{"id":27904,"date":"2013-10-28T07:33:28","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T14:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=27904"},"modified":"2013-10-31T01:31:54","modified_gmt":"2013-10-31T08:31:54","slug":"west-side-story-opens-at-the-israeli-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=27904","title":{"rendered":"West Side Story Opens at The Israeli Opera"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"West<\/a>
West Side Story<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of my favorite artistic collaborations – West Side Story<\/em> (Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents), is coming back to the Israeli Opera this week, with performances from October 31 – November 9, 2013.<\/p>\n

It’s been over 50 years since Maria and Tony first sang and danced their way into our hearts, but West Side Story remains as moving, entertaining and as socially relevant as the day it premiered.<\/p>\n

Joey McKneely brings an exciting spark to this revival production, remaining faithful to the original choreography, yet imbuing it with a more contemporary, grittier feel. This production was first performed at the Israeli Opera in 2009. Talking to director\/choreographer McKneely at that time about his approach to the musical, he said that the look had evolved over the years into a “Fifties museum that looked like \u201cGrease\u201d with poodle skirts and slicked back hair,\u201d whereas for McKneely, the emphasis is not on reviving West Side Story as a period piece, but rather looking at its timeless qualities: \u201cThis is a story with so much heart, emotion and drama.”<\/p>\n

\"West<\/a>
West Side Story<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

McKneely’s directing heightens the social issues within the musical: gang wars, racial tension, gender issues and the contrast between the dream and reality of immigration; in a production that is both entertaining and thought provoking. Beautiful, exciting, funny and romantic, the songs, dance sequences, and the youthful energy of the cast capture the heart and imagination.<\/p>\n

The performance is in English with a Hebrew translation by Ehud Manor project in surtitles. An hour before each performance there will be an introductory lecture on West Side Story, entrance to the lecture is free for ticket holders. Tickets are 175\/237\/378\/428 NIS; and may be ordered online www.israel-opera.co.il, or call: 03-692777.<\/p>\n

Performances: October 31st at 20:00; November 1st at 13:00 & 21:00; November 2nd at 16:00 & 20:30; November 4th at 20:00; November 5th at 20:00; November 6th at 20:00; November 7th at 20:00; November 8th at 13:00 & 21:00; November 9th at 16:00.<\/p>\n

West Side Story<\/p>\n

Book by\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Arthur Laurents<\/p>\n

Lyrics\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Stephen Sondheim<\/p>\n

Original production directed by\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Jerome Robbins<\/p>\n

Conductor\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Donald Chan
\nDirector and Choreographer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Joey McKneely
\nSet Designer\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Paul Gallis
\nCostume Designer\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Renate Schmitzer
\nLighting Designer\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Peter Halbsgut
\nSoloists:
\nMaria\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Rachel Zatcoff
\nJessica Soza
\nTony\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Thaddeus Pearson
\nAnthony Festa
\nAnita\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Penelope Armstead-Williams
\nBernardo\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Pepe Munoz
\nRiff \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mark MacKillop
\nDoc\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Doug Rees
\nOfficer Krupke\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mel Shrawder
\nChino\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Nick Nerio
\nLt. Schrank\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0John Wojda
\nGlad Hand\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Eric Rolland
\nAction\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Luke Hawkins
\nA-Rab \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Matthew Couvillon
\nDiesel\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Andrew Purcell
\nBaby John\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Michael Bullard
\nSnow Baby\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Beau Middlebrook
\nGeetar\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Nicholas Sipes
\nBig Deal\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Brandon Patrick Stonestreet
\nPepe\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Charles South
\nIndio\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Christian Elan Ortiz
\nLuis\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Adam Soniak
\nAnxious\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Michael Bishop
\nNibbles\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Travante Semale Baker
\nMoose\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Armando Yearwood Jr.
\nGraziella\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Christie Portera
\nVelma\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Dominique DeNinis
\nMinnie\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Alexa de Barr
\nClarice\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Blue Cervini
\nAnybodys\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Hannah Balagot
\nPauline\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Melanie Wildman
\nRosalia\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Leslie Jackson
\nConsuela\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Na Tonia Monet
\nTeresita\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Natalie M. Williams
\nFrancisca\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Tiffany Mellard
\nEstella\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Sheridan Mouawad
\nMargarita\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Naomie C. Walley
\nDance Captain \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mitchell Woodcock<\/p>\n

The Opera Orchestra \u2013 The Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion
\nSurtitles in Hebrew
\nTranslation: Ehud Manor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite artistic collaborations – West Side Story (Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents), is coming back to the Israeli Opera this week, with performances from October 31 – November 9, 2013. It’s been over 50 years since Maria and Tony first sang and danced their way into our hearts, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dance","category-music","category-theater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}