West Side Story in Estonian

We had barely unpacked in Tallinn when I noticed ‘West Side Story’ was playing at the city’s magnificent opera house. 

Rodney would rather have a fork in his eye than be dragged to yet another musical with me. Cautiously, I broached the idea of attending. The opera house, after all, was on our must-see list. 

The multi-generational audience was incredibly well-behaved. No late arrivals or phones in sight, the latter particularly impressive in the country that invented Skype.

Who cared that it was being performed in Estonian? It’s not like I don’t know the show’s songbook well. 

Except this wasn’t quite Leonard Bernstein’s musical. Screens carried Google translations alongside the stage, confirming we weren’t imagining anything.

At the interval, we discussed the artistic license taken. 

“Do you remember a rape in West Side Story?” Neither of us could.

“Or a Jets or Sharks gang member named Trump?” Nope.

We agreed it was way too beautiful an evening in Tallinn for politics.