8-12 March 2005

West Side Story won 2 awards at the 2005 Manchester Musical Awards. Congratulations to Chris Grixti, who won the award for Best All-rounder, and for Rodd Goddard, who for the second time in 3 years picked up the award for Best Director. Well done to Rod and Chris!

West Side Story closed on Saturday March 12th after 6 excellent performances in front of over 4400 people. Once again, Rod Goddard's direction and Clare Sweeney's excellent orchestra combined to produce a fantastic show. Choreographer Sharn Alexander, assisted by Tracy Haslam and Sharon Bell, drilled the energetic cast into slick dance routine after slick dance routine.

Watch this space for photos and more news!

West Side Story is a highly stylised modern-day version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The show is set in New York's Upper West Side in the 1950s, where the area's slums are plagued by racial tensions between two rival gangs; the Puerto Rican Sharks and the Caucasian Jets. In the middle of this mess is young, innocent Maria, whose brother Bernardo is the leader of the Sharks. Despite the warnings of her friend Anita, Barnardo's fiery girlfriend, Maria falls in love with Tony, a Polish boy, who used to be leader of the Jets (now led by his friend Riff). When Tony, on Maria's urging, tries to stop a fight between the gangs, tradegy ensues, marking their love affair with violence and desperation. The superb, trademark Leonard Bernstein score, along with Stephen Sonheim's lyrics, help complete one of the greatest musicals ever written.

For more information about the show, see the official West Side Story website