West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.

West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.
Lyric Theatre, Sydney. Director: Joey McKneely. Musical Director: Donald Chan. Jerome Robbins’ original choreography recreated by Joey McKneely. July 4 to August 15, then touring.

Fifty years since Australian audiences first saw West Side Story, the balletic musical theatre reinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet, set amidst New York’s inter-racial gang wars, is indelibly etched on theatrical and cinematic consciousnesses.

Prior to rehearsals, director Joey McKneely told me that Jerome Robbins’ choreography is the DNA of West Side Story.

From the start of the evening, that DNA, recreated by McKneely, is evident in all its physicality and vibrance, danced with gusto and precision by a strong, young Australian ensemble. The strength, excitement and power of Robbins' classic choreography is a hallmark all night.

Early on, however, the singing and vocal energy doesn’t quite match up. The ‘Jets’ half of the male ensemble seems to lack the vocal fire-power to really nail When You’re a Jet.

Is it opening night nerves?

All that changes with the entry of Julie Goodwin, the undoubted vocal star, as Maria. And it isn’t just her singing; she raises the bar with Tonight and the whole show lifts vocally. The vocal stakes seem to shift for Josh Piterman’s Tony, too, and the relationship of the star-crossed lovers takes flight in all respects.

Alinta Chidzey’s fiery Anita sizzles from first meeting, dancing and acting up a Latino storm throughout, though on opening night she appears to be pushed, vocally, in the dramatic A Boy Like That.

Two mobile walls of skeletal metal tenement balconies and fire escape ladders, together with projected New York streetscapes and skylines, combine effectively with a minimal number of props to evoke all of the play’s bleak urban locations, and the smooth transitions between them.

Costumes clearly delineate the gangs; vibrant colours for the Latino Sharks and their girls, somewhat more subdued and uniform in tone and style for the Jets, though the costumes seem to have edged a little out of the show’s original 50s period.

If you’re casting your mind back to the previous Australian revival, toured, then re-toured around Australia, perhaps you’ll recall more mature, uniformly strong casts vocally, and, perhaps, a substantially larger orchestra.

Balancing this production against that one, what you most certainly get is a far younger cast, very credible in their roles. Even if Leonard Bernstein eventually recorded his extraordinary score with operatic voices and a full symphony orchestra, this production rightfully returns the focus of the show to the youthfulness of its original Broadway conception.

West Side Story is so familiar, that when I feel my eyes moistening at the show’s tragic end, I’m aware of the enduring freshness and power of this musical theatre classic.

Neil Litchfield

Photographer: Branco Gaica

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.