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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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West Side Story
Sutton Arts Theatre
***** COULD it be? Yes, it could. Something's
coming, something good . . . and it has arrived in triumphal style
in Sutton Coldfield. A huge cast and an orchestra bigger than most professional touring musicals can muster, took on perhaps the most iconic and difficult musical in the theatrical repertoire, and won handsomely. This was a quality production from start to
finish with the 28 youngsters making up the Puerto Rican Sharks and
Polish-American Jets so convincing as 1960’s New York gangs in a turf
war that you would hardly have been surprised had fights been breaking
out backstage. As with all musicals West Side Story needs strong
leads, particularly as every song is so well known, and here Tony and
Maria are both superb. George Stuart has a fine voice with a good range,
particularly in the high registers, and is believable as the ex-Jet who
has grown out of gangs and even has a job, as a delivery boy for Doc’s
drug store. Phebe Jackson as Maria
not only manages
Leader of the Jets is
Riff, all strutting and bravado from Maison Kelley, who takes on Riff’s
macho songs such as the Jet Song
with a suitable swagger and leads his gang in the light-hearted
Gee, Officer Krupke
scene.
Richard Haines as Bernardo, the leader of the
Sharks, looks the part, tall and brooding. The Sharks' men don’t get to
do any singing apart from chorus numbers at the dance and during the
dream ballet sequence but Haines does the angry young man bit
beautifully and his fateful fight with Riff has a look of mutual hatred
and authenticity about it, which, unless they were sorting it out in the
car park afterwards, was good acting. Sarah Haines as the
flighty Anita, Bernardo’s girl, puts her heart and soul into
America, one
of several excellent dance numbers in the show. But she really comes into her own in the bitter
duet with Maria as we head for the inevitable, heart-rending conclusion.
There is no happy ending in this one. She really does spit
out the words of A boy Like That
before being overtaken and finally joining in the sad duet of
resignation, I have a love. There is good support
from James Mateo-Salt as Action who tries to keep the Jets together and
Cool
after the fateful fight and from Jacob Kholi as Chino, the boy Bernardo
has chosen to marry Maria, along with Emily Armstrong as Anybody’s, the
tomboy wannabe gang member. And among the four adults in the cast Barrie
Atchison is a believable, despairing Doc trying to keep the peace. And then there is the excellent chorus of the rest of the gang members and their girls who being enormous vibrancy and life to the stage in the dance and chorus numbers. That they managed
avoiding bumping into each other - even using the full Sutton Arts stage
there is not a lot of room for 28 bodies - must be down to choreographer
Anna Forster. West Side Story
demands a lot of dance numbers which have to look good if the show is to
succeed and she has drilled her charges well. The dancing was slick,
more complex and difficult than you expect from non-professional dancers
and even the obligatory dream ballet sequence in the second act worked
as well as you could hope for. Even in the original production that
scene never seemed to quite sit comfortably with the rest, but at least
Forster gave it some meaning. It is rare in amateur shows for dancing to be
memorable, at least for the right reasons, but here it played its full
part in an enjoyable show. West Side Story is also about the music, and
performance licence conditions dictate the minimum size of orchestra
which meant if you wante
So the orchestra were banished to the tea room
next door and the sound relayed, which is not ideal, but needs must, and
not only did it work but they produced a very professional performance
of what is a very familiar Bernstein score. Not only that but I
understand opening night was the first performance with the full
orchestra – if you hadn’t been told you would never have known. The set was simple, a collection of flats
designed by John Islip with artwork of 1960’s New York streets from Mark
Nattras, with hints of smoke drifting across when needed, while David
Ashton and Richard Pardoe-Williams have done a fine job with the
lighting design to create both atmosphere and incorporate travel spots. There were a few minor issues with sound on the
opening night, hardly surprising with so many radio mikes on stage and a
first run through with an orchestra next door, but a few tweaks will no
doubt solve those for the rest of the run. Scene changes, incidentally, were fast and
carried out with great efficiency by the cast Director Dexter Whitehead, who also took on the role of racist detective Schrank, has done a wonderful job of squeezing this big cast, all singing, all dancing musical on to a small stage and his young cast have rewarded him with some cracking performances which left the audience caring about their characters. Even professionally productions of West Side
Story do not come around too often, a touring version was at The New
Alexandra Theatre last spring and there was a previous tour in 2000,
while amateur productions are as rare as hen’s teeth, so it is a matter
of catch it while you can - and if you catch this one you won’t be
disappointed. When you see your favourite musical taken on by
an amateur company, especially one with no recent history of musicals,
then you enter the auditorium with a mix of interest and trepidation to
see what they have done with it – and they have done it proud. It runs
to Saturday, June 20. Roger Clarke
11-06-15 |
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a
convincing Spanish accent but has a lovely, clear soprano voice hitting
the high notes with ease. Their duets in 