West Side Story
3-6 and 9-12 October 2002
Ilford Recorder - October 10 2002
Excerpt from review by Sue Leeman
"East Side love cuts like knife"
Woodford Operatic and Dramatic Society took us to New York last week with a stomping production of WEST SIDE STORY, the smash musical with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. This is a piece set in New York's sleazy West Side in the 1950's, when gangs carved up the turf - and each other - in search of local dominance. Much of the show seems to run on pure testosterone, a testament to the futility and destructiveness of male aggression. Two gangs, the Sharks and the Jets are at loggerheads over a particular patch.
The Sharks are tough Puerto Rican imports: the Jets the home boys. And never the twain shall meet without a punch-up. In what is essentially a Romeo and Juliet story, Tony, a Jet, falls in love with Maria, whose brother Bernardo is leader of the Sharks. She persuades him to stop a rumble between the gangs, but when Bernardo kills Tony's friend Riff, Tony retaliates by killing Bernardo. Maria forgives him and the two plan to run away together, but Bernardo's girlfriend Anita, angered when the Jets snub her attempts to make peace, announces that Maria has been killed by her intended, Chino, for loving Tony. Heartbroken, Tony goes in seach of Chino, only to find Maria, alive and well. But as the pair go to embrace, Chino shoots Tony to death. Its a tale full of sorrow and poignancy that was beautifully rendered by a talented WOADS cast, directed by Sally Woodfield and Bret Yount, and accompanied by James Adler and his musicians.
Jacqui Long was splendid as Maria, imbuing every gesture and note with trembling feeling. And Lee Thompson - recently recovered from a bad throat - was transcendant as troubled Tony.His rendition of Something's Coming had the quality of pure liquid velvet. Theirduets- The Balcony Scene, One Hand One Heart and Somewhere were both beautifully executed and genuinely affecting in a vivid portrayal of doomed love. Simon Lipkin was most watchable as the strutting Bernardo and Lucie Stewart was a confidend Anita. Phil Halpin was on good form as Riff and Scott Harris gave an adrenalin-fuelled performance as Action. Malcolm Woodfield produced a nice little cameo in his role as Doc. One of the highlights was the cheeky I feel Pretty, confidently and humourously rendered by Maria and her friends Rosalia, Consuela and Francisca and there was a great boisterous performance of America by Rosalia, Anita, Bernardo and the Sharks.
The dancing was generally of a high quality, with some eye-catching choreography against a simple, yet effective set. West Side Story runs until Saturday. Go and see it if you can, its worth the effort.
Wanstead and Woodford Guardian - October 17 2002
Excerpt from review by Phyl Romeril
West Side Story was presented by WOADS in association with Redbridge Theatre Guild performed at the Kenneth More Theatre, Ilford. 3-12 October 2002 By attending a performance of West Side Story at the end of a two week run, I expected to find a somewhat jaded event, but I have to say the performance showed little sign of exhaustion. This musical of the 1950's calls for singers that can dance and dancers that can act, and the production was able to gather together both. Based on the Romeo and Juliet story, it is an ensemble show which calls for aggressiveness and agility.
Feuding gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, carry out their battles for supremacy in downtown New York and the Jets had more opportunities for individual character study than the Sharks who were nevertheless always on hand to state their case. It was Lee Thompson's Tony that dominated throughout the tragic little love story. A sincere pleasant voice, good sense of rhythm and overall stage awareness were a perfect combination of dance, song and action. Partnered by the diminuitive Jacqueline Long, who was a delightful Maria, who sang beautifully and had the ability to convey an uninhibited excitement at growing up to be a young American, they were a well matched duo. Phil Halpin can always be relied upon to give what is needed and as leader of the Jets, he maintained his position with good foot work and a forceful injection of character definition.
As a band of teenagers at war the teams mixture of age groups was up and down, but they carried out the dance routines with verve and precision. I felt Simon Lipkin could have been more overbearing, but Lucie Stewart had all that was necessary for her portrayal of Anita. Scott Harris was always on hand to keep the pot boiling and the rest of the company linked the proceedings into neat departments.
So far as the famous musical and vocal items were concerned - I feel Pretty, Tonight, Maria, and of course America, they were all extremely well presented. Malcolm Woodfield's little cameo performance of Doc was warm and non-violent. I was much impressed by Shrank and his police work andthe uncluttered set was a good idea, the costumes eye-catching and all in all this was a very good undertaking.
Extract from NATIONAL OPERATIC & DRAMATIC ASSOCIATION (LONDON AREA) Report
by Jacquie Stedman - October 5 2002
Thank you so much for inviting me to your production of 'West Side Story. As you can imagine it is very difficult to report on a show that is so well known and has been performed with so many variations on style and set. I am pleased to say that unlike a lot of 'period' pieces it is never changed - it is always treated exactly as it should be - of its time. And it is timeless - those first opening notes still send quivers down my spine as if hearing it for the first time. It must be difficult for many of your cast to imagine the racial hatred and gang warfare that existed in America in the 50's but as you know it is essential to the plot and it must be obvious from voices and body language that it is always there - no let up- no how! The story itself has stood the test of time and with the music and dancing it combines to be one of the most popular musicals ever written and I believe it rightly deserves that accolade.
Your production, although very simply staged was most effective. The use of the ramp allowed variations in height on the stage which enhanced the visual enjoyment of the production numbers.
You brought together some of the best talents in the borough (well done on finding sufficient YOUNG men who can sing/dance/move) to stage this classic and I must congratulate Sally Woodfield and Bret Yount on their staging and choreography and your musical director for his obvious hard work with the music. The dance sequences in the Dance hall were excellent with the differences between the Sharks and the Jets very clearly indicated. You can be justly proud!! All the tunes are part of musical history and the final "Tonight" at the end of Act 1 never ceases to produce goosebumps - such a powerful number. The casting for this show is crucial to its success - everyone has to be the part and you managed to find the right players for the parts.
One has to suspend reality a bit because there is no way that you get 16 year old actors playing the parts with the experience needed, and I think the audience accepts this. However, maybe you should have used the same yardstick for all the parts because Shrank was the only part that did not sit well. Unfortunately, I felt Martyn Stewart was not old enough or authoritative enough (this may have been due to his build) and he was difficult to hear in places. There is a danger with accents that the words get lost and this did happen on occasion. Don't forget to project your voices even if you are wearing body mikes. Bernardo (Simon Lipkin) looked right (very latin) but tended, in places, to lack the power that the part needed. Some of the other PR's should have used body make up on those parts which were visible to the audience to emphasize the visual difference between them and the Jets. But they were wonderfully Latin in characterisation and behaviour.
The rapport between Tony (Lee Thompson) and Maria (Jacqueline Long) was very real and somewhat naive in the way of lovers believing that love can overcome everything - and it does, although, in the case of Romeo and Juliet and Tony and Maria - not with the happiest of endings. They managed to create a fantasy world which they both truly believed could exist, and where only love mattered - the delightful scene in the Bridal Shop was a real indication of this. The energy in this show was incredible, not just in the musical numbers but in the dialogue too, one felt that the explosion was just below the surface with the lid tightly closed until the final eruption.
The antagonism between the two gangs mounted throughout the show until the (excellent) rumble when suddenly the streetwise gives way to the terrified. There was a good mounting of tension in Act 11 after the rumble with well defined reactions from all those receiving the news of the deaths of Riff and Bernardo. In the midst of this trauma the 'Officer Krupke' number provides light relief (even whilst illustrating the ineffectiveness of the social system) before the pathos of the final scene - possibly not a dry eye in the house! Once again, many thanks for the invitation and for bringing to Ilford such a tremendous production.