The 1950s American musical, West Side Story, is coming to the UAE and will open at the Dubai Opera on Valentine’s Day, February 14, for a five-day run.
Based on the novel by Arthur Laurents’ take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the musical is set in the Upper West Side of New York City and highlights the animosity shared between two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, who are of different ethnic backgrounds.
Leonard Bernstein, who composed the music for the play, with songs such as Maria, America, Somewhere and A Boy Like That, won a Grammy for best musical album as well as the Theatre World Award in 2009. West Side Story has been running for nearly 60 years and has been performed all around the world.
The Dubai show follows the original choreography, recreated by director and choreographer Joey McKneely, a former pupil of the musical’s original choreographer Jerome Robbins. The musical supervisor is the renowned conductor Donald Chan, who studied under Bernstein.
“West Side Story is an iconic musical known, and one that has been loved the world over for more than 50 years. It’s fantastic to be able to bring this incredible production for the first time ever to the GCC and to introduce this timeless classic to an entirely new audience,” said Jasper Hope, CEO of Dubai Opera.
Tickets for the multiple Tony Award-winning show are priced starting from Dh250 and are on sale now. Go to dubaiopera.com.
