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West Side Story—the timeless musical featuring music by Leonard
Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and made famously into a
classic award-winning film starring Natalie Wood—now comes to
Manila. And no less that Christian Bautista, Karylle and Joanna
Ampil play its protagonists with Gerard Salonga as musical director,
Audie Gemora as executive producer and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as
director.
The timeless 1960’s adaptation of William
Shakespeare’s Rome and Juliet from which birthed the immortal
songs Somewhere, Maria, America and Tonight comes alive as Stages
Production runs West Side Story from September to October 2008 at
the Meralco Theater.
Balladeer Christian Bautista is given the role
of Tony. Singer and actress Karylle steps into Natalie Wood’s
shoes as Maria. Joanna Ampil, in her first musical theater
assignment in Manila after sixteen years playing lead roles in
London, alternates with Karylle for the role of Maria. Gian
Magdangal of television reality talent show, Philippine Idol,
returns as Riff. Filipino Australian Rowena Vilar, who played Kim,
Gigi, and Ellen in the recent Australian tour of Miss Saigon, joins
the cast of West Side Story playing the role of Anita alternately
with local theater and pop artist Pam G. Jazz choreographer James
Laforteza is tasked to reconstruct Jerome Robbins’ original
choreography in the Broadway production.
The powerhouse cast and crew have mustered
tremendous support. Gemora reveals, “We initially opened up
sixteen shows to fundraising groups, and block buyers. We ended up
opening four more shows to accommodate the demand coming from these
groups, which is interestingly a pretty good mix of both Filipino
and foreign investors, including a Swiss block buyer.” Stages’
production of West Side Story is presented through special
arrangement with Music Theatre International in New York.
Ticket cost from P500 to P1,200. For tickets,
call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph. For
fundraising groups and block buyers, call Stages at 818-1111 loc.
225.
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