Sixty years ago today, a rumble began at the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway as West Side Story took the theater world by storm.
With a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins, the edgy, urban musical has returned to Broadway several times and the movie adaptation went on to win 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture.
I made my debut as a professional actor in West Side Story back in 1984, and appeared in the show several times again. Along the way I played "Riff," "Action," "Snow Boy," and "Baby John." So the brilliance that is West Side Story resonates deeply for me.
My last experience with the show was choreographing a production in San Diego where I got to pass on some of what I learned over those years as a member of the "Jets."
I don't think there's an actor/singer/dancer alive in the musical theater that isn't inspired by the creative genius and visceral acting opportunities of WSS.
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| Me sitting in front rehearsing the Sharks in "Prologue" in 2016 |
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