NCSA to Present 50th Anniversary Production of West Side Story

The North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) will present a 50th anniversary production of West Side Story, May 3-13 at the Roger L. Stevens Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. On June 8, the show will be have a special performance as part of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago.

The cast — which will be led by Paul Baswell and Jordan Brown alternating as Tony, and Katharine Elkington and Anna Wood alternating as Maria — as well as the orchestra and crew of the NCSA production will consist of approximately 100 students chosen from all five of the school’s professional training divisions: dance, design and production, drama, filmmaking, and music.

West Side Story has music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. The original Broadway production, which opened on September 26, 1957, was directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins; the stars were Carol Lawrence, Larry Kert, Chita Rivera, Mickey Calin, and Ken LeRoy.

Over the decades, the show has become one of the most famous musicals in Broadway history. The 1961 film version, starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, Russ Tamblyn, and George Chakiris, won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

NCSA’s production will be directed by the school’s dean of drama, Gerald Freedman, who was assistant director of the original production and co-director of the 1980 Broadway revival. The musical director/conductor will be NCSA’s new chancellor, John Mauceri, who worked closely with Leonard Bernstein for 18 years and is best known as music director of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Guest artist Kevin Backstrom will recreate Robbins’ choreography for this production. On May 5, a symposium in Winston-Salem will feature members of the Bernstein family along with notables from the original 1957 Broadway production.

For more information and/or to purchase tickets, phone 336-721-1945 or visit the website www.ncarts.edu.