The Palace Theatre Summer Youth Project
West Side Story
10th - 13th August 2017
West Side Story
10th - 13th August 2017
I have to hold my hands up here and confess that I have never seen the film or any production of West Side Story before now. For some reason or another the classic, award winning, modern day (for its time, the film came out in 1957) version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet had never been one that really appealed. However, and this is a big ‘however’, I am now regretting that decision, for the Palace Theatre Summer Youth Project have, with their latest production, shown me just what a beautiful show this is and combined with its wonderful score, it is truly one that you won’t want to miss. With music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, most people will be familiar with the songs from the show, such as "Maria", "America", "Somewhere", "Tonight" and "I Feel Pretty" which can all be heard in this belter of a show which tells the tale of two rival gangs in New York and their struggle for control of the neighbourhood, resulting in devastating consequences.
The Summer Youth Project is proudly celebrating its 10 year anniversary this year. Every year for the past ten years, a team of dedicated professionals come together with young people from Southend to produce a musical show and gives the youngsters involved a fabulous opportunity to showcase their talents.
One person who has been with the project from its very first production is Marc Mollica, who takes on the mammoth task of directing, what seems like hundreds of children and young adults in these productions, all with ages ranging from 9 to 19 years old.
Marc has, once again, done a fabulous job in directing this cast and in particular the two leads, Jack Rowell and Lois Glenister, who both give wonderfully convincing portrayals of Tony and Maria, who fall in love with each other, despite the angry protestations of the rival gangs they are both associated with - The Jets and The Sharks.
Jack delivers with ease the heartwarming vocals needed for the role of Tony and his voice is beautifully complemented by Lois in their duets. Lois not only has such a soaringly clear soprano voice for one so young but is also stunning to watch and listen to in every aspect of her portrayal of Maria. The role requires the actress playing Maria to draw on almost every range of emotion going and Lois certainly took us on a heartfelt and tragic journey. The pair worked perfectly together and I loved “One Hand, One Heart” where the younger members of the cast provided some lovely backing harmonies in the emotional wedding scene. Sebastian Poskitt-Richardson who sang accapella at the beginning of this scene also deserves a mention.
I was also impressed with the vocal talents of Milli-Mae Cage playing the role of feisty Anita who gets to sing the uplifting favourite, “America” and also has the opportunity to show off her dancing skills along with the other Shark girls.
Other stand out performances came from Michael Bowyer as Action, Harvey Holie as Jett and Alice Lane as Anybodys. I also enjoyed watching the characterisations of Harry Ryan as Shrank and Frankie Manfredi as Doc proving that there’s no such thing as a small part.
In fact, you can see that in the short amount of time (less than 2 weeks) that the production team have to put on this show, just how much work has gone into it and just how hard these kids have worked to reach this standard, so quickly.
For a show like West Side Story, the choreography is absolutely vital and Vikki Bussell and Douglas Yolland have gone all out to produce some outstanding work here. The opening of the show is predominantly dance based for a good five minutes and has the potential to lose its audience if attention is not held to the stage. There was never any fear of this happening then, and throughout the show, as each dance number highlighted inventive and imaginative choreography and also showed amazing synchronicity from the cast.
Likewise, from a musical perspective, MD, Paul Day, gleaned some truly lovely performances, not only from his leading cast but with the supporting chorus too. Never an easy task with a Sondheim score.
Jodie Fugl, assisted by Kathryn Fewings did a great job sourcing such fabulous costumes for the production and no show would even be seen if it weren’t for the talented techies, who also did a great job for sound and lighting the show.
As Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion and Palace Theatre Director, Ellen McPhillips, points out, “The Summer Youth Project exists to give young people the opportunity to work with theatre professionals - coming together as a large, multi-faceted team to deliver their end goal.” This year’s ‘end goal’ is without doubt a cause for celebration and I raise a glass to the huge efforts undertaken to make this 10th Anniversary production one you certainly won’t want to miss.
Well done and congratulations to everyone involved and here’s to the next 10 years!
Tickets are still available for the remaining performances of West Side Story at www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135
The Summer Youth Project is proudly celebrating its 10 year anniversary this year. Every year for the past ten years, a team of dedicated professionals come together with young people from Southend to produce a musical show and gives the youngsters involved a fabulous opportunity to showcase their talents.
One person who has been with the project from its very first production is Marc Mollica, who takes on the mammoth task of directing, what seems like hundreds of children and young adults in these productions, all with ages ranging from 9 to 19 years old.
Marc has, once again, done a fabulous job in directing this cast and in particular the two leads, Jack Rowell and Lois Glenister, who both give wonderfully convincing portrayals of Tony and Maria, who fall in love with each other, despite the angry protestations of the rival gangs they are both associated with - The Jets and The Sharks.
Jack delivers with ease the heartwarming vocals needed for the role of Tony and his voice is beautifully complemented by Lois in their duets. Lois not only has such a soaringly clear soprano voice for one so young but is also stunning to watch and listen to in every aspect of her portrayal of Maria. The role requires the actress playing Maria to draw on almost every range of emotion going and Lois certainly took us on a heartfelt and tragic journey. The pair worked perfectly together and I loved “One Hand, One Heart” where the younger members of the cast provided some lovely backing harmonies in the emotional wedding scene. Sebastian Poskitt-Richardson who sang accapella at the beginning of this scene also deserves a mention.
I was also impressed with the vocal talents of Milli-Mae Cage playing the role of feisty Anita who gets to sing the uplifting favourite, “America” and also has the opportunity to show off her dancing skills along with the other Shark girls.
Other stand out performances came from Michael Bowyer as Action, Harvey Holie as Jett and Alice Lane as Anybodys. I also enjoyed watching the characterisations of Harry Ryan as Shrank and Frankie Manfredi as Doc proving that there’s no such thing as a small part.
In fact, you can see that in the short amount of time (less than 2 weeks) that the production team have to put on this show, just how much work has gone into it and just how hard these kids have worked to reach this standard, so quickly.
For a show like West Side Story, the choreography is absolutely vital and Vikki Bussell and Douglas Yolland have gone all out to produce some outstanding work here. The opening of the show is predominantly dance based for a good five minutes and has the potential to lose its audience if attention is not held to the stage. There was never any fear of this happening then, and throughout the show, as each dance number highlighted inventive and imaginative choreography and also showed amazing synchronicity from the cast.
Likewise, from a musical perspective, MD, Paul Day, gleaned some truly lovely performances, not only from his leading cast but with the supporting chorus too. Never an easy task with a Sondheim score.
Jodie Fugl, assisted by Kathryn Fewings did a great job sourcing such fabulous costumes for the production and no show would even be seen if it weren’t for the talented techies, who also did a great job for sound and lighting the show.
As Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion and Palace Theatre Director, Ellen McPhillips, points out, “The Summer Youth Project exists to give young people the opportunity to work with theatre professionals - coming together as a large, multi-faceted team to deliver their end goal.” This year’s ‘end goal’ is without doubt a cause for celebration and I raise a glass to the huge efforts undertaken to make this 10th Anniversary production one you certainly won’t want to miss.
Well done and congratulations to everyone involved and here’s to the next 10 years!
Tickets are still available for the remaining performances of West Side Story at www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135
Below: A few photos of the cast on stage...