West Side Story

West Side Story - the “modern” version of Romeo and Juliet.  This masterpiece of musical theatre mirroring the couples ill-fated romance is as pertinent today, and as dramatic and compelling as ever.  Leonard Bernstein’s magnificent musical score and Stephen Sondheim’s magical lyrics continue to resonate with audiences young and old alike.

At every level this production oozed quality, class and professionalism, leaving the audience totally enthralled. This outstanding company delivered a superb piece of entertainment to sell out audiences, which is so pleasing to see.

From the outset the introduction of the “Jets” and “Sharks” moved quickly onto electrifying number after number, driving pace, energy and emotion that continued throughout the whole show.   

Leading the rival gangs “Riff” (Alex Wright) gave an impressive performance as did James Pegg in the role of “Bernardo”. Both delivered aggression and power of movement, never once losing their mastery of the stagecraft the roles demanded in leading the “Jets” and “Sharks” who - whenever they met on stage - generated a palpable tension of immense quality.

In the role of “Tony” Chris Mooney gave a superb performance with the right level of chemistry alongside “Maria” (Lizzie Wlodarczyk). Both have outstanding vocals and they truly delighted the audience. This highly talented duo delivered the show's big numbers, including “Maria”, “Tonight”, “One Hand, One Heart” and “I Feel Pretty” with such beautiful precision to match their high-quality acting performances making their relationship totally credible.

A stunning “Anita” played with style by Natalie Bigger gave an outstanding performance from start to finish.  Her characterisation and delivery were superb, with exceptional vocals and choreography. 

There were also excellent performances from Jack Watts as “Chino”, Ruby Paechter as “Action”, Matthew Leakey as “Diesel”, Landon Crowther as “A-Rab”, Lucy Evans as “Velma”, Louisa Collett as “Rosalia”, Rosie Hallam as “Anybodys” and “Baby John” superbly played by the young Jasper Adams Mead. Brilliant characterisations from everyone, with strong delivery through lib, song and dance.

Other excellent roles playing “The Adults” were Martin Isbister as “Doc”, Dave Collins as “Lt Schrank”, Andre Stolarski as “Officer Krupke” and Dave Harris as “Glad Hand”.  Each of these experienced actors brought every inch of humour and emotion into the piece.

Sadly it’s not possible to mention to everyone, however, whilst including the most brilliant principal line up, this production also have the most accomplished company who,  in their own individual way, stayed true to character in each and every single scene.  The emotion that each and every single member of the cast brought to the stage must leave you all feeling totally exhausted after every performance.

The direction and choreography were outstanding, with such pace, as highly energised dance numbers demonstrated incredible footwork of amazing precision creating moves that swept around the stage and the auditorium. Fight scenes of excellent realistic quality also helped in telling the story so well.  Choreographed and executed with such precision.    

The incredible set was used to great effect, as were entrances and exits utilised in the auditorium – these all enhanced the production by enabling the cast to enter and exit scenes like they were literally “slipping in and out of the shadows” – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cast of over 40 people enter and exit scenes in the blink of an eye!  

The lighting and sound were outstanding.  Clarity of diction and song is crucial in story telling and you can never rely on the fact that people will either know the story or have heard the music before.  Every single word spoken and note sung was as clear as a bell – from the youngest performer on stage through to full company numbers.  Delivery of dialogue was never garbled – it was delivered at just the right pace with such clarity.  The lighting effects were stunning, and I particularly loved the back projection images.

Sensational company vocals delivered full justice to the wonderful Bernstein score with a superb well-balanced 19 piece orchestra. Not only was it a sight to behold seeing a 19 piece orchestra in the “pit”, but the sound they made was incredible!  The balance of sound was excellent, and they never drowned out the performance on stage.  I would love to have had the chance to just sit and listen (and watch) the orchestra – it was simply the BEST sound!

This was a magnificent production from a hugely talented company.  Thank you all for a magnificent evening of absolutely top class entertainment.  This production would be worthy of gracing any West End stage without a doubt!

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