Broadway star Sierra Boggess had been cast in the lead role of Maria

The BBC’s former music chief has dismissed a race row that led to a white actress pulling out of the broadcaster’s production of West Side Story as ‘silly political correctness’.

Broadway star Sierra Boggess had been cast in the lead role of Maria, a young Puerto Rican immigrant, for the performance at this year’s Proms.

But in April she dramatically quit after the corporation was accused of ‘whitewashing’ by casting the white star in a Latina role.

Critics accused her of ‘stealing’ the part – famously played by US star Natalie Wood in the 1961 film – from a Latina actress, with one urging the singer: ‘Step back. This is not your story to tell.’

However, yesterday Humphrey Burton, the BBC’s former head of music and arts, said he found the backlash over the decision to cast Miss Boggess ‘silly’. Speaking at the Hay Literary Festival, he said: ‘I thought Sierra Boggess was the best Maria I had ever heard. She says she doesn’t want to do it, it should be done by a Puerto Rican girl.’

‘I think it is silly, [although] it is politically incorrect of me to say that.’

Mr Burton said that, ideally, the part ‘should be played by a young girl’ because Maria is ‘a virginal 15 or 16-year-old just arrived from Puerto Rico’. But he added that he believes a more seasoned performer would be needed for a high-profile stage performance. ‘The fact is that to do these things on stage you need a certain amount of experience and guile,’ he said.

Pictured: Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood in West Side Story in 1961

Despite the controversy, Mr Burton said he still believes the show – due to take place at the Royal Albert Hall on August 11 – will be ‘very exciting’.

The BBC is yet to announce who will replace Miss Boggess, but Mr Burton predicted that the show’s conductor John Wilson may have cast someone very young. ‘When [Wilson] was talking about doing West Side Story at Glyndebourne and people were asking to be auditioned, he said the person that is going to sing hasn’t yet left college,’ he said.

Announcing her decision to retire from the role, Miss Boggess, 36, said: ‘I’ve realised that if I were to do this concert, it would once again deny Latinas the opportunity to sing this score, as well as deny the importance of seeing themselves represented onstage. And that would be a huge mistake.

‘I apologise for not coming to this realisation sooner and as an artist, I must ask myself how I can best serve the world, and in this case my choice is clearer than ever: To step aside and allow an opportunity to correct a wrong that has been done for years.’ At the time, the BBC said: ‘We respect Sierra’s decision... and will announce her replacement in due course.’