"West Side Story" by Zak Scott Productions.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

The classic Stephen Sondheim/Leonard Bernstein musical is performed by Zak Scott's Summer School pupils aged between 13 and 21 and created from start to finish in just two incredible weeks. Knowing that, and seeing the results of those two weeks on stage, makes the audience reaction at the end of the production even more awe-inspiring. The show should get sponsorship from Kleenex.

The story is inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and it’s the story of the relationships between two opposing street gangs, The Jets and The Sharks, with the two main characters, Tony and Maria being on opposite sides of the fence. This doesn’t stop the course of true love though but exacerbates the feelings between the two gang members with fatal consequences.

This is also a good musical to counter many of the classic musicals which end on a high and happy vibe.

“West Side Story” includes so many classic musical pieces, many have become chart and popular hits, covered by some of the cream of the recording industry. “Something’s Coming”, “Maria”, “I Feel Pretty”, “America”, “Somewhere”, “One Hand One Heart” and “Tonight” being among them as well as the lyrically comic “Gee Officer Krupke”. But you knowledgeable theatre fans already know that, so I'm preaching to the the theatrically converted.

Tony is played by Harvey Tavener. A character like Tony has to tick a few boxes for any Director who is looking to cast such an iconic character. He must be good looking, charismatic, be able to handle the complexities and broad vocal style and have a believable chemistry with his "Juliet". Wel, with Harvey, all those boxes are ticked. Harvey has a mature flexible vocal, and a really good falsetto, and the way he sings, the emotion he injects into singing "Maria" really makes you feel that he has met the love of his life and has fallen so deep for her. 

Tony’s “Juliet” is Maria, sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks, and played by the lovely Harriet Campion. What a voice this young woman has, and she's not the only young woman who has a voice that is very easy on the ear. Harriet really puts passion into this role, especially in the final scenes when your heart breaks along side of her. Some actors, especially of this age group often look and (possibly) feel uncomfortable kissing on stage, but this pair made these scenes look as if they were actually enjoying it! This of course shows what really good actors they are! 

Riff The leader of The Jets is the incredibly talented Joel Dawson. I've had the pleasure of seeing Joel in many productions, so I already know that he has a very credible theatrical CV in performing, singing and dancing. Yet another charismatic performance from this triple threat performer.

The feisty Anita is played by Olivia Bonham. You almost forget that this cast are so young when you experience performances like this, and what I noted was the consistency of her Puerto Rican accent, What is also impressive is how easy that gorgeous voice spills out from her lips. The strength and quality of her voice also works so well in this role.

Bernardo is played by Brogan Haynes. Here is a character who is very protective and can be quite bullish, and Brogan brings those qualities to the stage really well. What Brogan also brings to the stage is some really confident choreography skills. This is the second time that I've seen Brogan portray this character, the last time being in 2022, and I commented at that time that he has the look matching his character's background; two years on and he really matches the description of this Peurto Rican, especially with his swarthy looks and dark long hair. He has a busy road in front of him and is appearing in several local productions, so look out for him.

 Miles Potter plays Action. As this character he gets to show the comic side of his acting as he takes the vocals on "Gee Officer Krupke", which drew a massive show of appreciation from this enthralled audience for his visual and vocal comedy performance. Miles last played Thenardier in the previous ZS Productions version of "Les Miserables", so comedy is definitely a forte for Miles.

Quite a large cast who really gelled in the relatively short period that this show was put together; of course many of them are known to each other due to the rich vein of young actors that runs throughout the area.

