West Side StoryI had previously seen a university drama group production of West Side Story at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter and loved it. Although it had very minimal set, the production still worked and I think that's one of the things that makes West Side Story so powerful, it's timeless because of it's material, not because of the spectacle that's associated with it. It is widely regarded as the birth of the modern musical. Truly triple threat performers energise the stage and the audience whilst retelling the greatest love story on earth, and this touring production is no different.

Potentially, this is one of the best pieces of theatre I have ever seen. The only let down, I would say, was the set, the physical set- bare metal making up the apartment blocks of New York featured amazing sprung ladders and stairways so that the actors could pull them down, walk or climb up them and just let go and they would seamlessly disappearance into the rest of the mass of metal. This part of the set was fantastic and there were many areas created by pulling out bits and pieces and moving the overall structures around. The balcony scene and the bridal shop were particularly good examples of this. However the backdrop was various black and white images of early 20th century New York, interspersed with different coloured gradient backgrounds. The coloured backgrounds were fantastic and really gave the set a sense of scale but the images of New York were less successful and just looked quite bland.

Luckily the action on stage was more than plentiful and the dancing was incredibly slick. Katie Hall as Maria and XXXXXX as Tony were absolutely impeccable. His voice control was absolutely incredible, when singing 'Something's Coming' he stood almost still through the whole song and it was absolutely electrifying. He had the audience wrapped round his little finger and he proved his ability in 'Maria' which was the best rendition of a musical theatre song I have ever heard. The one thing that impressed me about the entire cast is that every word they sang was utterly believable. Every character was full of personality and the quarrel at the centre of the storyline was incredibly realistic and you could see how the events from the show fuelled it. None of it felt unjustified and the performance standard felt like the opening of a first night.

The PRs were all filled with Spanish passion and 'America' was slick and clever in its choreography making us laugh and shocking us too. Another standout performance was 'Officer Kruptkee'. Like 'America' it was staged in a minimal way and the story was created around the actors' movements. It had us falling about with laughter and the cast (throughout the performance) couldn't have given more effort. And it paid off.

When the standing ovation had finished, there wasn't a sound as the audience left the theatre. No one was talking, everyone was just in pure shock, awe and amazement from what they'd just witnessed. It was a testament to the piece, the production and the performance, and I will be going again. It was an incredible production and one I will always remember West Side Story as.