Interview: A Once in Forever Collaboration: MSMT Panel Discusses WEST SIDE STORY

MSMT’s Peek Behind the Curtain drew its largest audience of the summer for its last program on August 13, 2025, which was devoted to the theatre’s revival of WEST SIDE STORY, the final main stage production which has won widespread critical acclaim and is drawing sold out houses at the Pickard Theater. The panel consisted of Kelly Liz Bolick (SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, WIZARD OF OZ, JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT), who plays Velma and serves as Dance Captain, and Austin Nedrow (THE FULL MONTY, NEWSIES), who portrays Baby John, together with MSMT Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark, who has played Tony in some 250 performances in his career, and BWW moderator Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold.

Held at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, the conversation addressed such topics as the timeless nature and groundbreaking elements of WEST SIDE STORY; the production’s new Marc Robin choreography; short rehearsal process; the visual elements of the show; and the impact of this inspiring, even “life-changing” work.

Here are some of the most striking observations from the panel:

Curt Dale Clark

• “WEST SIDE STORY seems new to me still. It is said that Rodgers and Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA broke the mold with a show that had everything - book, music, dancing, singing, acting – and that WEST SIDE STORY perfected it.”
• “MSMT is retelling the show the original creators wrote; that show parallels what is going on in the world today – Palestine/Israel, Republicans/Democrats.  It’s a timeless story.  Experiencing the audience’s silence at the end of the show is the best feeling in the world for me.”
• [In the rehearsal process], “I always say, whatever you learn today, you have to know tomorrow.”

Kelly Liz Bolick

• [Referring to the MSMT rehearsal process], “I like to compare the experience to a teaching hospital. Everyone – actors, designers, technicians – work so hard and they make sure they come back the next day one step ahead of where they were so they can keep pushing forward.”
• “One of my primary responsibilities as Dance Captain and one of the biggest challenges is knowing what everyone does.  I make charts and give charts to the cast. When someone is out, I work to fill the hole by rearranging everything so the audience doesn’t know anyone is missing.”
• “Playing a character like Velma, who doesn’t say a lot in words, is fun and challenging.  Without using words, you have to create a language in other ways –glances, gestures. These shape each individual story, which then makes the collective story better. Those little moments help to make the whole story make sense.”

Austin Nedrow

• “WEST SIDE STORY is one of those perfect book musicals that makes you feel reverence for the work. No matter how short the rehearsal process is, everyone is thrilled to undertake the challenge. The work that begins in the rehearsal studio doesn’t stop; it continues to grow. Every night [on stage] it feels as if every cast member is discovering new moments.”
• “WEST SIDE STORY is a play that happens to involve dance and song and very full characters.”
• “WEST SIDE STORY is unique. Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, and Jerome Robbins came together only once to create a work that exemplifies the rules of ‘why am I singing these words?, why in this order?’ The creators gave the actors everything they need – every note, every lyric necessary to tell the story. As an actor, I don’t get to do very many musicals like WEST SIDE STORY.  It is truly a life-changing experience.” Nedrow says he can feel this happening in the profound silence of the last few moments of the play as he gently puts a shawl over Maria’s shoulders before leaving the stage – a hopeful sign that the tragedy can lead to the end of hatred between the rival groups.

Photo courtesy of MSMT, Dane Whitlock, photographer

WEST SIDE STORY runs from August 6-23, 2025, at MSMT’s Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus, 1 Bath Rd., Brunswick, ME 04011  207-725-8769  www.msmt.org