West Side Story

They are called Trinity Players and I am pleased they have not put the word “AMATEUR” in their title as tonight’s performance was far from AMATEUR, in fact it was more professional than many so called professional shows.

From the second the orchestra struck up you knew this was going to be a night to remember and it certainly was, it was electric from start to finish.  There was not any weak link in the whole show and everyone pulled all the stops out to make it not just a great show but a fantastic show.

All the principal characters should be very proud of themselves whether they had one line or many lines they worked as a team to make this show work. This of course is a modern day take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and for this to work you have to have two very good leading characters. Well in this production they had in the guise of Dan Barnes as Tony and Libby Buick as Maria, they both looked the part and acted and sang their socks off to bring both parts to life. I especially liked their “Tonight”, it was breathtaking and I would think everyone in the audience lived every breath they took and every note they sang.

Of course they are rival gangs in this as there was in the original story and both gangs had a leader, casting the parts of Riff and Bernardo was, I would think, a very easy task to do as Dan McCloskey as Riff and Ross Gilby as Bernardo were perfect, they sang, danced and yes fought their way through this show with a brilliance that would not look out of place on any West End stage. Bernardo has a girl Anita, who realises that her friend, and Bernardo’s sister has become very friendly with Tony, this part was in the very capable hands of Leigh-Ann James who was able to dance and sing her heart out. 

There are far too many parts in this piece to mention them all but mention must be made of Kieran Corrigan as Action and James Florance as Baby John. They were able to get every bit of emotion from these parts whether it be comedy,  tragedy or anything in between, they really pull out all the stops. I also enjoyed the fight section, this was done so well with superb choreography.

 I could go on and on about this show but space limits all my comments, needless to say this was one fantastic show, my praise goes out to everyone involved.                                      

 

 

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