By: Jared Evan
Not every show will be returning to Broadway this fall, as the most important theater district in the world, crawls out from the pandemic. The dynamic revival of West Side Story, which was playing in front of sold out houses every night before the pandemic, will not be returning to the 1,800 seat Broadway Theater this fall.
“This difficult and painful decision comes after we have explored every possible path to a successful run, and unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, reopening is not a practical proposition,” Kate Horton, a producer on the show, said in a statement. “We thank all the brilliant, creative artists who brought ‘West Side Story’ to life at the Broadway Theater, even for so brief a time, especially the extraordinary acting company, 33 of whom made their Broadway debuts in this production.”
This 5th Broadway revival of the classic Leonard Bernstein and Steven Sondheim collaboration had only recently opened on Broadway, when the pandemic shuttered all of Broadway, and decimated tourism and hospitality in NYC.
The show’s lead producer, Scott Rudin, announced in April that he was stepping back from active roles in his Broadway productions after he came under fire for a long history of bullying employees. The remaining Rudin productions: Book of Mormon, To Kill a Mockingbird, and the upcoming revival of Music Man, which will star Hugh Jackman, are all due to hit the stage this fall and beyond.
West Side Story is one of the few Broadway shows of the winter 2020, pre-pandemic season not to return. Disney’s “Frozen” and the stage adaptation of 2004 film, “Mean Girls”, announced early during the shutdown that they would not be returning. As shows one by one announced their re-opening in 2021, West Side Story was a big question-mark, until the producers announced the bad news.
A new film adaptation by Steven Spielberg is scheduled to be released in December, but the Broadway show will not be around to capitalize on any interest that the new film version generates, NY Times explained.
This revival of West Side Story was very different than the traditional performances. The show was condensed into one act and relied on heavy videography and large screens to modernize the 1958 classic musical about an ill-fated romance in the street gang underworld of the Upper West Side.
The story of the Jets and the Sharks is timeless and one of the most well-known musicals of all time. Leonard Bernstein’s melodies, Sondheim’s lyrics, and Arthur Laurents book made musical history, and the original film adaptation ended up winning 10 Academy awards. The original Broadway production won 2 TONY awards, including Jerome Robbins for his incredible choreography.
This ill-fated revival preformed at the cavernous Broadway Theater on Broadway and West 53rd street for around 2 months before the pandemic, struck the city. The “West Side Story” revival creative team included director Ivo van Hove choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.
