WEST SIDE STORY Wins Equity Award for Outstanding Chorus

Cast members of WEST SIDE STORY will receive Actors' Equity Association's Third Annual Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA) Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. The award, which honors the distinctive talents and contributions made by the chorus of a Broadway musical, will be presented in a special ceremony at the September 22nd ACCA meeting at Actors' Equity Association (Equity) headquarters in New York City.

The winners of this year's ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway chorus, all of whom were part of the WEST SIDE STORY chorus on the musical's March 19, 2009 opening night, are Isaac H. Calpito, Hayley Carlucci, Peter John Chursin, Madeline Cintron, Kristine M. Covillo, Lindsay Dunn, Yurel Echezarreta, John Arthur Greene, Manuel J. Herrera, Marina Lazzaretto, Chase Madigan, Yanira Marin, Mileyka Mateo, Kaitlin Rae Mesh, Angelina Mullins, Kat Nejat, Christian Elan Ortiz, Pamela Otterson, Danielle Polanco, Sam Rogers, Michael Rosen, Amy Ryerson, Jennifer Sanchez, Manuel Santos, Michaeljon Slinger, and Tanairi Sade Vazquez.

"The chorus of WEST SIDE STORY truly exemplifies the talent, dedication and hard work that this Award represents," said Rebecca Kim Jordan, Equity's Second Vice President and ACCA Chair. "They are an incredible example of what it means to be the heart and soul of a musical."

Members of the ACCA, all of whom are Equity members who have worked under Chorus contracts, saw the eleven musicals which opened during the 2008-2009 Broadway Season. Of those shows, five were nominated for the Award: BILLY ELLIOT, SHREK, HAIR, WHITE CHRISTMAS, WEST SIDE STORY. As part of the selection process, the committee members considered what both the director and choreography required of the chorus, the requisite skill of the chorus actor and the contributions the entire chorus made to the overall production.

A classic of the American Musical Theater Canon, WEST SIDE STORY returned to Broadway in a new production directed by its two-time Tony Award winning librettist Arthur Laurents with the original Jerome Robbins choreography restaged by Tony Award nominee Joey McKneely. Written by Laurents (book), and multiple Tony and Grammy award winners Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics), the show features scenic designs by James Youmans, costumes by Tonay Award nominee David C. Woolard, lighting by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley, hair by Mark Adam Rampmeyer, and sound design by Tony Award nominee Dan Moses Schreier.

WEST SIDE STORY is produced by Kevin McCollum, James L. Nederlander, Jeffrey Seller with Terry Allen Kramer, Sander Jacobs, Roy Furman/Jill Furman Willis, Freddy DeMann, Robyn Goodman/Walt Grossman, Hal Luftig, Roy Miler, The Weinstein Company and Broadway Across America.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.