Love and belonging collide in the MET's ambitious West Side Story

Review by Markus Hamence – West Side Story. Performance date: Friday 16 October 2026. The Arts Theatre, Adelaide, South Australia.

All images: Daniel Fleming

Love has spectacularly bad timing in West Side Story. One glance across a dance floor, two hearts charging ahead, and an entire neighbourhood ready to get in the way. The Metropolitan Musical Theatre Company of SA’s October production at Adelaide’s Arts Theatre takes on a musical with serious attitude, extraordinary music and a devastating understanding of what happens when belonging comes at somebody else’s expense.

Director Selena Britz, musical director Ben Saunders and choreographer Jacinta Vistoli head the creative team. It’s an ambitious undertaking that paid off: this is a show that asks its performers to sing demanding and iconic music, negotiate intricate movement and make the emotional stakes feel dangerously real. Beneath the famous songs sits a story about young people inheriting prejudices before they have properly worked out who they are.

“Love with its heart wide open, music with its sleeves rolled up - West Side Story has beauty, bite and something urgent to say.” - Markus Hamence

Daniel Scott and Kahrynn Hartshorne take on Tony and Maria, the young lovers whose relationship crosses the battle lines between the Jets and the Sharks. Jasmin Paukkunen plays Anita, alongside Ewerton da Silva (in a vastly different role of the 'nun' in the recent Spamalot) as Bernardo and Lachlan Stieger as Riff. These are roles with plenty beneath the surface: hope, pride, loyalty and the desperate need to be seen. Tony and Maria might have the romance, but the people surrounding them give that romance its perilous context.

There’s something very important about seeing a diverse company of actors share the stage in West Side Story, a musical that asks such searching questions about identity, prejudice and belonging. In the MET’s production, that diversity adds resonance to a story where people draw battle lines around difference, while love dares to cross them. It’s also a celebration of the breadth of talent within Adelaide’s theatre community, with room for different faces, experiences and perspectives in the spotlight. For a show centred on the longing to belong, that visibility matters. Credit.

And then there’s that score. Leonard Bernstein’s music and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics are an outrageous combination of beauty, bite and emotional intelligence. 'Maria' turns a name into a whole world of possibility. 'Tonight' holds onto the glorious certainty of being newly in love. 'America' has wit with teeth, while 'Somewhere' reaches towards a place where love might finally be allowed to breathe. These songs are woven into the storytelling; every shift in mood has something to say.

For this production, Saunders conducts a live 12-piece orchestra. There’s something worth celebrating in that commitment alone: Adelaide performers and musicians coming together to tackle a score that demands so much of everyone involved. The creative team also carries a lovely connection to the company’s history. Britz played Rosalia in the MET’s 1996 production, with Vistoli taking on the same role in 2006. Now they help another generation step into its world.

“Behind every soaring melody is a longing to belong. That’s where West Side Story gets you, straight in the heart.” - Markus Hamence

The lighting, set and costumes work together to give this West Side Story its visual attitude, grounding the romance in a neighbourhood bristling with tension. The lighting shifts the mood between intimate connection and confrontation, while the set provides a shared territory that becomes fiercely divided. Costumes establish the period and give the characters their individual identities within those rival groups. Together, these elements frame the contrast at the heart of the story: young love reaching for possibility in a world determined to keep people apart.

For all its Broadway glamour, West Side Story has an uncomfortable question at its heart: how much damage will people do to protect the idea that someone else doesn’t belong? Its 1950s setting offers little distance from that question today. The romance gives us something to hope for; the tragedy asks us to look at everything that stands in its way.

There are definitely some standout performances, I could name at least five that demanded my attention with their stage presence, but focusing only on those would undersell what this company achieves together. There’s plenty to watch beyond whoever is centre stage: a sideways glance, a flash of attitude, a reaction that keeps the tension alive. Those details matter. They give the neighbourhood its personality and make the rivalries feel personal. Yes, certain performers catch your eye immediately, but it’s the collective commitment that gives this production its pulse, with every member of the cast contributing to a world where love, loyalty and trouble are never far apart. I suggest you go along and consider for yourself. Best said is, we are very well endowed with acting talent in our state.

Big feelings, sharp edges and a score with a permanent place in musical theatre’s heart. The MET’s choice of West Side Story puts an ambitious classic on Adelaide’s local stage, with all its beauty and difficult questions intact.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Cast:

Leads

Tony - Daniel Scott
Maria - Kahrynn Hartshorne
Anita - Jasmin Paukkunen
Bernardo - Ewerton da Silva
Riff - Lachlan Stieger

The Jets

Action - Matty Turner
Baby John - Rhys Young
Snowboy - Caelan Farr
Big Deal - Ethan Braddock
Anybodys - Maddi Eames
A-Rab - Jake Nicholls

Jet Girls

Graziella - Asha Coppin
Clarice - Pauline
Velma - Hannah Poel
Minnie - Madison Sanders
Clarice - Sasha Simpson

The Sharks

Chino - Caleb Wilhelm
Pepe - Shane Huan
Luis - Alejandro Jimenez
Toro - Alberto Brunnitto

Shark Girls

Rosalia - Julia Cruz
Consuela- Rosanna Barani
Francisca- Sara Scholz
Teresita - Eliza Kennewell

The Neighbourhood

Doc - Russell Ford
Schrank - Mark Gamtcheff
Krupke - Jon McKay

West Side Story plays at the Arts Theatre, 53 Angas Street, Adelaide, until 24 October 2026. For performance dates and tickets, visit metmusicals.com.au.