Judged to perfection

"Everyone of you hates everyone of us. And we hate you right back."

Burgess Hill Operatic Society's revival of West Side Story illustrated that there is never a time when it is not highly topical to stage this Bernstein-Sondheim musical up-date of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and it crackled like a bonfire in Barry Goodsell's highly charged production.

His staging in ingenious revolving settings caught the smouldering atmosphere of the piece and provided space for a lively athletic chorus to vigorously interpret Jennifer Goodsell's choreography. This enabled the dance at the gym, the ballet sequence and the 'rumbles' to become convincing, integrated parts of the action. My only cavil was that a lack of colour coding in the costumes made it tricky at times to identify Sharks from Jets.

There can be no qualifications, though, over the musical values and conductor Michael Withers and his band played with conviction and urgency. Withers judged the climaxes to perfection and as well as giving full account to the haunting melodies, his reading drew out the dark fate motif that runs through the score.

Another bonus was the casting. Tim Crouch's lyric tenor had just the right timbre for Tony's big numbers which he sang with lyrical ease and passion. Even the testing Something's Coming had for once a full measure of expectation and excitement. Ann-Marie Forster made a spirited, steadfast Maria, but was a spirited, steadfast Maria, but was able to convey a haunting vulnerability in the duet One Hand, One Heart.

As the gang's commanders, Bill Kirwan's Riff and Duncan Taylor's Bernado were well matched, and Kate Taylor made Anybody's a determined Tomboy. Jo Bryant was a fiery Anita; clearly David Cheshire's long suffering trader ,Doc was in 'a pack on both your houses' mood; while the representatives of the law (Dick Lord and Tim Leete) were obviously conditioned to the prevailing mood of hatred.

The Jets and the Sharks were the engine driving the action; and the Shark girls were fiery although not always easy to hear in their passages of dialogue. All told, though, this cracking revival found the company doind a great musical more than justice.

Mark Gale. The Mid Sussex Times. 18th April 2002.


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