VIDEO: Get A First Look At WEST SIDE STORY Staged in 360 Degrees In Japan's Rotating Auditorium

BroadwayWorld has a first look at a new StageAround production of the legendary musical West Side Story which is currently on stage at IHI Stage Around Tokyo.

West Side Story, a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim based on a conception of Jerome Robbins, will be directed by David Saint with choreography restaged by Julio Monge, who recently staged an outdoor production of West Side Story in Sydney, Australia.

The team of Broadway designers includes three-time Tony Award Nominee Anna Louizos (sets), Tony Award winner Ken Billington (lighting), Lisa Zinni (costumes), and 59 Productions (projection design). David Saint also services as a consultant to a new film version of West Side Story directed by Steven Spielberg.

Producer Robin De Levita created the StageAround staging concept for the musical phenomenon Soldier of Orange in the Netherlands, which he co-produced with NEW Productions; to date the longest running production in Dutch history, selling out every performance since opening to critical acclaim in 2010.

A London production of Soldier of Orange was recently announced to open in 2020.

The theatre features a staging technology where the audience is seated on a rotating auditorium. The auditorium moves from fully realized set to set while surrounding curved projection screens frame each setting.

Robin De Levita said, "West Side Story is without doubt one of the great masterpieces of musical theater of all time and lends itself extremely well to be re-created in the StageAround staging concept."

In 2012 Robin De Levita founded Imagine Nation together with Kees Abrahams and in 2013 the construction of a purpose-built theater, Theater Amsterdam. That theater opened with the play ANNE, based on the life of Anne Frank, which is now the longest running play in Dutch history.

In 2013 Tokyo Broadcasting System Television joined forces with Imagine Nation to build a brand new StageAround theater in the heart of Tokyo. For this venue a completely new StageAround system was engineered and constructed in the Netherlands and delivered to Japan.

West Side Story at IHI Stage Around Tokyo is produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System Television and Imagine Nation.