Am still buzzing from the performance I just saw at Sadlers Wells, so thought I would write this now instead of waiting. ’West Side Story’ is one of those things people talk about as a history maker, a work of genius, a masterpiece. Well, they’re right. What I saw tonight at Sadlers Wells was the finest piece of theatre I have seen, ever. For once, every aspect of the performance had been seen to. This production has done sold out runs in Tokyo, Beijing, and Paris. It started a 6 week run at Sadlers Wells this week, and from what I am told, it is sold out. I had seen WSS once, a staging by Victorian State Opera in 1994, but I may have been slightly too young to realise what I was seeing. The 1961 film is one I know VERY well though, and the choreography in that is almost identical to that used in the original stage production, and the production I saw tonight, so that was something I was familiar with. I have also spent hour after hour memorising the original cast recording. So, in some ways, I know this show VERY well, but tonight was my first real chance to see it in the context of itself. The production is immaculately designed, a series of moveable balconies swing into position, creating various locations, while the back wall is projected with B&W
images of 1950s New York City. The cast ranged from very good to phenomenal. None of them stars, which makes sense. It is an ensemble show, and once you put a big star in it, it would draw attention away from the whole. The dancing dominated (Sadlers Wells is primarily a dance theatre), and when you see it happening in front of you, its understandable that it should, brilliant score or no brilliant score. Robbins devised the most amazing way of performers to express a character’s emotions physically. They dance ‘in character’, as if only these people would be dancing these steps. And within that, it becomes even more specific, when characters like Riff and Anita are given solos, they are dancing steps which could only be danced by Anita and Riff. As Anita, Oneika Phillips was the favorite, as a 
dancer and an actress, she was mindblowing. In her final scene, the audience communally stopped breathing. A ‘theatre magic’ moment. It was her singing which was least interesting (mainly in her big ‘A boy like that’ moment), which leads to the ‘problem’ with this show. It asks more of performers than they should be able to give. They have to sing VERY difficult music, dance like Balanchine etoiles, and act like RSC actors. Invariably, one of these is going to be weaker than the other two. If, like Oneika, two out of three are phenomenal, the audience will not (and should not) worry too much about the third. I didn’t. Elisa Cordova as Maria believably matured through the course of the evening, but unlike Natalie Wood in the film, remained a believable teenager. Her operatic soprano was
the only voice which played slight havoc with the miking. The use of mikes in this production was the best I have ever heard, it was very subtle, at times it was hard to tell whether the singers were miked or simply projecting well. Cordova’s soprano has such a cut to it (perfect for opera) that it occasionally sounded harsh through the mikes. Not her fault. Plus, she is exceptionally beautiful, so a lot is forgiven. Scott Sussman’s Tony looked slightly too old, but possesses one of the most beautiful voices ever, and acted beautifully. Also looks gorgeous. The entire company performs with uniform dedication and passion, throwing themselves into the dance numbers with the kind of energy which makes me fear for their lives. Between the Dance at the Gym, ‘America’, and ‘Cool’, one wonders how they can sing at ALL. That they sang (often at the same time) wonderfully seems almost miraculous. The score provided them plenty of opportunities, I think its the finest score ever to be written for Broadway. When one song after another consistently comes up aces, it almost feels like too much of a good thing, but in this case, too much of a good thing is Fantastic. If you are in London and can afford the price of a ticket, go. If you live in London and can’t afford the price of a ticket, steal it.
