WEST SIDE STORY
Performed at Luton Sixth Form College - April 2002
Ever since Natalie wood and Rita Moreno strutted their stuff in the film version of Leonard Bernstein’s 'West Side Story' in the early sixties, I have been firmly in the camp of those who studiously steer clear of any local offerings of this landmark musical.
If I didn’t like it then, at a time when I was waving a considerable number of teenage flags for Miss Wood, I was hardly likely to fall for its dubious charms in the less promising venues of community colleges or school halls.
That disappointing youthful memory of high voltage aggressive dancing lingers, but performed with energy and inventiveness the show has the power to engage and surprise. And in Stuart Farrar’s direction of the Colin Smith Youth Musical Theatre’s version last week I was engaged in this gangland rivalry story to a degree that I never thought possible.
Set against Ned Lawton’s impressive multi-levelled set, a highly gifted team of young actors brought the tender love story, wrapped in teenage ethnic hostility, to powerful life.
Dan Nolloth may not be the greatest singer ever to set foot on a local stage but the dramatic qualities he brought to the part of smitten ex-Jet leader Tony were a joy to behold.
And if Mr Nolloth achieved a level of stillness and sincerity in his character which is rarely seen in local musicals, he was well matched by the equally moving portrayal of Libby Shepherds Maria, sister of the rival gang leader. The love these two young people felt for each other, beautifully realised by David Houghton’s evocative lighting, gave this absorbing production a riveting heart. I also have nothing but praise for Dale Stacey’s superb performance as the swaggering, new boss on the block, Riff.
Looking every inch a rebel without fifties cause, this young actor led an astonishingly talented Jet team with considerable skill and style. That team reached new heights after Riff’s demise with a stunningly inventive rendition of Gee Officer Krupke, and, in such delightful ensemble playing, special mention must go to Lee Gauntlett’s angst ridden Action, Deborah Bodsworth’s spiky Anybodys, and Leon Witter’s sharply defined Baby John. Having seen young Mr Witter before I am beginning to think you could bottle his dramatic energy and light Blackpool illuminations with it.
In a rival Shark team not so well served by Bernstein and his writers, Toks George had the necessary meanness as a gang leader Bernardo but neither he nor Michael Abel’s Chino had the energy or pace of the best of the Jets, and, apart from Maria, only Natale Beckles’ intelligent performance as Anita really stood out.
This team were at their best with an invigorating rendition of America, a number in which Megan Farrar’s Rosalia briefly shone.
There were not many approaching pensionable age in this production but of those that were Richard Garrett, with all the doleful charm of a shifty mongrel who has mislaid his bones, took a considerable chunk of the acting honours for his quintessential New York detective of dubious morals.
This 'West Side Story' was not perfect. The dream ballet sequence with the divided focus was poorly staged, the uneasy love relationship between Anita and Bernardo did not readily emerge, and some decidedly wobbly and incalcitrant flats marred the staging of a few internal scenes.
But under Simon Router’s sharp musical direction, Lynda Haxell and Jackie Houghton’s slick and imaginative choreography and Mr Farrar’s working of the young actors, the company gave us a show to savour.
We were simultaneously drawn into its dramatic heart and knocked back to admire its musical verve. And Rita Moreno and Natalie Wood, for all those teenage flags, never achieved that.
Roy Hall