Opera Australia and GWB Entertainment present
the BB Group production
9 April 2019
State Theatre – Arts Centre Melbourne
to 28 April, then touring
westsidestory.com.au
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| Opera Australia, "West Side Story". Photo by Jeff Busby |
In 1957 West Side Story changed musical theatre. It made an old story feel new in contemporary New York. It used the language, movement, sound and issues of 1950s America and set a new level of everything that musical theatre aspires to be. It's so rare to have new work come near the same cultural impact; maybe Hamilton. The West Side Story by Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim sits on the top of "best musicals ever" lists because it is.
And Opera Australia are bringing it to us 62 years later. This revival production has been touring and reproduced since 2000 and was originally directed by Joey McNeely, who was taught the 1957 choreography by director/choreographer Robbins. It's chorey so connected to the work that a finger click is all that's needed to make fans put their arms out like a cross and spiral with their knees together.
It's a big-budget production with an imposing design of crowded metal fire escapes against giant photos of 1950s west-side New York. The easy highlight of the budget is having a 31-piece orchestra (Orchestra Victoria conducted by American Donald Chan) and it's an absolute joy to hear the complexity of the score with such a big orchestra.
It's also awesome to see a full cast who look like the teenagers they are portraying. Many are making their professional theatre debuts. Some nail it.
Still the show feels emotionally flat. Holding itself so close to being a recreation of a recreation of a 62-year-old show strangles any originality and authenticity. With even the most simple gestures looking choreographed, little action comes from character, let alone from personal interpretation. This is the same Maria, Tony, Riff, Doc and Anybodys that have been on stages since 1957.
A work that was so about rejecting the past and being about right here and now, Daddy-O, has become a production stuck in the past. It's not like the story about racism, poverty, immigration, young people, gangs, police, misogyny, violence, rape and guns is nostalgic. The dream ballet is dated, the content isn't.
West Side Story is still one of the greatest musicals ever made and this is close to seeing the original production. But it's a safe show that doesn't take any risks that would dare to bring it into right here and now.
