Review of West Side Story (1961) by Paul W — 17 Jul 2012

We had the opportunity to see this accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing live - a dazzling experience which bought the amazing orchestration and synchronous dancing and music to full blooded, surging life.

Only the glummest of people could fail to get goosebumps at the syncopated beats of "Keep Cool" and the lush strings of "There's a place for us". The stylistic photography is still largely successful - even the vaseline cover-ups during Tony and Maria's first encounter have a charm - and the dance sequences are unparalleled.

Moving Shakespeare's tale of star-crossed lovers to the tenements of Manhattan it uncovers timeless themes of immigrant abuse, escalating gang warfare and inter-racial tensions which are as unfortunately relevant now as they were 50 years ago.