Drew Boswell (Chino/ Krupke), Finn Boswell (A-Rab), Fin Tomlinson (Baby John), Dillian Brookes (Snowboy), Isobel Pickering (Big Deal), Lucy Coulson-Jones (Diesel), Heidi Parsons ( A really convincing "boyish" Anybodys, a lovely piece of character acting), Isla Basill-Conroy (Graziella), Lexie Mae-Hart (Velma), Phoebe Litherland (Pepe), Violet Graney (Indio),  Amelia Forcast (Luis), Keeley Rickerby (Anxious), Alice Whitaker (Nibbles), Kate Whitaker (Clarice), Neve Johnson (Rosalia), Ella Charlesworth (Consuelo), Avaani Babra (Francisca), Will Mellor (Schrank), Millie Weston (Gladhand), Megan Price (Pauline), Martha Smart (Toro), Evie Perks (Teresita) and Molly Price (Estella).

Directed by Zak Charlesworth, who must be a very happy director with results like this. It's tight and pacy and he has the perfect cast. His casting of "Doc" was genius! One reason why this choice of musical is so good is because the cast are just the right age for the original turf war gangs. Sometimes you see musicals where older actors play parts that are very much younger than themselves, but this cast are the perfect age for the characters that they play. An inspired musical choice.

Great musicals need great songs, which this show has in abundance, a great story, which it also has, and great dance routines, and that is the third box well and truly ticked.

Musical Director for this wonderfully emotive and evocative score is Ben Ward. I don't need to heap praise on this musical maestro because anyone who has seen anything that has Ben's name on the creative team will automatically know that music-wise the show is going to be a success. that trend continues here! There's a wonderfully emotional arrangement of "Somewhere" that closes the show, and I'm not sure if this is an arrangement by Ben, but it also provides food for thought for today's street issues.

Choreographers Ellie Simmonds and Alex Tavener have recreated some classic routines for this show. There are many different dance styles in West Side Story and it's rather wonderful to see ballet, jazz, contemporary, salsa and more all performed so well by this fabulous cast.

The choreography is so stylish and stylised and tells much of the story, especially the Prologue where you have a six-minute instrumental/dance piece to open the show. This sets the tone for the rest of the programme and spells out who the Jets are and who the Sharks are, creating the feel of street gangs and danger of being alone in the neighbourhood with the possibility of meeting a member of a rival street gang. 

There's a beautiful segment in "West Side Story" which is a ballet dream sequence, and this piece was an absolute dream. The six main characters really performed this sequence and performed it with ease. The whole turning out of their hands and toes was such a lovely sight to see, especially from such a young cast, and especially the male dancers.

I know that I am probably going on a bit about the choreography, but in this musical, it's such an important part of the show; that and Ellie said that I had to really big it up, as she and Alex had really worked on this area and offered payment for a decent write up. NO only kidding Ellie!

What I would say though is that normally, and quite naturally, the female cast rule the choreography, but every male actor shone with their choreography and were equals with the ladies choreography. I can't remember the last time I saw such a strong young male choreography, which is a tribute to not only Alex and Ellie, but to this brilliant male cast.

The fight choreography is also worth mentioning because of the stylisation in this area.

Set design is by Roydon Charlesworth, who also constructed the set. An evocative back scenery which firmly placed you in the given "hood", provided by Rocket Studios.

Zak Scott Productions also created and supplied the costumes for this show, and there are some lovely costumes - especially for the female cast and especially in choreographed numbers like "America"- with help from Seamstress Raj Babra.

Dave Martin's lighting design made sure that you focused on specific parts of the stage; a bit like a magician who draws you to the area that you need to be concentrating on. This works especially well with some of the more emotive scenes.

The sound design is by Olivia Michaud. Crackly mic packs aside - and there were only a couple and out of the hands of anyone - this is one of the better sound designs at the Duchess. I was sat in the balcony and heard every spoken and sung word.

I was really pleased with the final scene of this production, given the closing dramatic scene. A simple closing of the curtains was such a mature, as well as demure close to the show, and left you with that tinge of sadness at the wasteful loss of life of such young characters.

"West Side Story" has always been one of my favourite musicals, and Zak and his wonderful cast have made sure that my love for this musical remains.

You can see "West Side Story" at The Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 7 September, if you have already purchased your tickets because it's SOLD OUT.