Choate’s West Side Story production premiered this Thursday, May 27. Since the cast began working on the production at the end of winter term, there have been a number of changes in the leadership roles in the performance; nevertheless, according to the musical’s current director Tracy Ginder-Delventhal, “It’s going to be great!”

History of West Side Story

West Side Story, commonly referred to as a modern day version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, takes place in Manhattan, NY. Set in the 1950’s when Puerto Rican’s were immigrating en masse to New York City, this story depicts a feud between two gangs, one composed of city natives and one consisting of the Puerto Rican immigrants.  The plot evolves into a story of a forbidden romance between two members belonging to each of the two gangs.

The first performance of West Side Story was in 1957 in Washington D.C. The lyrics were written by Stephen Sondheim and the music by Leonard Bernstein, and the play itself was created by Arthur Laurents. Since then, there have been many different productions of this musical all over the world. One of the most recent productions is the one at Choate this year, which premiered yesterday.

Leadership Changes

A few weeks ago, Choate senior Julia Discenza replaced Adam Battlelstein as the show’s main choreographer. Emily Lutin, a Dance Educator, Choreographer, and NETA Certified Yoga Instruction is the currently Choate dance program instructor. Soon after Discenza’s inauguration, Lutin agreed to work alongside Discenza to choreograph the show.  According to some of the cast members, this team has been very successful.

When the original director of West Side Story, the former Director of the PMAC Sue Clark, left the Choate staff, she was no longer able to honor her job as the musical’s director. Tracy Ginder-Delventhal stepped in as her replacement.  Discenza, also a cast member of Choate’s production, believes that Ginder-Delventhal is doing a wonderful job and is pleased with the adjustment. Ginder-Delvental reciprocated those feelings: “They are wonderful cast members… I’m very happy about it.”

Compared to past productions, Discenza commented that “We are probably not as far along as the previous spring musicals I’ve experienced here, but that is mostly due to the huge shifts in leadership. Overall, we’re just as far along as we need to be, and the cast and everyone involved have been extremely hardworking and dedicated in order to get us thus far. There is no doubt that we will be more than ready for opening night!”

Leah Suffern ’12, a non-cast member, said, “I am looking forward to going to see how all their hard work pays off. Through all of the rehearsing and setting up, this is bound to be a great production. I’m sure it’s going to be amazing and I can’t wait to see it.”

Last weekend marked the tech-weekend for the production. Cast members and all those involved with the production congregated in the PMAC for the majority of the weekend. Dress rehearsals began this past Monday, and consumed most of the cast members’ nights for the remainder of the week. Based on observations of Monday’s rehearsal, the practices seemed to be going well. The set appeared to be fairly simplistic, and the cast seemed to use this concept to their advantage by overwhelming the set’s simplicity with powerful acting.

Performances will take place tonight, Friday, May 28th, as well as next weekend on Thursday, June 3rd, Friday June 4th, and Saturday June 5th. Tickets are free for students, but there is a fee for outside attendees, who are also encouraged to attend.