Coming to Ryde School’s Jenny Kerry Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday 27th-Saturday 30th November 2024 at 7pm, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is transported to modern-day New York City as two young, idealistic lovers find themselves caught between warring street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, in this landmark Broadway musical. Their struggle to survive in a world of hate, violence and prejudice is one of the most innovative, heart-wrenching and relevant musical dramas of today’s time. From the first notes to the final breath, West Side Story is as powerful, poignant and timely as ever.
Sadly, gang fighting is still a theme in today’s society, just as it was back in the days of Shakespeare and in the 1950s setting of West Side Story. The musical was conceived by Jerome Robbins, and the juxtaposition of the tender love story of Tony and Maria set against the turf wars between the white Americans and the Sharks, immigrants from Puerto Rico, carries the same message as Romeo and Juliet – and the exhortation to live in peace is sadly needed just as much today.
Alongside its serious theme however, the musical fizzes and pops with the brilliant musical score of the great Leonard Bernstein. So many of the songs are familiar – ‘Maria’, I Feel Pretty’, ‘Tonight’ and of course ‘America’ – because they are so good in their own right that they have been recorded as standalone hit records. They have even more impact in the setting for which they were written, with Steven Sondheim’s lyrics rocking the story along.
With Tom Thorne as Tony and Ava Cowan as Maria, fresh from their successful summer run of “Bugsy Malone” at the Mayflower Theatre, and a large and talented ensemble, 14 piece orchestra, impressive set and a unique thrust arena staging this will be a show not to be missed.
Get your tickets for the show now at
IWtheatre 