"A wonderful and wonderfully produced entertainment"

West Side Story

Each year, the Lent term musical provides a measure of the health and vitality of the Drama and Music Departments. Recent successes include ‘Les Misérables’, ‘The Sound of Music’ in 2009 and Godspell in 2008. This year's production - ‘West Side Story’ - was greeted each evening with quite extraordinary enthusiasm and punctuated by frequent and loud applause.

That this musical, first performed nearly 50 years ago, can still achieve such a response from a modern audience is first and foremost a testament to the genius of Leornard Bernstein. His meld of hard hitting, complex, 50’s big band jazz rhythms and contemporary Latin-American beat music, energises every element of this powerful story and underpins the driving balletic choreography that Jerome Robbins created for stage and screen. Finally, Sondheim’s narrative - by today’s standards, of course, constrained and occasionally obscure (who, now, knows what a ‘zip gun’ is or uses the euphemism ‘social disease’) - remains convincing.

The story, of course, closely echoes that of Romeo and Juliet. Two youths from rival gangs who fight for their love amidst the hate and violence from their respective gangs. Written in 1957, it remains a classic to this day with brilliant composition that combines Latin music with modern Jazz.

So, the music is very important indeed and the orchestra - a mix of students, staff and a few additional supporters - produced, under Neil Matthews' direction, a peerless performance and the cast responded by giving of their very best.

And they were very good indeed for this tale of love and death amongst American and Puerto Rican street gangs makes enormous demands upon its performers. In this production - thanks in no small measure to the influence of Hurst's Director of Drama Nicholas Beeby and choreographer Nicky Berkeley - music, song, dance and dialogue merged seamlessly to deliver and exceptional and quite exhilarating performance.

Invidious then to pick out individuals but special mention must be made of Amie Shouler (Anita), Dominique Hawken (Maria) and to Charlie Finnamore (Tony). The song ‘Gee, Officer Krupke’ (Krupke played by Jonas Truneh) delighted with subtle undertones and entendres and gave all of ‘The Jets’ a well-deserved opportunity to please the audience.

The principal set, too, was quite exceptional, detailed, authentic and dense; it really gave one the feel of a grimy, run down west side of Manhattan.

In short, all the classic elements combined in this production to make it a classic of its kind. A wonderful and wonderfully produced entertainment setting a tough benchmark for future productions to equal or surpass. Congratulations to all involved.

To read more about recent drama productions at Hurst, please click here