West Side Story

West Side Story has to be one of the most perfect pieces of musical theatre, the score is sublime and the story as relevant now as it was when Shakespeare first told the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The music and storytelling were in very safe hands with Newcastle Musical Theatre Company who did an outstanding job in the shows portrayal.

Sandra Laider’s direction and interpreted original choreography provided perfect storytelling, the cast were confident in their portrayal of every character and every dance routine making this production fit to stand alongside the professional line up in the Theatre Royal’s calendar of events. I can’t imagine how many hours of dance rehearsal went into those fabulous routines. From the very first notes of the prologue the 19 piece orchestra under the direction of Malcolm Moffatt were excellent, they absolutely brought the score to life and made a fabulous sound. There were many highlights to the production but one of the most outstanding for me was the Dream Sequence in Act 2, an absolutely beautiful piece of theatre. The sound throughout was clear and well balanced. The set worked well to swiftly move from one scene to another.

There were no weak links in the casting of this show, every principal and company member was completely invested in making the production a delight to watch. Newcomer to NMTC Kaie Bosworth as Tony gave a strong performance and his interaction with the rest of the Jets and reluctant confrontations with the Sharks were well portrayed. He showed a real tenderness towards Maria who was played by Savannah McKenzie on the evening I attended (Amy Reid at some perfomaces). Savannah had one of the purest voices I think I’ve ever heard, absolutely stunning, and so perfect for the role. The Jets led by Matthew Maguire as Riff and James Forster as Action worked really well as a unit and had a believable camaraderie between them. All of their numbers were strong in both singing and dancing and the light relief of the “Officer Krupke” number was a definite audience pleaser. Another newcomer to NMTC was Georgia Wilkins as Anita, I understand this is Georgia’s first principal role and she played it perfectly, another stand out performance. “I Feel Pretty” and “America” with the Shark girls were great numbers and “ A Boy like That” had so much passion from both performers. The Sharks led by Zach Hardy as Bernardo and Conor Polley as Chino gave convincing portrayal of the minority group trying to maintain their belief and culture.  The “Adults” in West Side Story often get overshadowed but we had actors in this production who made these roles their own, I was particularly moved by Mark Stenton as “Doc”. Susie Duxbury as the “Somewhere Girl” gave a beautiful rendition of the song, perfectly accompanying the dancing. I could go on mentioning individual stand out performances but suffice it to say that there were many and as a company it made for a strong cast and a strong production. The dancing throughout the production was so good and musically it was top notch. 

Congratulations to Sandra, Malcolm and their support team for a superb production, the hard work definitely paid off.

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