West Side Story on Stage Videos - Broadway

Broadway director and writer Gordon Greenberg has revised the book for Meet Me In St. Louis at The Muny. Performances run August 4 - 12. This production, the 8th in Muny history, will also include several songs new to the stage adaptation of Meet Me In St. Louis, including 'Boys and Girls Like You and Me,' a song written by Rodgers & Hammerstein for Oklahoma! and then recorded for, but ultimately cut, from the film of Meet Me In St. Louis. This production will also include the first stage use of 'You and I,' a song in the film by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed.

saasdasdThe iconic Chita Rivera's career is practically unparalleled in the history of the American theatre, and on Sunday, she was honored with a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. In accepting her award, she said, 'I wouldn't trade my life in the theatre for anything, because theatre is life.' The legendary triple-threat closed her speech saying, 'There's still a lot of salt left in this shaker.'

Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He took piano lessons as a boy and attended the Garrison and Boston Latin Schools. At Harvard University, he studied with Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame-Hill, and A. Tillman Merritt, among others. Before graduating in 1939, he made an unofficial conducting debut with his own incidental music to 'The Birds,' and directed and performed in Marc Blitzstein's 'The Cradle Will Rock.' Then at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he studied piano with Isabella Vengerova, conducting with Fritz Reiner, and orchestration with Randall Thompson. 

Happy Birthday Arthur Laurents! Laurents' first play, Home of the Brave, opened on Broadway in 1945, followed by many others. He wrote his first musical, West Side Story, in 1957, followed by Gypsy and others. His first screenplay was The Snake Pit in 1948, followed by others including Rope, Anastasia, The Way We Were and The Turning Point. His own play, Invitation to a March in 1960, was the first of several he directed. I Can Get It for You Wholesale in 1961 was the first musical he directed, followed by others including La Cage aux Folles and Gypsy with Angela Lansbury, then Tyne Daly and most recently, Patti LuPone. He pased away in May 2011.

From the Broadway Beat archives today is rare interview with Arthur Laurents, interviewed by Sidney Myer, talking about GYPSY, Merman & More.

First reported by Deadline.com was the sad news that legendary director and writer Arthur Laurents has passed away at 93 years old, dying in his sleep. The Los Angeles Times has added a short statement from Jonathan Lomma, Laurents' agent at William Morris Agency who confirmed his death Thursday, saying that 'he died earlier this evening, peacefully in his sleep, at his home in New York City, after a short illness.' I the video above, watch as Laurents goes behind the recent 2009 revival of WEST SIDE STORY.

The theater community recentky kicked off The Fantasticks 50th anniversary year with an early curtain of the show and a post-performance cocktail reception at The Snapple Center on Monday May 4th. The beloved hit also recently welcomed a number of new cast members, including the charming young actress Ramona Mallory as 'Luisa.'