West Side Story is a timeless classic, but despite six decades of history, you've never seen a production like this one. Under the direction of the innovative Ivo van Hove, the beloved story of star-crossed lovers and rival gangs takes on a more urgent and modern context. Featuring original choreography by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and a stage and video design by Jan Versweyveld, this West Side Story offers a radical, thrilling new interpretation of this iconic work, featuring 33 young performers making their Broadway debuts. Don't miss this opportunity to see a landmark in musical theater history as if for the very first time.
'Something's coming,' screamed the ads plastered throughout New York newspapers and magazines. 'Something good.' It was a clever repurposing of the classic lyric for marketing purposes, but the claim seemed perhaps boastful. West Side Story, the beloved mid-20th century musical take on Romeo and Juliet, was indeed coming back to Broadway. But freighted with a radical reinterpretation and several bumps along its way to opening night, it was far less clear that it would be any good. As it turns out, this West Side Story is excellent. Staged in moody, damp shadows, with a multiethnic and heavily tattooed cast and new dances that evoke but (mostly) don't replicate Jerome Robbins's balletic originals, it is neither nostalgic nor prettified.
Rather, in Belgian director Ivo van Hove's finger-snapping-free staging, there's a gigantic movie wall behind a mainly spare stage, contemporary apparel and a ferocity not observed given that the musical's 1957 premiere, when The Post's Richard Watts Jr. called it the tale of 'the ugliness and horror of a war to the dying among the boys.' With that in thoughts, van Hove's visceral acquire is spot-on for 2020. As very long as kids are still getting born into a 'lousy' entire world, 'West Side Story' should not be a journey down memory lane - it must be uncooked and real.
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 |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker |
2020 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Yesenia Ayala |
2020 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Jonathan Tunick |
2020 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Projection Design | Luke Halls |
2020 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | West Side Story |
2020 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical | Tom Gibbons |
2020 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Isaac Powell |
2020 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | West Side Story |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Isaac Powell |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Shereen Pimentel |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Ivo van Hove |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Projection Design | Luke Halls |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | West Side Story |
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