West Side Story

West Side Story is a musical with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was inspired by William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. As in Romeo and Juliet, the love between members of two rival groups in West Side Story leads to violent confrontations “and a tragic ending with an underlying message: Violence breeds violence, so make peace and learn to share turf.” Among the social themes explored in the musical are “bigotry, cultural misunderstanding and the social failure to fully integrate and empower young people in constructive ways.”

The story is set in the Upper West Side neighborhood in New York City in the mid 1950s, an ethnic, blue-collar neighborhood (in the early 1960s, much of the neighborhood was cleared in an urban renewal project for Lincoln Center, which changed the neighborhood’s character). The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The members of the Sharks, from Puerto Rico, are taunted by the Jets, a white gang. The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang’s leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theatre. Bernstein’s score for the musical includes “Jet Song”, “Something’s Coming”, “Maria”, “Tonight”, “America”, “Cool”, “One Hand, One Heart”, “I Feel Pretty”, “Somewhere”, “Gee, Officer Krupke” and “A Boy Like That”. The cast is set to include Shereen Pimentel as Maria, Isaac Cole Powell as Tony, Amar Ramasar as Bernardo, Thomas Jay Ryan as Lt. Schrank, Yesenia Ayala as Anita and Ben Cook as Riff; the latter two are also set to appear in the upcoming film remake. Scenic and lighting design are by Jan Versweyveld, with costumes by An d’Huys.

West Side Story

Broadway Theatre on Broadway

First Preview 10, Dec 2019

Opening Night 06, Feb 2020

Closing Night 11, Mar 2020

Cast

Yesenia Ayala – Anita/Bernardo’s Girl
Shereen Pimentel – Maria/Bernardo’s Sister
Isaac Powell – Tony/Riff’s Friend
Amar Ramasar – Bernardo/ The Leader, The Sharks
Ben Cook – Riff/ The Leader, The Jets
Kevin Csolak – A-Rab/ A Jet

Creative

Book by Arthur Laurents
Based on a Conception by Jerome Robbins
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Music orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick
Musical Director: Alexander Gemignani
Directed by Ivo van Hove
Choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Scenic Design by Jan Versweyveld
Costume Design by An D’Huys
Lighting Design by Jan Versweyveld
Sound Design by Tom Gibbons
Video Design by Luke Halls

The Broadway Theatre

The Broadway Theatre (formerly Universal’s Colony Theatre, B.S. Moss’ Broadway Theatre, Earl Carroll’s Broadway Theatre, and Ciné Roma) is a Broadway theatre located in midtown-Manhattan. It has a large seating capacity of 1,761, and unlike most Broadway theaters, it is literally located on Broadway, at number 1681.Designed by architect Eugene De Rosa for Benjamin S. Moss, it opened as B.S. Moss’s Colony Theatre on Christmas Day 1924 as a venue for vaudeville shows and motion pictures. The theater has operated under many names and owners. It was renamed Universal’s Colony Theatre, B.S. Moss’ Broadway Theatre, and Earl Carroll’s Broadway Theatre before becoming a legitimate theater house simply called Broadway Theatre on December 8, 1930. In 1937, known as Ciné Roma, it showed Italian films. For a short time during the 1950s it showed Cinerama films.

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Address

1681 Broadway (between 52nd St & 53rd St) New York, NY 10036

Transport

Subway: C, E to 50th St; N, Q, R to 49th St; 1 to 50th St

Phone

(212) 239-6200

Box Office

Sun & Mon 10am-6pm Tues – Sat 10am – 8pm

Access Information

Theatre is not completely wheelchair accessible.

Seating is accessible to all parts of the Orchestra without steps. Wheelchair seating is located in the Orchestra only.