West Side Story – a classic musical with a modern feel (and a twist of casual racism!)

Thursday 30th January 2014.

(*spoiler alert!* Do not read if you want to keep the storyline a surprise.)

I was privileged to be taken out by one of my closest friends to the theatre last night and what a treat it was. When I heard West Side Story was coming to the Bristol Hippodrome I knew I'd like to go. As a fan of musicals from childhood I always like to see one, especially if I haven't seen it before, and this is one of the most famous musicals ever produced. West Side Story opened on Broadway back in 1957 and shot to fame as a Hollywood film in 1961. Elegantly fusing the music of Leonard Bernstein with the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim the stage show brought stunning dance numbers into the mix with Jerome Robbins innovative choreography and created what has become known as one of the most memorable musicals of all time. This touring production brings alive the classic feel of the original show, instantly catapulting the audience back to the New York streets of the 1950s.

Based on the tale of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet the story follows the romance that plays out between our young lovers, Tony and Maria. Two street gangs, the native Caucasian Jets and the immigrant Puerto Rican Sharks, are fighting a turf war- born out of the machismo of youth and intolerance of foreign cultures- which they are trying to keep hidden from from the watchful eye of the city's cops. At a dance one night our hero Tony (a lapsed Jet who stopped hanging out with the gang a month before we join them) sets eyes on the beautiful young Maria (the sister of the Shark's leader Bernardo) and the couple fall instantly head-over-heals in love which leads them into a frisson of an affair that can only end in tragedy. Maria believes Tony has the power to end the feud between the two gangs and sends him as a peace envoy, however when the Jets and Sharks finally clash in a pre-arranged fight, a balletic duel ensues culminating in a surprisingly modern-feeling knife fight. When Bernardo lunges and finally stabs Riff, Tony feels compelled to avenge his friend's death and reciprocates the gesture. Ultimately neither Jets nor Sharks are the victors as both their leaders are left dead and the repercussions echo through the second half of the show.

The news of her brother's death at her lover's hand filters back to Maria. Initially distraught she is overwhelmed by her love for Tony and forgives him. They then consummate their relationship and arrange to run away together but their plans are almost scuppered by Anita, Bernardo's fiancé. Once the police arrive and insist on questioning Maria (hindering her plans to leave immediately) Anita is persuaded to take a message to Tony informing him of the delay. In a twist of fate Anita is stopped by the surviving Jets, badly beaten, and ultimately raped. Distraught she lashes out telling them Maria has been killed by her betrothed because of her involvement with Tony. Upon hearing his love is lost Tony then offers himself up to the Sharks and just as he discovers that this was a lie, is shot by Maria's fiancé. After threatening to shoot herself Maria ends the play by proclaiming that the blood for these deaths lies on all their hands, Sharks and Jets alike. Members of the two gangs together carry Tony's body from the stage followed by the mourning Maria, and then that's it. The end!

West Side Story enthralled me from curtain up to the final bows. I was slightly trepidatious as I have been disappointed by poor quality productions in the past but the standard at this performance was exemplary all round. The cast were entrancing. The musical score demands such a wide vocal range of its stars that only extremely skilled vocalists could have full command of it. For this production I feel that special mention deserves to be given to the leading players, Louis Maskell for his mastery in the role of Tony and Katie Hall for her Maria, but also Djalenga Scott as Anita, Javier Cid as Bernardo, and Matthew Hawksley as the Jet Action for his performance in 'Officer Krupke'.

The story does not end as I expected, as Shakespeare's timeless tale does. I was anticipating the lovers double deaths and felt slightly cheated by the climax of the show, however a day later I can see that there are some difficult questions raised about the nature of urban conflicts which do not necessarily warrant 'tidying up' to fit with the Romeo & Juliet theme. The conflict ultimately stems from nothing or so we are lead to believe. Nobody knows why they are at war with each other but they all feel they have to save face. In fact endemic racism between the local unemployed youths and the immigrants is the cause and everyone knows it. Maybe this is what gives West Side Story that timeless feeling as these problems still plague our urban societies across the globe today.

The one thing I wasn't prepared for, maybe quite naively, was the casual racism. Obviously there were going to be themes based on the racial tension between the Sharks and the Jets but the outright racist lyrics of the song America shocked me as I sat there in the theatre. Was everybody else oblivious to it? I'm not sure. Even my friend didn't seem to notice (and we went our separate ways upon leaving the theatre so I haven't had a chance to have that discussion yet). When I got home I looked up the song on YouTube but what was instantly apparent was that the film had a very different version of the America, which on the face of it seemed slightly less obscene than the lyrics I heard. I sought out the original lyrics from the stage show (www.westsidestory.com) as I thought maybe I'd simply misheard them but alas I hadn't. Anita describes her home as “Puerto Rico, you ugly island, Island of tropic diseases. Always the hurricanes blowing, Always the population growing, And the money owing, And the babies crying, And the bullets flying.” Anita mocks and chastises her homesick fellow immigrant Rosalia for reminiscing of the beauty of her homeland and wanting to take the benefits of 'modern America' back to the people at home. It seems very odd for an Anita to do this unless you account for her words being put into her mouth by a non-Puerto Rican. Whilst there may have been problems in Puerto Rico it would be more likely for those who had emigrated to see these as stemming from the political and social climate at the time rather than being based on their geographical location or cultural heritage. It is also odd that whilst Anita and the fellow Puerto Ricans are living in the impoverished Manhattan and suffering the daily effects of deeply ingrained racism they would still be singing the praises of America at the expense of their motherland.

Overall I was blown away by the musical score of West Side Story and the performances I saw but shocked and stunned by the lyrics and racist overtones which left me shocked and saddened. I won't be seeing it again as I think that without radical updating it should remain consigned to the history vaults along with the attitudes it embodies.

If you would like to see this show for yourself you can book tickets for this touring production here www.atgtickets.com/shows/west-side-story