The scene is an inner-city street on a sultry summer’s evening. Two rival gangs are circling each other prior to starting a fight; some of the youths are carrying knives, and in the ensuing, bloodsoaked melee, one of the leaders is stabbed to death.

If the story sounds familiar, that’s because it is one of the most famous scenes from West Side Story. But, to the audience watching the latest production of Leonard Bernstein’s famous score in Manchester, it strikes an altogether less romantic chord.

50 years after the musical was first staged in Britain, Hartshorn – Hook Productions and the Royal Northern College of Music are staging a production in which its own students are playing the lead roles of Tony and Maria, while the remaining cast members come from 13 inner-city state schools.

There are plans to transfer the production to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer, and a theatre has already been tentatively booked. The schools do not have the facilities to stage a grand musical in front of a 700-strong audience, so the event will give talented youngsters the chance to shine in a professional production that they otherwise would not have had. Perhaps more poignantly, the subject matter of West Side Story is as relevant today as it was when it made its debut in the UK at the Manchester Opera House in 1958, and can send a warning to youngsters about the dangers of gang culture.