West Side Story

It’s always a pleasure to see a production by the talented group of young people of the Youth Section and this was no exception. They’ve been Hebrews, revolutionaries in France and various types of animal but only once before have they been able to play characters of their own age.

There again, they have few opportunities to do so. Prior to this show’s opening in 1957, teenagers had been seen only in the Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney and early Elvis Presley eras and they were films rather than stage musicals. “West Side Story”, however, broke new ground in its description of rivalries between New York gangs, the sort of immigration issues which still exercise the mind of Mr. Trump almost 60 years later and their resultant subsequent tragedies. Only “Show Boat” and, to a lesser extent, “South Pacific” had mentioned racialist issues and, whilst “Carousel” could be said to be all about life and death, it involves much less violence.  The love story here has all the charm of its many predecessors but without their happy endings whilst the gloomy-doomy tales of “Les Mis” and such were still some years away.

These youngsters from (the original) York seized this rare opportunity with all the energy and enthusiasm you might expect.  As ever, the principals were well cast with Rob Fisher giving another fine performance as Tony and I also enjoyed Amelia Cook as Anita, a role which can easily be taken for granted but which is nevertheless an important one. The part of Maria was shared and Catherine Brough acted and sang well on the night I attended.  It’s well known that Bernstein’s music is far from easy but the singers, backed by a fine 14-piece orchestra, made light work of its difficulties. Clearly, this was the result of some hard work in rehearsals as was the case with the dancing, which is, of course, an essential part of this show.  The fight scene which culminates in the deaths of Riff and Bernardo at the end of Act 1 was particularly realistic, whilst the “Officer Krupke” number made the most of what in this show is a rare comedy opportunity.

The dance at the gym made for a rather cluttered stage but you can do little else when all the members of the two gangs plus their girls need to be there. It’s the same at the very end as they all witness Tony’s shooting but in this case many of the cast entered from the two sides of the auditorium. I have to say, however, that I found this a little distracting when I would have preferred to focus on the tragedy on stage. The youngsters were well supported by the adult members of the cast who, youth production or not, are essential to provide the contrast and then credibility in offering their greater experience of life. Rob Davies as Doc gave a very sincere performance in attempting to offer a calming influence but I was less sure that co-respondent shoes for the New York cop were in character or even the correct period. 

Looking back over the group’s previous programmes, I see that, for obvious reasons, few of the original members remain but their successors continue to uphold the high standards which have always been set.                         

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