The Story of West Side Story
Boys, boys, crazy boys: 50 years ago, a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet opened on Broadway and effectively turned the musical theatre world on its ear. West Side Story was a musical of remarkable originality, pulsating excitement, dynamic and passionately beautiful music, and choreography that has never been equaled from that day to the present.
West Side Story is set in Urban New York, against a background of what the youngsters who take part in it, with a deadly childish seriousness, would like to think is “gang warfare.”
The Romeo of the story is Tony, once the leader of the Jets, a juvenile “gang” exclusive to the children of immigrants from Europe; his Juliet is Maria, the sister4 of the big boss of the Sharks, a gang made up of youngsters from Puerto Rico.
Before the final curtain, three boys are dead, victims of the foolish, wasteful children's games that continue to play out 50 years later in immigrant communities even in our fair city of Vancouver. The themes of love, hate, racism, mistrust, misunderstanding, and “at risk” youth are as vital today as when the show was first written.
And its story, music, lyrics and choreography are just as engaging, moving and thrilling. West Side Story is one of the most popular and beloved of all musicals and a chance for Royal City Musical Theatre to showcase the dedicated and well-trained dancers and triple-threat performers that captivated our audiences in the last season's production of 42nd Street.
Audiences of all ages will want to join with us in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the powerful and challenging masterpiece of musical theatre.
A Little History
The original stage production burst on the scene in 1957 with Larry Kert (Tony), Carol Lawrence (Maria) and Chita Rivera (Anita). A young talent named Martin Charnin, who went on to write Annie, Annie Warbucks and The No-Frills Revue, played a gang member.
The show racked up 732 performances, went on tour for ten weeks, then came back to Broadway for 249 more performances. It also earned the reputation of being a major milestone in dance as an integrated part of musical theatre storytelling. Jerome Robbins conceived, directed and choreographed (and got a Tony for the latter).
The faithful 1962 movie starred Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer and Rita Moreno. A Broadway revival in 1980 (with Josie de Guzman and Debbie Allen) ran 341 performances. Now it's one of the most popular shows in the Broadway catalog. The show also marked the Broadway debut of Stephen Sondheim, who at 27 penned its now-classic lyrics and went on to change musical theatre. Originally called East Side Story, the show was being written concurrently with Candide by composer Leonard Bernstein. Several songs intended for one were reworked and ended up in the other, such as One Hand, One Heart."
"A superlative musical; a chiller, a thriller, as up-to-the-minute as tomorrow's headlines." - New York Mirror
"There has never been a happier integration, a more sensitive blending of story, song and movement." - New York Journal-American