Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that the Lyric Opera’s production of West Side Story has been getting rave reviews. I won’t disagree, even though, with all that dancing, not a single tap is heard.

And, even though, according to the program, the lyrics Stephen Sondheim wrote for West Side Story (at age 25) are not among his favorite accomplishments. He has said “There aren’t any fantastic rhymes.” He has some knowledge in this area. He’s the one who rhymed “personable” with “coercin’ a bull” in You Could Drive a Person Crazy from Company.

In particular, Mikaela Bennett, as Maria, is tremendous. Her clear, crisp, booming voice fills the room. I think she received a deserved, long ovation, but I was sprinting, or at least my version of sprinting, for the exit as I didn’t want to be too late to fill out my evening by seeing the Art on theMart’s current nighttime spectacle, which I will call the River West Side Story.

Interestingly, a substantial number of people hurried up the aisles to the lobby at intermission, only to reverse direction after realizing that it wasn’t yet intermission, that the lights had dimmed to signal a scene change, and that there was, in fact, one song and one rather crucial moment left before the break.

Spoiler alert – I think Tony dies at the end of the show because Maria is crying uncontrollably and shouting out “Tony” over and over again as the lights go out, but the tall guy sitting in front of me blocked my view of that part of the stage, so Maria instead might have been lamenting the fact that The Music Man beat out West Side Story for the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1958. Tony, Tony, Tony!