West Side Story

Packemin's production of the Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents classic West Side Story was a strong traditional portrayal of the Romeo and Juliet themed musical.

Directed by Craig Stewart, the show lived up to the expectations of highly skilled dance routines, beautifully sung ballads and passionately acted dialogue. Being sixty years since the original stage production, Stewart's version rarely wavered from the way the show is traditionally done. One difference, though, was the colourful ballet dream sequence performed to the number “ Somewhere”, with both Sharks and Jets gang members dancing together in harmony in a contemporary style routine, with the song subsequently sung after the main ballet by Maria, Tony and a “Child” (sung with heart by Stella Barahona), with its meaning really left open to your own interpretation.

Peter Hayward and a superb orchestra led the show musically. Playing the Bernstein score with ease, they almost felt like an extra character in the show.

Choreography is a very large part of West Side Story. Cameron Mitchell and Craig Nhobbs had the cast display some exciting Jazz routines, which they all handled well. Stand out numbers were “America”, lead by an outstanding performance by Rowena Villar as Anita, and “Gee Officer Krupke”, deserving a special mention, with the Jets crew offering up some very comedic dance moves. Hard to keep your eyes off in this number was Levi Burrows as Action, leading the song with gusto and selling it with his facial and body expression.

The lead cast all had really strong moments both vocally and physically.

The professional performers Packemin used in this production were Elisa Colla (Les Misérables) as Maria, Rowena Vilar (Avenue Q) as Anita, Luigi Lucente (Dog Fight) as Tony and Tony Cogin (ABC's Dance Academy) as Doc.

Elisa had some lovely moments and really showed the naivety and vulnerability the character of Maria needed. She acted and sang the duet “Somewhere” beautifully. In scenes with Anita, though, she seemed overpowered, even when trying to get her point across in the number “I have a love”, where a greater sense of balance needed to be achieved.

Rowena Vilar was the stand out performer in the show for me. Her portrayal of the passionate Anita was so electric and fiery; she held the stage and audience with her presence alone. I've always loved the number “America” and she amazed with her vocals and movement. Praise in this number must also go to Stephanie Gray as Rosalia, one of the Shark girls, who fed off Rowena's brilliance and matched the seasoned performer's intensity. The chemistry between Anita and Bernardo, played by Julian Kuo, was perfect in the few moments they shared together on stage.

Julian was also a stand out and commanded his Sharks gang from the opening number, although this wasn't matched by the rival gang leader Riff, played by Jonathan Nash Daly. Jonathan's dancing was a highlight though, in all numbers he was in, bringing a lot of masculinity to them, which some the other Jets gang members couldn’t quite match.

Luigi Lucente played Tony with a lot of feeling, really showing in the character the difference of being part of a gang and standing alone. In his scenes with Maria there just didn't seem to be that sense of first time love, especially in the number “Maria”. Luigi seemed nervous in this number on opening night and the softer singing and high notes were barely audible. The passion in his performance really shone through, though, in the second act when he heard the news that Maria had been killed by Chino.

The supporting cast was lead by Tony Cogin as Doc. Even though he doesn't get a lot of stage time, many levels are apparent in his dialogue, particularly in the scene when Doc is giving Tony the devastating news his love has been killed.

Neil Shotter's set design was effective in creating the atmosphere of the show. From the moving balcony for the two lovers to sing their duet to the revolving truck for Maria's bedroom and Doc's store, it really helped transport you to the musical’ss world.

Packemin have presented a very entertaining and powerful production of this classic musical. The cast and crew have given their all to transport this romantic tragedy to the Riverside Theatre's audiences.

James Russell

Photography by Grant Leslie