Review of West Side Story by the Northampton Musical Theatre Company at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

Last week it was that time of year again when the talented amateur performers of the Northampton Musical Theatre Company got their moment upon the big stage of the Derngate. This year their ambition was to bring Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents' ambitious West Side Story to the stage. Mixing classic songs and challenging dance routines revolving around the fifties set retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, this was a tremendously tough show for an amateur group to take on.

However, as expected, this talented, and always near professional group made it work, despite a very shaky start. The opening, and classic, dance routine between the Jets and the Sharks, merging ballet with contemporary, never quite works, not due to lack of effort of the performers, it's just that it is just so tough to get right. It is though probably the one slightly weak part of the evening. From then on, bar a few slightly stilted dance routines, West Side Story becomes everything you would like of an evening of classic musical theatre.

West Side Story benefits at its core with having two exceptionally good leads. Sean Page brings great stage presence to his role of Tony, and his performance of Maria is wonderfully heartfelt in its delivery. Amanda Guiliano as Maria though is even more exceptional, exhibiting a simply stunning singing voice, she captivates from her first arrival. Her vocal ability could easily dominate a professional production.

As the head of Jets and the Sharks, Gordon Ritchie as Riff and Ama Scuotto as Bernardo spar off one another extremely well, with Ritchie having a nicely gruff delivery of his singing suiting the nature of the character, with Scuotto, a more natural, but brilliant delivery to his as well. The fight scenes, choreographed by Ritchie, bring a vibrant and very real physicality to the stage and look tremendous.

Susie Pack once again shows her stage class as Anita, controlling and dominating proceedings especially in the wonderfully staged version of classic America. That scene in the bar also once again doesn't fail to shock in its power. Ella Styles is also a delightful highlight as the game Anybodys.

Of the classic sequences, the strongest of the whole production is the exceptional Somewhere. Paired with incredible vocals from Hannah Jarvis, it is the very best, but also delightfully simple dance routine of the show. It's a scene that effortlessly brings a tear to the eye, as does the equally beautiful delivery of One Hand, One Heart by Guiliano and Page in the first act. Final mention must go to the fun and lively Gee, Officer Krupke. Nicely staged, full of humour, it proves a nice offset to the generally sad nature of most of the show.

The set was nicely constructed, and once again stage crew kept it moving between scenes with little break in the show of significant length. Technically it was solid as well, with just a couple of minor late lighting cues. Elsewhere, Graham Tear drives his exceptional orchestra through the very fine collection of tunes that this show contains, filling the theatre with brilliant sound.

Martyn Knight is once again in the director's seat, as he has now been for a while, and his familiarity with the often similar cast helps the show work through everyone's strengths.

It's a great show, while not perfect, and also the West Side Story show itself isn't a favourite with many, NMTC has done a sterling job with a challenging piece. Nicely done.

Performance reviewed: Saturday 27th October 2018 (matinee) at the Royal & Derngate (Derngate).

The Northampton Musical Theatre Company performed West Side Story between Tuesday 23rd and Saturday 27th October 2018. They have a website which can be found on Twitter @theNMTC and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NorthamptonMusicalTheatreCompany

For further details about the Royal & Derngate visit their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/

Review of 2:22 A Ghost Story at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

2:22 A Ghost Story continues an endless rise and run of success on the stage. This play by Danny Robins was first staged as recently as August 2021 at the Noel Coward Theatre and since then the show continued to run in London for two years, moving to four further London theatres, before eventually closing in the city to embark on this tour, which began in September last year. During these runs, the cast has constantly been updated with often populist actors, and some, which are not even associated with acting. As this reaches Royal & Derngate, now even the touring cast has been swept clean and four further performers take on the incredible success of a show. This is the second time I have seen 2:22 A Ghost Story , and it is safe to say that on that first viewing, with the previous tour cast, I was not as blown away by the play as the success seemed to warrant. The aforementioned populist casting seemed to have driven a so-so ghostly tale into success beyond its quality, and with th...

Review of Matthew Bourne's Romeo + Juliet at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

Despite now having seen a few dance shows encompassing many different styles, I had yet to see one developed by Sir Matthew Bourne, a controversial player in his time, but as the relatively recent knighthood suggests, now very much embraced by the establishment. So, does Romeo + Juliet live up to his name, that is the question? So, first, this might normally be where I give you a brief outline of the story, but, for one, most have a general understanding of the love disaster of William Shakespeare's play already, and two, as it turns out from the Bourne production, a huge amount of what you might be familiar with has gone or been dramatically changed anyway. There is shocking complicity in murders, there are different moments of murder and gone are the warring factions of the Montagues and Capulets. Characters themselves feel very different at times also, to such an extent that even knowing the play doesn't always make it clear who is who at times. So, if all that sounds...

Review of The All New Adventures of Peter Pan at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

For theatres across the land, it's that time of year again. The time when the theatres fill with screaming children and a ridiculous amount of sugar intake and trips to the toilet. Yes, it is panto time, and before you say it, oh yes it is. This year, for the Royal & Derngate, it is time for a trip to Neverland (or Forever Land, that is, but more on that later) and a magical adventure with Peter Pan and the dastardly Captain Hook. Once again, following hugely successful previous runs, Evolution Productions brings this tale to the stage in 2025. And it has to be said, once again, they strike panto gold with The All New Adventures of Peter Pan , with a constantly lively, brilliantly colourful and awkwardly funny production that, as always with Evolution, is totally family friendly. Over the years here, Evolution and writer Paul Hendy have created the essence of pantomime (which just so happens to link to the tale within this story). Keeping all the traditions intact, a ghostly be...

A Small Mind At The Theatre

Search This Blog