West Side Story - Royal Exchange, Manchester

I've seen on their website that they have released a couple of seats for todays performances! They might be releasing tickets on the day

Not that I know of because there isn't really a theatre like it. They'll probably do what the national did with follies because they can't extend because there is a play going in straight after

You maybe fine in E, according to steg
Sounds like they may have changed some of the action

Almost every theatre does that. They hold seats for celebrities and VIPs (and people with a premium membership for their theatre) then release them on the day if they're not taken.

During the Docs scenes they were mostly sitting or lying on the platform edge for the action. There was only a short section when I could only see legs up there. I suspect the few seats directly behind the platform may be a bit more restricted.

There have been quite a few things which have transferred to London over the years - usually as coproductions and often restaged for proscenium stages. Of the top of my head, in addition to the aforementioned Husbands and Sons (which was staged in the round) Simon Stephens's On the Shore of the Wide World moved to the National; Punk Rock, Mogadishu and Fatherland (the latter with a largely different cast) transferred to the Lyric Hammersmith and both Yen and Wish List came to the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs (I think they might have originally been done in the Exchange studio).

It's been a long while since anything from the Exchange transferred to the commercial west end and only one thing I can think of that was a big success - The Dresser - which was almost 40 years ago.

Interestingly given the point made about the Roundhouse - many decades ago (c1980 - before my theatregoing years) productions did move there from the Royal Exchange - most notably Helen Mirren in the Duchess of Malfi and Vanessa Redgrave in The Lady From the Sea.

The Family Reunion with Edward Fox transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre (1979 I think), also there was a musical “Andy Capp” which I think transferred to the Aldwych , with Tom Courtenay. I’ve often wondered how the set needs to be adapted from theatre in the round to a proscenium theatre, whether they add extra pieces of scenery or just perform against a dark background , but as princeton says they have often restaged productions .

The knowledge of our members on this forum never ceases to blow me away.

Round of applause 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Seeing it this week.Can’t wait to see how this will work ‘in the round’.

Thanks,Sir,The REX was my ‘go to’ theatre some 30 years ago when I lived in Manchester but then I moved to the Midlands with my new family and I haven’t been back since to that theatre so seeing WSS with my youngster will be an emotional 😭 day,I am sure.Really looking forward to it.

So Moss West Side Story.

A pleasure to be in this building after a long absence. The theatre is a very exciting space - although I am not a fan of theatre in the round. In an effort to minimize the back view of an actor for any length of time the cast have to keep on the move - often unnecessarily, constantly turning and turning.

This is one of my all time favourite musicals - the score is superb and here is sounds fabulous under the musical direction of Mark Aspinall. The orchestra are terrific - housed in sound proof booths outside, but next to the theatre itself. All the cast have superb voices too - especially Gabriela Garcia as Maria and Andy Coxon as Tony. The production is lucky to have such superb leads. Vocally Andy Coxon is wonderful giving the most gorgeous rendition of "Maria" and Gabriela Garcia heartbreaking in her final scenes. Jocasta Almgill as Anita turns in a very strong performance too.

Although the production sounded great I was less convinced about the look of the show. The set made up of white steel and Perspex ladders and platforms could have been from a double glazing showroom and the central piece which was lowered at times wobbled precariously and I worried for the safety of the cast climbing and jumping on this, and this took me out of the show. The lighting too (inexplicably) in red, white and blue was flat and lacked atmosphere - especially the white light which simply looked like rehearsal / working light.

Of course this is the first production (to my knowledge) that has been allowed not to use the Jerome Robbins choreography and any choreographer of this piece (here Aletta Collins) has big shoes to fill. It is an almost impossible job to pull off. The original choreography of this show is simply stunning and although I can understand completely it being very restrictive now to new creatives - the dance here I found very underwhelming (although I am no dance expert) but I found the constant running around and street/contemporary style rather lack lustre. I could not help but think what a choreographer like Drew McOnie would make of it.

The knife fight sequences were superb however - realistic, bloody, dangerous and having a raw resonance today with gang knife crime and senseless young deaths very much a contemporary issue.

Did I enjoy this? Yes. Was I blown away? No. Highlights - the singing and the two leads. The visceral gang knife fighting. Lowlights - the staging/lighting. Overall 3.5 stars.

Edited to add that despite the production completely sold out for the run - on Monday evening I counted at least 8 empty seats opposite me in the auditorium which were never filled.