Blonde ambition for West Side Story hopefuls.

The native New Yorker was in London casting for West Side Story and a place in the company could put a hopeful on the road to success…if you could make it through the impossibly tough auditions being held during an intensive two weeks at the Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden.

I don’t want to borrow from another show, but you’ll know how soul destroying this is if you’ve seen the smash hit musical A Chorus Line. The audition process is horrendous.

It’s not often you get the chance to be in on the ground floor of a theatrical production but I was invited along to watch the auditions for West Side Story which comes to both Aylesbury and Milton Keynes next year.

It’s a real eye-opener to see what these young singers/dancers and actors go through for a much prized place in this award winning, and iconic, show.

Choreographer McKneely is a hard taskmaster but each performer does their best to impress. The man himself started off as a dancer in the 1980s and later moved into choreography and directing. At one point in the dance auditions he throws off his suit jacket to demonstrate a move to the assembled girls.

West Side Story has 50 years of awards and McNeely’s first production of the show, which came to Sadler’s Wells and Milton Keynes five years ago took a clutch of them.

It has been around since 1957 and has a distinguished pedigree. The American musical is based on a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and conception and choreography by Jerome Robbins.

And, as if you didn’t know, the story, of rival street gangs in New York, is inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

The last time I met McNeely was back in 2008 at Sadler’s Wells and before his first national tour. In what must seem like déjà vu he’s back at the home of London dance this August before once again sending a touring production around the country.

At the auditions he sits with a panel that consists of his musical director Donald Chan, casting director Jill Green and producer Dagmar Windisch while Lisa Dent, who was Maria in WSS the last time around, rehearses 20 girls through the same scene.

“This is my last night as a blonde!” is now indelibly etched into my brain. I feel I could walk through the audition myself (except that I’m about 30 years too old!).

In the lunch break McNeely, who has been associated with the show for 13 years, sits down to talk.

“We’ve had a great turnout to the auditions which is a tribute to the show.

“The first time we came over to Sadler’s Wells we used our American cast. We couldn’t find dancers good enough here.

“But I am so amazed because, five years have gone by and the standard of dancing has really come up to a New York – and a world - standard. I’m very impressed.

“I am a stickler for wanting to cast as young as possible so that we get the age as close to the teenagers they portray. That way they relate to the characters they are playing.

“They have such vitality and they understand the rebel aspect of the teenagers because they still have a piece of that in them.

“We don’t need star names. West Side Story is the star. In America a lot of our youngsters ended up in shows on Broadway. Here most are straight out of college.

“I’ve seen 2,000 kids over two weeks of auditions. Some had flown in from Europe. We need just 33 for the cast.

“We started with open calls which literally meant that anyone could walk in off the street and try out. On my first day I saw 600, the second day 700. Some called themselves dancers but, oh my god! It was a bit like the X Factor.

“I just saw lines of people - and they all get about eight seconds of my time. I can tell within two steps whether someone is a trained dancer. Once you clear out the weeds you can look at those who actually have some sort of talent.”

Tickets are now on sale for West Side Story. It plays at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre February 11-15, 2014 (box office 0844 871 7607 or visit www.atgtickets.com/aylesbury) and Milton Keynes Theatre from June 3-14, 2014 (box office 0844 871 7652 or visit www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes)

@LBOanne