No way am I going to bury the lead in this review of META’s new production of “West Side Story,” which opened at the Lincoln Theatre last week. Some critics love to play with their readers and try to slowly build up to a thumbs up or thumbs down but I’m going to cut to the chase.

The production is wonderful. I entered the Lincoln from snowy streets on a wintry day in Mount Vernon and was transported into another world. The story of “Romeo and Juliet” was transformed by some of Broadway’s all-time greats – book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and...