WEST SIDE STORY LA Engagement Ends 1/2

WEST SIDE STORY will end its Los Angeles engagement on January 2nd, 2011.

Tony Award-winning librettist Arthur Laurents' Broadway direction will be recreated for the tour by David Saint, the Associate Director on Broadway.  The original Jerome Robbins choreography is reproduced by Tony Award-nominee Joey McKneely (The Boy From Oz, The Life). 
 
Tickets for WEST SIDE STORY may be purchased online at www.BroadwayLA.org or by phone at 1-800-982-ARTS(2787).  Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Pantages Box Office and all Ticketmaster ticket outlets.  The Pantages Theatre is located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, just east of Vine Street, and the box office opens daily at 10am.
 
The new Broadway cast recording of WEST SIDE STORY won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album on January 31, 2010. The Bernstein and Sondheim score is considered to be one of Broadway's finest and features such classics of the American musical theatre as "Something's Coming," "Tonight," "America," "I Feel Pretty" and "Somewhere."
The new Broadway production began previews at the Palace Theatre on February 23, 2009, opened to critical acclaim on Thursday, March 19, 2009, breaking box office records and going on to recoup its $14 million investment after running only 30 weeks.

Based on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, WEST SIDE STORY is set in 1950's New York City.  It follows the doomed love story of two star-crossed lovers from rival gangs - the Jets (a working-class white gang) and the Sharks (first-generation Puerto Ricans). Tony, a member of the Jets, falls in love with Maria, sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks.

WEST SIDE STORY has often been credited with changing the course of American musical theatre.  Originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, WEST SIDE STORY opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 26, 1957 and garnered passionate reactions from critics and audiences alike. 

Applauding the creators' innovation in dance and musical style, TIME Magazine exclaimed "Robbins' energetic choreography and Bernstein's grand score accentuate the satiric, hard-edged lyrics of Sondheim and Laurents' capture of the angry voice of urban youth."  New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson described the show as "profoundly moving; an incandescent piece of work where theatre people, engrossed in an original project, are all in top form."  The original Broadway production won six 1958 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Choreography.  The show ran 732 performances, closing on June 27, 1959.

The motion picture version, directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, was released in 1961 and starred Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as Maria and Tony, and featured Rita Moreno, recreating the role of Anita, which she had originated in the Broadway production.  The film was widely praised by critics, and it won a staggering 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, out of its eleven nominated categories, as well as a special award for Robbins.  The film's soundtrack grossed more than any other album before it.

The cast of the current tour of WEST SIDE STORY features Kyle Harris as Tony, Ali Ewoldt as Maria, Michelle Aravena as Anita, Joseph J. Simeone as Riff and German Santiago as Bernardo. Also featured are Mike Boland as Krupke, Ryan Christopher Chotto as A-rab, Stephen DeRosa as Glad Hand, Drew Foster as Action, Alexandra Frohlinger as Anybodys, Jay Garcia as Chino, Grant Gustin as Baby John, Nathan Keen as Big Deal, Christopher Patrick Mullen as Schrank, John O'Creagh as Doc, Kyle Robinson as Diesel, Cary Tedder as Snowboy.

Rounding out the cast of WEST SIDE STORY are Lauren Boyd, Alicia Charles, Beth Crandall, Dean Andre de Luna, Ted Ely, Lori Ann Ferreri, Ryan Ghysels, Tim Hausmann, Dea Julien, Daniel Kermidas, Kristen Paulicelli, Christie Portera, Erika Santillana, Kevin Santos, Michael Scirrotto, Jeffrey C. Sousa, Jessica Swesey, Kathryn Lin Terza and Kirstin Tucker.

WEST SIDE STORY is written by three theatrical luminaries: two-time Tony Award winner Arthur Laurents (book) and multiple Tony and Grammy Award winners Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) in his Broadway debut.  WEST SIDE STORY features scenic designs by James Youmans (Gypsy), costumes by Tony Award nominee David C. Woolard (The Farnsworth Invention, The Who's Tommy), lighting by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley (Gypsy, Jersey Boys), sound design by Tony Award nominee Dan Moses Schreier (Gypsy, A Catered Affair) and hair by Mark Adam Rampmeyer (The Farnsworth Invention).

For more information on WEST SIDE STORY, please visit www.BroadwayWestSideStory.com.
The Pantages Theatre is located in Hollywood at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard at Vine Street.
The Pantages Theatre engagement of WEST SIDE STORY will feature two performance schedules.  From November 30 - December 19, performances will be Tuesday through Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 1pm & 6:30pm.  The performance schedule for holiday weeks, December 21-January 2, will be Tuesday & Wednesday at 8pm, Thursday at 2pm & 8pm, Friday at 2pm, Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 1pm & 6:30pm. 

Regular tickets for WEST SIDE STORY range in price from $25 - $90, with tickets for the November 30th preview ranging from $20-$85.  Prices are subject to change without notice. 

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 Miller, The Weinstein Company and Broadway Across America. 
WEST SIDE STORY is presented locally by Broadway/L.A. as the first show of its 2010-2011 Season.
For more information, please visit the Pantages Theatre's official website: www.BroadwayLA.org.

 

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