Theater of the Stars will present a special 50th Anniversary production of WEST SIDE STORY, America’s Greatest Musical, at the
Fabulous Fox Theatre from August 21-26, 2007.
“This brilliant adaptation of the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ love story is truly an American classic,”states Christopher B. Manos, Producer of Theater of the Stars. “It showcases the talents of some of our greatest theatrical geniuses: Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents.”
Produced by Atlanta’s Theater of the Stars the timeless tragedy is as relevant in today’s society as it was when it was written. In 1949 director-choreographer Jerome Robbins started working on the idea for WEST SIDE STORY. Originally he thought maybe Juliet would be Jewish and Romeo would be Catholic, and the feud of the Shakespeare-inspired tale would center on Easter vs. Passover. He discussed the idea with Leonard Bernstein, but due to extremely busy schedules, they did not get started on the project until 1955. By that time, they changed the conflict to take place between rival gangs. One gang would be native New Yorkers (The Jets), and the other gang would be Puerto Rican (The Sharks), and the backdrop would be the slums of New York City’s West Side. The original production opened on Broadway in the fall of 1957.
