MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Gone West
PAUL FOLEY sees a new version of a legendary musical which lacks the exhilarating power of the original
Fizzing with energy: Jocasta Almgill (left)
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ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
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West Side Story
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
IN 1946 Jerome Robbins approached Leonard Bernstein about the possibility of creating a musical version of Romeo and Juliet and, after many trials and tribulations, West Side Story premiered on Broadway in 1957.
It was a huge hit and set the standard for the modern musical and it was certainly in tune with the times. The US was emerging from the second world war and young people were becoming frustrated and angry for change.
The racism and intolerance creating a gang culture, brutally played out on the mean streets of the big cities, provided a perfect context to recontextualise the most famous love story of all time.
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