Amateurs prove they are up to the task

THE measure of the greatness of this musical is not that is has the toughest, most beautiful score of any show, is restricted in what you can do with the choreography and set and has any number of pitfalls for the unwary.

Its greatness lies in the simple fact that knowing all this, amateur companies still take it on, knowing they are setting themselves up for failure. Taking a shot at doing it right is worth the effort, regardless of the results.

Luckily, Mossley AODS has proved time and again that its young company is up for the challenge and can be relied on to do its best with the most difficult of modern musicals. And once again, audiences will go home whistling the tunes.

Not that this production is perfect: nerves clearly led leading man Michael McCaw to make a bit of a hash of his two early solos, though he redeemed himself well in his first duet with Maria (Claire Morris), for “Tonight” was infinitely better.

Likewise, Claire, generally excellent, was out of her range on the top notes of most of her tortuously difficult songs. There’s little shame in this: lots of singers have trouble meeting the demands of Leonard Bernstein’s music. Both these cast members are very young to be heading such a major production but, generally, handle the strain remarkably well,

And these problems are minor set against the show’s strengths: smartness of the set and lighting, the general ensemble’s massive workrate on the small stage — Jerome Robbins’s choreography neatly interpreted by choreographer Gary Jones, who also impresses as Bernardo — and above all the blazing, 13-piece orchestra under MD Mike Bramhall, playing like there’s no tomorrow and keeping those horrifying rhythms in perfect check for a cast that throws itself into ensemble songs like “America” and the two dance sequences with tremendous confidence.

Of the rest of the cast, Michael Ward takes charge of the dancing as Riff, his brother Nick Ward is hot-headed as Action and Lizy Oakes is a strong presence as Anita.

Other downers? The datedness of the between-songs dialogue and its stop-gap nature makes you yearn for someone to improve it. This sort of inner discussion is possible at a Mossley production: co-directors Martyn Preston and Michael Ward are good enough to make it obvious where blame lies.

And the show, already thrilling, has the rest of the week to warm up even more...