Review: West Side Story at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

Jun 8 2009 Chester Chronicle

WEST SIDE STORY/Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, June 16-27

REVIEW/by Peggy Woodcock

THERE are musicals and then there is West Side Story, the grandmother of them all.

It was groundbreaking when it hit the London stage 50 years ago. Now it's back with a fresh lick of paint, as effervescently great as it ever was.

This anniversary production of the Broadway classic, the famous, familiar take on the Romeo and Juliet tragic love story, is at the Regent, Stoke-on-Trent, next week. Don't miss it. Fifty years on, it's pure joy.

It's my favourite musical of all time so I jumped at the chance to see a preview and meet director Joey Mckneely, who worked with Jerome Robbins, the show's original choreographer. He waved away any talk of it being dated.

“We make it part of today's generation, keeping the energy of youth. The choreography is timeless. We just make the young dancers move faster and jump higher.

“And they dance as well as act their characters. The routines are not just steps. They move the story and express the emotions of this hugely emotional show.”

He has fed this philosophy into a show with the pulsating music of Bernstein and urgent lyrics of Sondheim and given it that extra, modern edge. The drama, laughter, tears, blood and guts is there, just up a notch.

So to downtown Manhattan and the finger-clicking opening as the New York Jets and Puerto Rican Sharks square up, point blades, and dance to that swooping, unsettling, disharmonious yet magnificent score. This was real dancing, real steps, not just funky movements.

It blazed the gang confrontations, and those girly scenes when Anita and friends celebrated America in a swirl of fancy skirts. There was only one problem. I wanted more, more Sharks, more Jets, more girlfriends. Numbers just seemed a little sparse.

But then Tony and Maria, rebellious youngsters from opposing camps, filled the stage with their love story, and those beautiful songs, Tonight, I Have a Dream, There's a Place for Us. You know it's doomed but the power to move and drain an audience is as strong here as ever, to the final gunshot.

The central performances I saw were excellent, Ryan Silverman's nice guy Tony and Sofia Escobar's spirited Maria having real rapport. And they got great support from a strong, committed, full-on cast, always raising the emotional bar.

I loved it, but later had to ask Mckneely about criticisms that the show celebrates a gang, knife culture in a way that is unwelcome today.

Turning it into a positive, he said: “The youngsters can see the violence and realise they don't have to choose it. The show teaches that people need to connect, not hate. Today's youth often don't know how to feel remorse or anything else. The show teaches emotions.”

West Side Story can be seen at the Regent Theatre from June 16-27. Ring the box office on 0870 060 6649 or visit www.ambassadortickets.com/stoke.