West Side Story to Play Broadway’s Palace Theatre, Open March 19

The revival of the landmark 1957 musical West Side Story will open at Broadway’s Palace Theatre on March 19, after beginning previews on February 23.

The production will be directed by Arthur Laurents, the show’s librettist, and the original Jerome Robbins choreography will be restaged by Tony Award nominee Joey McKneely. The production will first play Washington D.C.’s National Theatre December 16-January 17. Casting and creative team will be announced shortly.

The show, which features music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, transports Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to the turbulent streets of the Upper West Side in 1950’s New York City. Two star-crossed lovers, Tony and Maria, find themselves caught between the rival street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds, the “Jets” and the “Sharks.” Laurents has announced his intention to interweave Spanish throughout certain segments of the book and score.