More than fifty years ago, a show about New York City changed musical theatre forever. Now, it's coming home to make history once again. This spring, WEST SIDE STORY returns to Broadway in a groundbreaking new production directed by its legendary librettist, Tony Award® winner Arthur Laurents.
From the first notes to the final breath, WEST SIDE STORY is one of the most memorable musicals and greatest love stories of all time. Mr. Laurents' book remains as powerful, poignant and timely as ever. The score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim -- a collection of standards that includes "Tonight," "America," "Maria," "I Feel Pretty" and "Somewhere" -- is widely regarded as one of the best ever written. And the extraordinary, Tony-winning winning choreography by Jerome Robbins completely changed the language of Broadway dance. This production will offer a bold new design that builds on the show's raw power and emotion to create a fresh experience unlike any that came before it.
Don't miss this thrilling presentation of a matchless work of art.
Librettist Arthur Laurents has decided to take on the project nonetheless, directing the play himself and abetted by Joey McKneely (reproducing Robbins's original choreography), music director Patrick Vaccariello, and more than a dozen above-the-title producers. They've filled the stage with a big cast and seem to have consciously made the show look and feel as different from the original as they dare. The score is intact, and generally sounds marvelous—far and away, the best element of this production is the big Broadway orchestra playing this music for us. The dancing is intact too, as Robbins ordained, but it is utterly devoid of life or energy, sitting uneasily on performers for whom it was not created.
In the production that opened Thursday night at the Palace Theater, which lovingly replicates Mr. Robbins’s balletic choreography, what prevails is a tenderhearted awareness of the naked vulnerability of being young and trapped in an urban jungle. Half a century ago middle-class adult theatergoers were shocked and appalled by the brutality of the ethnic gang warfare of “West Side Story.” (The first sentence of Brooks Atkinson’s review in The New York Times said that “the material is horrifying.”) This time audiences — the grown-ups, anyway — are more likely to respond with feelings of parental protectiveness.
1957 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1958 | West End |
London Production West End |
1959 | US Tour |
National Tour US Tour |
1960 | Broadway |
Return Engagement [Broadway] Broadway |
1964 | Broadway |
City Center Revival Broadway |
1968 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
1980 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
1991 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
1992 | Regional (UK) |
Regional Revival Regional (UK) |
1998 | West End |
London Revival West End |
2006 | Houston, TX (Regional) |
Theatre Under the Stars Production Houston, TX (Regional) |
2009 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
2010 | US Tour |
National Tour US Tour |
2015 | Washington, DC (Regional) |
Signature Theatre Production Washington, DC (Regional) |
2018 | Washington, DC (Regional) |
National Symphony Orchestra Concert Revival Washington, DC (Regional) |
2018 | Regional (US) |
100th Birthday Celebration Revival Production Regional (US) |
2020 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Featured Actress in a Musical | Karen Olivo |
2009 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Karen Olivo |
2009 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musica | Pal Joey |
2009 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Matt Cavenaugh |
2009 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Josefina Scaglione |
2009 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Arthur Laurents |
2009 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Karen Olivo |
2009 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | 0 |
2009 | Theatre World Awards | Performance | Josefina Scaglione |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Howell Binkley |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Karen Olivo |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Josefina Scaglione |
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