West Side Story is one of the most iconic masterpieces of American Musical Theater. It revolutionized the art form and the impact it possesses by forcing audiences to come face to face with the struggles that were plaguing the world around them.
Even after it’s opening sixty years ago West Side Story is still as powerful and frighteningly relevant as it was in 1957. Each day our headlines are filled with stories of intolerance and discrimination as it pertains to race, religion, sexual orientation or gender. Feuds, rivalries, and bullying are rampant in our government and social media. Harrowing stories of gun violence in our schools and in our communities fail to cease.
West Side Story reminds us what can happens when we stop choosing to see the world not only through our own eyes but of all those around us. The consequences of our intolerance and lack of empathy can be detrimental and dangerous. Change, growth, and compassion must be in the forefront of our agenda. If not, the cycle continues.
Love, as West Side Story shows us, is the answer. Love sees no race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, political or economic boundaries. It breaks the barriers set upon us by ourselves, others, and world around us. It reiterates that there truly is a time and place for all of us.
I could not have prepared myself for how this piece of theater would resonate in a new light being set on young artists who are the true age of the characters. They inhabit the work in an incredibly poignant capacity that is true to their own journeys as adolescents.
My life was changed as a young fourteen year old Jet in a production of West Side Story. The experience gave me the strength to trust my place in the world and to find the beauty in it. It ignited the fire that would fuel my artistic journey. I hope that it does the same for this group of extraordinary young artists.
Kyle Pleasant
Director, West Side Story
