West Side Story- review

The evenings of last week saw the transformation of the main hall to the streets of Manhattan, in Mr Horton's incredible production of West Side Story.

For those who missed it, West Side Story is based on a conception of Jerome Robbins', itself taken from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: it's the tragic story of two young lovers amidst the backdrop of the feuding American and Puerto Rican gangs. The story unfolds to witness the  deaths of Riff (Anthony Hallett), Bernado (Josh Lee) and Tony (Rob Bartlett), leaving Anita (Sophie Hallett) widowed and Maria (Emily Bennett) broken-hearted.

And the performers certainly did the story justice. It was absolutely outstanding in so many respects: the acting was convincing ­ even the Puerto Rican accents, the dancing was spectacular, the singing was breathtaking, and the notoriously difficult score was superbly played by The Band.

Critics have even universally acclaimed the production as the best to have ever been produced by Biddenham students.

Special mention must be given to the >outstanding performances of Rob and Emily, who were excellently supported by such promising future stars as Tom Faden and Declan Anderson. Sophie Hallett, Claire Turney, Sarah Whitely, Polly Hancock and Lucia Ariano were also particularly brilliant. As were the chorus… and the guys on sound and lighting… in fact, everyone was fantastic! Well done.

Emma Priddin