "Somewhere," is a marathon effort.

In the show's book by Arthur Laurents, the Americanized, immigrant "Romeo and Juliet" saga requires interracial lovers rapturous of voice and spirit. Happily, the love connection between Hobson's vulnerable, vivid Tony and Maegan McConnell's invitingly girlish Maria, sparks the minute they spot each other across a crowded dance floor.

That love finds its voice in the ecstatic "Tonight" duet, deepens in the intimate exchange of vows in "One Hand, One Heart," and transcends earthly strife in the poignant ballad-ballet "Somewhere."

McConnell's secure, opera-trained soprano glides heavenward without strain, and she's a winsome charmer to boot. And those who've watched Hobson's progress, as a favored 5th Avenue leading man, will delight in his Tony's vibrancy and ardent rapport with McConnell's Maria.

Hobson's command of vocal dynamics and his ability to shape and sustain notes are evidenced by "Something's Coming," the ecstatic "Maria" and the ravishing romantic duets.

But some jitters were evident on opening night — a few cracks in the octave-leaping falsetto beyond Hobson's usual range, some initial stiffness in his acting that melts away later.

As Jets leader Riff, Michael D. Jablonski moves beautifully but could use an extra pinch of grit. And now and then, some fellow Jets waver off pitch.

No quibbles, though, with Manoly Farrell's Anita, doxy of Sharks captain Bernado (Miguel A. Romero). This role is a foolproof showcase for many a Latin actress who can sass and dance. The willowy Farrell makes it her own with goofy clowning in the "America" number, and by injecting raw emotion into "A Boy Like That," the post-rumble duet with Maria.

The pivotal gang fight is a marvel of balletic storytelling. But the dance summit of "West Side Story" is the soiree at the gym. Garbed in Lynda Salsbury's bright, slinky '50s suits and dresses, the dancers go at it like no teens ever have (or ever will) at any school dance, as the music surges, sizzles and the racial hostility escalates.

Here, and in every scene, Tom Sturge's magnificent lighting punches up a musical that, 50 years and counting, still can grab you good, daddy-o. How great to have it back with all jets firing.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com