West Side Story (tour)

The Jets and the Sharks in this touring production know how to click their
fingers and strut arrogantly. Which, apart from the consistently powerful
and intelligent support from the band and two outstanding moments in each
act, is all there is positive to say about this otherwise feeble and
lacklustre production. Even worse, all that the few moments of on-stage excellence do is highlight the poverty of the rest of the show.

With its strong blend of social commentary, memorable tunes, exciting ensemble
choreography and sparkling lyrics, West Side Story is a gift for any half-way decent cast. As one of the great musicals, it borrows
the plot from Romeo and Juliet and transfers it to the violent
streets of New York’s West Side, which American and Puerto Rican gangs used
as their battleground in the late 1950s.

Here, Tony, ex-leader of the American Jets, falls in love with Maria, sister
to the Puerto Rican Sharks’ main man: Bernardo. Having tried to remove
himself from gang life, Tony attempts to stop a knife fight, but when
Bernardo kills his best friend Riff, Tony in turn, kills his lover’s
brother. Add a pair of racist policemen, and you have a show which has as
much to say today as it did half a century ago. Perhaps even more.

The production’s problems are not immediately apparent, as the band are well
rehearsed and the pre-curtain overture positively buzzes with tension and
adrenalin. But then on come Riff and the Jets.

You would have thought that an ability to sing out strongly would be a
prerequisite. Both Julien Essex-Spurrier as Riff and Norman Bowman as Tony
have pleasant voices, but they simply don’t have the power to do the songs
justice. Individual cast members are not exactly slow or untidy on their
feet either – as the tension between Essex-Spurrier and Steven-John
Tokaya as Bernardo in the climactic knife fight shows. It’s just that it
might help if they were all in time with the same beat.

That said the big dance scene when the gangs meet at the social club and
Tony first sees Maria, is lively and thrilling, while the couple’s first kiss is a
beautifully paced piece of dance theatre. The show-stopping “America” by the
female Puerto Ricans led by Anita (Emma Clifford) is wickedly funny and
clearly sung but it still lacks power. And by then it’s too late to save
the show anyway.

Thom Dibdin (reviewed at the Edinburgh Playhouse)

To read a review of this production from its West End run, click here.