West Side Story Revival
2 hours and 40 minutes, with one intermission
West Side Story - 2009 Broadway History , Info & More
Palace Theatre (Broadway)
1564 Broadway New York, NY
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.
West Side Story - 2009 - Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR West Side Story
West Side Story
7 / 10
It's tempting to reward this uneven but enjoyable revival — helmed by 91-year-old Laurents himself — solely for the bilingual innovation. But for 52 years, the Jets have had the upper hand over their Spanish-speaking rivals, the Sharks, in this musical retelling of Romeo and Juliet set among mid-'50s Manhattan street gangs. The Jets have more lines and more scenes; they get three songs of their own — one which exists solely to establish their superiority ('When you're a Jet you're the top cat in town'). They even had their own language: 'Daddy-O,' 'Cracko-jacko,' 'Buddy boy.' Now, Laurents and Miranda have leveled the playing field; by translating a few key scenes — our first encounter with Maria and Anita (the sensational Karen Olivo) in the bridal shop, the pre-'America' banter between the Puerto Rican guys and their girls — the Sharks have more presence. By letting them sing in Spanish, they reclaim their own language as well.
Come Again?
7 / 10
But even though Laurents has taken some steps to modernize the book—chiefly by enlisting Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) to translate some of the dialogue and two of the songs into Spanish, ostensibly to impart a more realistic vibe to the proceedings—the show too often comes off as perfunctory, a cursory sprucing up of a touchstone that may have been better off left dusty and authentic. And in the end, the play’s dramatic power has nothing to do with contemporary relevance and everything to do with the songs and Robbins’s choreography. In fact, this production exposes too baldly the central flaw of the libretto: Tony and Maria, the Romeo and Juliet stand-ins (played here by Matt Cavenaugh and Josefina Scaglione), may be nice kids, but they’re also the show’s least interesting characters; Tony, in particular, is something of a drip.
Category
West Side Story History
Other Productions of West Side Story
| 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 |
West Side Story - 2009 Broadway Awards and Nominations
| 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 |
Videos