Andy Coxon and Gabriela Garcia in West Side Story at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Picture: Richard Davenport of The Other Richard
West Side Story continues at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester until 25 May 2019.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
As though it was only yesterday, I recall my English teacher strolling into our classroom and announcing: “Boys,” (sadly, ours was a single sex school), “I have just been down to London and seen a show that will probably ruin every other visit to the theatre for me. It was that good.” He had just seen the first London production of West Side Story.
The title, at the time, meant nothing to us, but we were impressed by a visit to London – an impossibly exotic location for us provincials – and only much later did we discover what he meant about the power of the piece he had seen.
Manchester, of course, has a unique place in the history of West Side Story: the UK opening was at the Opera House in 1957 before transferring to Her Majesty’s Theatre later the same year.
So what do we have with this new production at the Manchester Royal Exchange, directed by Sarah Frankcom?
Well. it’s a big cast. Seats had to be removed to accommodate Aletta Collins’ choreography. Echoes of Jerome Robbins’ original remain, but essentially we watch the movement with fresh eyes. The problem is that the original is indelibly impressed on the retinas of most of the audience. And I did not have the feeling that anything much was being added.
Gabriela Garcia, as Maria, plays the ingénue with endearing innocence. Her voice may not be quite up to the (admittedly exigent) demands of Bernstein’s music, but her acting is affecting, particularly in the final death scene.
Opposite her is Andy Coxon, playing Tony. His tenor is better suited to the role than Garcia’s soprano, although he looks far too nice to have ever been a member of a violent street gang.
Anita must be the role that most female actors would want to play. She ranges from sexy, to motherly, to confidante and leads on some of the most thrilling numbers. Jocasta Almgill draws the eye whenever she is on stage in a performance of considerable charisma.
Arthur Laurents’ dialogue creaks more than a little now. The character with the heaviest burden is Anybodys, played by Emily Langham. Indeed, even when I saw the film version in the 60s, expressions like ‘keep cool, daddy-o’ and ‘OK buddy-boy’ were making me squirm in my seat. Surely, an update is needed here, rather than the choreography?
Sondheim’s lyrics, on the other hand, continue to sparkle. The Jets’ big number ‘Gee, Officer Krupke’ is lively in performance and gives more members of the ensemble the opportunity to shine. It was the social commentary that took the the piece well beyond the boundaries of the conventional musical of the time.
Anna Fleischle’s minimalist set – all movable scaffolding towers and flying platforms – has the benefit of throwing attention on the performances while still hinting at the fire escapes and balconies of New York’s West Side. The problem is, it leaves huge amounts of space to be filled by actors singing alone and in duet.
Given that the orchestra is required to play in so many styles, and are located in a detached sound booth, musical director Mark Aspinall with assistant Tom Chester extract a very immediate performance. They received a deserved cheer at the close.
Other theatre revivals of West Side Story are planned for this year and a Steven Spielberg version is scheduled to begin shooting. Clearly, there is much life left in Shakespeare’s tragedy and surely, Robbins, Bernstein, Sondheim and Laurents – should be carved on any Mount Rushmore of musical theatre.
Mike Tilling
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