Photos: Opera San José Stages WEST SIDE STORY, April 16-May 1

Opera San José will close its 2021-2022 season with West Side Story, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerome Robbins's classic American tale of two star-crossed lovers and the prejudices that keep them apart.

Bursting with passion, humor, vibrant dancing, and some of the most memorable music ever written, this stunning production of West Side Story - the company's first-ever musical - will be conducted by Christopher James Ray, staged by director Crystal Manich, and choreographed by Michael Pappalardo. Acclaimed singers from across the U.S. have been cast to bring the leading roles to life, including soprano Teresa Castillo as Maria, tenor Noah Stewart as Tony, mezzo-soprano Natalie Rose Havens as Anita, baritone Trevor Martin as Riff, tenor Jared V. Esguerra as Chino, baritone Antony Sanchez as Bernardo, and Philip Skinner as Doc. "West Side Story is one of America's most important works; it absolutely belongs on our stage. Our job is to promote not only promising new talent and incubating new artists, but also to amplify American works, particularly those which speak to our current societal issues," says General Director Shawna Lucey. "The musical gestures of West Side Story are grand, perfectly suited to the operatic stage, where we can bring them to life with outstanding voices and orchestration." West Side Story will be sung in English, with English and Spanish supertitles, with performances April 16 - May 1, 2022 (dates/times below) at the California Theatre, 345 South 1st Street, San Jose. For more information or to purchase tickets ($55-$195), the public can visit operasj.org or call (408) 437-4450 (open Monday through Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm). Vaccination requirements are subject to change according to local city, state, and county mandates and OSJ health and safety policies. Please visit Opera San José's COVID-19 safety and health protocols for the most up-to-date information concerning COVID protocols: 'operasj.org/health-and-safety/.

Inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story is one of America's most iconic musical works, conceived by Jerome Robbins with soaring music by Leonard Bernstein, inventive lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents that is by turns witty, funny, and heart-wrenching. Opera San José's production will feature the original book and music, with the incandescent music performed by some of America's brightest young operatic singers. Puerto Rican born, Emmy Award nominated director Crystal Manich, who first watched the film version at age 12 and has been a fan ever since, says, "At its core, I have always believed that the show could benefit from a Puerto Rican director, infusing other cultural elements that are not on the page. Opera San José has given me the opportunity to finally tackle the show that I have been waiting to direct for almost 30 years. It is a show that deserves to be reexamined, in the same way that I examined the film as an adolescent: over and over again."

A breakthrough work in American theatre, West Side Story exposes the gritty rivalry between two teenage street gangs, the US-born "Jets" and the newly transplanted Puerto Rican "Sharks," competing for supremacy in the streets of New York City. When a young man falls for the younger sister of his archrival, their forbidden love turns to tragedy. The original 1957 Broadway production, conceived, directed, and choreographed by Robbins, marked Sondheim's Broadway debut, and ran for 732 performances. It was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and won two, losing the top prize to its blockbuster competition that year, The Music Man. A 1961 musical film adaptation of West Side Story, co-directed by Robert Wise and Robbins, was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10, including Best Picture. The 2021 film adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg, features a new screenplay by Tony Kushner, which rearranges the songs and resets the production a few years later, when the neighborhood over which the gangs are warring is already being demolished to make way for Lincoln Center.

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