The University of Exeter’s largest Musical Theatre society, Footlights, is staging an ambitious production of Leonard Bernstein’s well-loved musical West Side Story. The large-scale production will be gracing the Northcott Theatre stage this January, following in the steps of some hugely successful Footlights productions over the past few years, including A Chorus Line, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Copacabana. Her Campus had the pleasure of speaking to the show’s director, 3rd year Drama student Jordan Murphy.
“West Side Story is actually really difficult; the dancing, singing, and music. I had to really push for it because it’s so difficult”, he said.
A 1950s rendition of Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story tells the story of star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria, caught in the middle of an ethnic battle in a New York City neighbourhood. The tension between rival gangs, the New York Jets and Puerto Rican Sharks, is played out in demanding dance sequences such as “The Rumble”, and “Dance at the Gym.” The fantastic musical score, with award-winning numbers “America”, “Somewhere”, “Cool”, and “Maria”, is set to show off the society’s impressive vocal talent.
And this year’s show isn’t just showcasing the best of the university’s exceptional Drama department; in fact, “people have come from Geography, Science, International Relations. It’s quite a diverse cast. We have been so fortunate to have such a high intake of talent from first year too. People have a pre-conceived idea that it’s very cliquey, but not this production at all”, the director commented.
In the run up to the performance, the cast are putting in an impressive 9-12 hours of rehearsals a week. “Our cast are extremely committed. We had the show completely blocked by December 14th – we did a huge amount over 2 months. By the end of January, it could have been on stage, but now we keep on rehearsing and it gets better and better” he said.
The cast entertained the public with very successful performances in Princesshay both last term, and earlier in January. It is clear how high the bar has been set with their highly skilled choreography and musical numbers. Much of the show was choreographed by Aaron McCrossan, a 2nd year student. “The original choreography is so precise, and by law you have to use a percentage of it. It has spurred him on to use the manual as a stimulus, and build his own creativity and imagination onto what’s already there to make it more his own”, the director said.
With a large budget for a student production of £20,000, Footlights have been able to put a lot of money towards an impressive hired set, and elaborate costumes. “We’ve heavily focused on the girls costumes this year, and making everything visually precise. It has to look like it’s from the 1950s and everything has been worked out to make sure it’s exact” he said.
Of course, with any production there are always going to be certain obstacles, particularly in terms of health and safety. “We had to try and find a gun that fires a blank. But health and safety have made it very difficult for us to find a gun and license it, to risk assess it, to have it at the Northcott, and then for someone to fire it. That’s been a logistical nightmare.
“I want people to think ‘that wasn’t a student production, that was professional standard’. I want to produce a piece of theatre that evokes peoples emotions. The subject of race in the show is so relevant – I think people will see that connection, the racial divide, and what we’ve done with it and how sensitively it’s been portrayed. As long as people really enjoy it, that’s all that matters.
“I’m so proud to be part of this student production and I just want as many people to come as possible. People need to show off their skills because there are some incredible actors, singers, and dancers. Tickets are selling fast, so definitely grab them while you can”.
If that’s not reason enough to buy your ticket, then we highly recommend you watch the trailer below, or find them on Facebook and Twitter! The highly-acclaimed musical will be showing at Exeter Northcott Theatre from 29th January – 1st February 2014. You’re certainly in a for a treat so buy your ticket now before it’s too late!
Photo Credits: Sam Loyd, Joanna Tew, Aaron Walwalkar