The latest Olivier award-winning production of classic musical West Side Story finally landed in Dublin last week as part of a limited run during its worldwide tour. The minute the curtain rolls up, it is clear why demand for this show has been so high. The live orchestra begin to play that famous score and the Jets start the show with those instantly recognisable clicks. The stage is set and the tension begins to rise.
The Jets wow the audience from the get-go with their stunning balletic routines, establishing the state of the ongoing gang warfare between themselves and the Puerto Rican Sharks. The dancing, as is to be expected from West Side Story, is incredible. Director and choreographer Joey McKneely stays true to the original style while adding intensity and realism during key climactic sequences. McKneely’s choreography is at times awe-inspiring and harrowing, at times it is both. Fair warning should be given here for the knife-fight between the gangs and Anita’s attack. Both sequences are choreographed to gut wrenching perfection. While artistically superb, they are also quite emotionally visceral. There is a beautiful dream-like dance sequence during the famous ballad “Somewhere”. Here, however, the production could perhaps be faulted for privileging the dance over the music, as some spectators could easily have felt cheated by the decision to have Maria heard from off-stage during what could have been her show-stopping number.
This brings us to the cast. Tony and Maria, played by Kevin Hack and Jenna Burns respectively, are both wonderful. Many love-at-first-sight plots falter in establishing a whirlwind romance that is as believable as it is sudden. The Tony and Maria of this production exceed expectations in grounding their performances in heartfelt emotion. Their voices not only compliment each other beautifully but their chemistry was tangible. Hack’s Tony was full of optimistic, boyish energy. This was supplemented by his truly superb vocal talents. Hack’s time as Enjolras in Les Miserables is evident in his voice that is both passionately powerful and emotionally vulnerable. I witnessed his renditions of “Maria”, “One Heart” bringing a tear to more than one member of the audience. Beau Hutching’s Riff was unfortunately a weak link in a strong cast. While his dancing was impeccable and expressive his singing abilities faltered, his standard clearly below that of his co-stars. Nevertheless, the show was undoubtedly stolen, as is often the case in West Side Story, by Anita, played impressively by Keely Beirne. As the cast stepped out for their finals bows, the audience was unhesitant in giving Beirne a resounding ovation decidedly more emphatic than that received by the rest of the cast. This praise was well deserved as Beirne’s Anita sang, acted and danced brilliantly. Her numbers range from the upbeat and hilarious “America” to the anguished, “A Boy Like That”. Beirne’s range did fitting justice to a complex and vitally important character.
This production made the decision to have the popular song “America” be sung by only the Puerto Rican girls as opposed to the classic film’s original staging that included the men and woman. This decision proved to be well founded as it provided the perfect opportunity to flesh out the characters of the women in the show as much as the men. The upbeat “America” routine with the Puerto Rican girls is later mirrored by comedic “Gee, Officer Krupke” performed by the Jets. These light-hearted numbers provide welcome relief from the truly heart-breaking plot.
Credit must be given as well to the simple but effective set design. The ladders that fall from the fire escapes of downtown Manhattan’s apartment buildings move in conjunction with the cast. This creates a minimalist set that seems to extend the movements of the performers as they climb and dance their way through it.
West Side Story at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre provides a stellar night of musical theatre with a classic that still remains relevant and engaging. So engaging in fact that the shocking incidents of intricately choreographed gang warfare literally caused the audience to gasp in horror and at one point scream in fright. The spectrum of human emotion is thoroughly explored as the show takes us from fear and panic to laughter and of course of love and heartbreak as this New York rendering of Romeo and Juliet tugs at the heart-strings only to tear them. West Side Story proved to be a must-have theatre ticket and a great way to kick of the 2017 season at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre.
