When You’re a Jet

Two cast members from ‘West Side Story’ at the Walnut Street Theatre hail from Bucks County, Pa.

By: Sally Friedman

Jenny Lee Stern (above) from Bucks County joins the the Walnut Street Theatre’s production of West Side Story.

   By the time Jenny Lee Stern Ramos was a toddler, her family insists, she was already entertaining them. Visitors to the Sterns’ Doylestown, Pa., home also would find themselves a captive audience for the tiny child’s impromptu performances.
   "My Tinker Bell makeup kit would come out and I’d be performing," recalls Ms. Ramos, who has never stopped doing just that. To this day, the graduate of Central Bucks West High School, who was studying dance at the tender age of 3 at the Pebble Hill Church in Doylestown, still loves an audience. And she’s got one nightly at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre, where Ms. Ramos is playing the pivotal role of "Anybody’s" in the current production of the Leonard Bernstein/Jerome Robbins classic, West Side Story, running through July 24.

Bucks Countian Stanley Martin (left) as Luis, a Shark.

   "There’s just never been anything else I wanted to do," says the 5-foot-tall Doylestown native who entered the big time — at least for a young girl — when, at 11, she began performing at the Bucks County Playhouse. Those were the days of Annie and The King and I, and admittedly Ms. Ramos was smitten. Throughout her school years, that acting fervor was undiminished, and she credits Dr. Joseph Ohrt, her sixth grade music teacher, with being a particularly strong mentor.
   Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., turned out to be a less-than-perfect fit, and Ms. Ramos headed for the Big Apple and the theater program at New York University. And in one of her early classes in circus arts, she had a mishap that resulted in a broken foot.

   "It was the end of my academic career there," says the actress, who soon worked her way through the pain, ignored her doctor’s advice, and auditioned for a role in the Brazilian tour of Grease.
   "It was crazy, but it also got me a part, and it took me into another realm and a bigger pond," she says. "From there I moved to New York and began living the life of an actor."
   That life included numerous workshop productions and readings, and off-Broadway work that has been richly satisfying. But Ms. Ramos will also be the first to admit that the actor’s lot is not always an easy one.
   "There is great stress in always being performance-ready, and in endless auditioning and hoping… If I had a choice, I honestly wouldn’t be an actor, but this is not a choice. It’s like something is propelling me and won’t let me turn away."
   So now it’s the musical about young love, street gangs, loss and redemption that’s center stage in Ms. Ramos’ life. Married just a month ago to fellow actor Henrique Romeo Ramos, the bride has come through the rehearsal process of this very physical show exhausted and exhilarated.
   "My character, ‘Anybody’s,’ is actually going through a metamorphosis on stage, moving from a tomboy kid into a young woman whose eyes have seen a great deal," she says. "It’s a wonderful role, and I feel lucky to have it."
   And now, Jenny Lee Ramos is leaving the Great White Way behind her and making Philadelphia, and its growing theater scene, her home base.
   "My husband and I are thrilled to be here, and this is where we plan to stay," says Ms. Ramos, who was back last summer and fall working at the Bucks County Playhouse in Damn Yankees and Grease.
   "New York is wonderful — but so is Philadelphia. And it’s nice to be back where it all began."
   Another Bucks Countian, Stanley Martin, calls himself "the baby of the cast." He plays Luis, a member of the Sharks gang. Mr. Martin, 18, is a senior at Truman High School in Bristol, Pa.
   "I can’t remember when I wasn’t acting," says Mr. Martin, whose parents, Stanley and Pat, clearly paved the way.
   "My mom co-owns the Dance Conservatory in Levittown, and has been a choreographer. My dad gives voice lessons and founded Step 2 Productions with my mom. So I grew up with theater, and I loved it right away. It’s the best thing in my life."
   Being in West Side Story means Mr. Martin has to miss both his senior prom and his high school graduation ceremony. "For the last few weeks, I’ve basically only gone to school on Mondays, but it’s all been worth it," he says. "This experience has been terrific."
   A veteran of Romeo and Juliet, Carnival and various Christmas shows at Bristol Riverside Theatre, and of Hello Dolly, Damn Yankees and Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Bucks County Playhouse, this high school senior credits his Truman High drama coach, Gina Andriolli, with mentoring him and helping him to develop his craft.
   Getting a role in West Side Story has been a particular high. "I auditioned, made the first cut, then had three more call-backs," he says. "So when I finally got the call that I was in, I was pretty excited. I made some noise."
   And what’s next for this talented young Bucks Countian?
   In September, Mr. Martin begins a tour of West Side Story that will take him to Europe and Asia. "I guess it’s not a bad way to start the next chapter of my life," he says. "I’m off to see the world while I’m doing the thing I love best."
West Side Story continues at the Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St., Philadelphia, through July 24. Tickets cost $10-$65. For information, call (215) 574-3550. On the Web: www.wstonline.org