World’s ultimate musical hits the Joburg Theatre
25 January 2017
If you are yearning for an immensely entertaining show with great music, mesmerising dance moves and an exciting love story, then the Joburg Theatre is the place to be for you between now and March 5.
For 40 days, the Joburg Theatre will be hosting the ultimate masterpiece of American musical theatre – West Side Story.
The show, which premiered on Tuesday night, is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and is about a turf war between two inner-city gangs – the Sharks and the Jets. Conceptualised by Jerome Robbins and set in the Upper West Side neighbourhood in New York City in the mid-1950s, West Side Story is arguably one of the world’s greatest musicals that has been infused with vitality, gritty realism and spectacular stagecraft. Its themes, too, are enduring – love, tragedy, racism, immigration and gang rivalry.
The stellar creative team is headed by Matthew Wild as director, Charl-Johan Lingenfelder as musical director and conductor and choreographer Louisa Talbot. The finest South African talent has been selected for this production, which first premiered on Broadway in New York in 1957. The local crew are involved in many aspects of the production – from set, lighting, sound and costume design to choreography, music and stage performance.
Wild said it was a pleasure and honour for him to bring West Side Story to Johannesburg and push the boundaries of what the Joburg Theatre could do.
“This is a timeless piece and my interest in being in the production came purely from wanting to find a new way to tell this story,” said Wild during the final dress rehearsals this week.
“The show is complicated, technically speaking. There are very few theatres that we can take this show to because it uses every piece of stage machinery built into it.”
He said the state of the arts machinery at the Joburg Theatre was crucial in making the show spectacular. “It’s important to get the timing right. The team here has been working hard to ensure that everything is the way it is supposed to be,” Wild said.
He said this was the biggest show he had ever worked on, which came with its own set of challenges as it combined dance, acting and singing.
“The rehearsal process has been intense, especially the one involving dance because it would take a day or two for the crew to learn the choreography,” said Wild.
He said although the musical was set in the 1950s, it was staggeringly relevant to what was happening in South Africa today.
“I think the basic Romeo and Juliet story is always going to be relevant because it's about people from two opposing sides who fall in love with each other; that's always going to be a potent reality in our world,” he said.
He added that the show was also very much about xenophobia, immigration and why people got involved in gangsterism.
“It is astonishing that a piece that was written so long ago still speaks to people on different levels,” concluded Wild.
Tickets start from R190 and are obtainable from Computicket and the Johannesburg Theatre or by calling (021) 461-4554.