West Side Story
West Side Story at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Note: This production first ran at the Prince Edward Theatre from 6 October 1998 to 16 January 1999. The cast has changed since the writing of this review. For current cast details, please see the listing entry. If you have seen the current cast and would like to send in your comments for posting on this page, please email us.
After a fourteen year absence, the innovative, Romeo and Juliet-inspired, street gang musical is back on the London stage. Back with Jerome Robbins original choreography and direction, Irene Sharraff s original costume designs, Oliver Smith s original sets, and even the show s book writer, since the whole project has been supervised by Arthur Laurents. All of which would seem to signal that director Alan Johnson has looked at the seminal Broadway production and decided “if it ain t broke, don t fix it”.
To judge it purely on that basis, he d be right. On the Prince Edward’s stage, most of the action still ticks along nicely – Stephen Sondheim s well-crafted lyrics and Leonard Bernstein’s avant-garde score tug at the heart strings, the outfits look the business, and Smith’s backdrops are once again an effective reminder of the banality of the old West Side tenements. There are some thrilling renditions, too, of those theatrical staples ‘Tonight’, ‘I Feel Pretty’ and ‘Gee, Officer Krupke’.
However, where this incarnation of the 1957 show could do with a slight rethink, is in the casting. Granted, the newcomers who play the tragic lovers are decent enough – Katie Knight-Adams makes for a mellifluous Maria, and David Habbin is an appealing Tony. When it comes to the spikier roles, though, Graham MacDuff, as Latino gang leader Bernardo, and Edward Baker-Duly as white trash counterpart Riff, are just plain disappointing. Neither has much in the way of stage presence, and both lack the vocal punch to match their on-stage fisticuffs. Anna-Jane Casey as Anita, falls short of the mark too; she carries the heavy burden of one of the musical stage’s greatest numbers, “America”, but clearly strains under the effort.
Finally, Jerome Robbins demanding dance numbers would sparkle more if the hoofers were a tad sharper than the ones in Alan Johnson s company; whether it s in the thrusting balletic-style duels or that marvellously choreographed dream ballet sequence.
Tighten up the show on these counts, though, and you ve got something that ll more than hold its own against those other young pretenders currently on offer in the West End.
Richard Forrest
