York theatre company NETheatre are bringing an ‘innovative’ production of West Side Story to the stage.
The beloved classic tale is a story of forbidden love, inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and revolves around two opposing gangs – the Sharks and the Jets.
West Side Story is at Joseph Rowntree Theatre from Wednesday 24 to Saturday 27 July.
In the musical, Tony from the Jets falls in love with Maria, whose brother Bernardo belongs to the rival Sharks gang. Things take a dramatic twist for leader Riff after a rumble between the Jets and Sharks goes drastically wrong and Tony takes matters into his his own hands.
West Side Story has music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents.
It features many popular and well-loved songs, such as ‘Maria’, ‘Somewhere’, ‘America’, and ‘I Feel Pretty’.
NETheatre creative director and producer, Steve Tearle, said: “NETheatre is known for creating innovative musical theatre and this production is no different. We wanted to create this classic as a timeless piece of theatre as we feel the story itself is as relevant today as it was when the musical was written in the 1950s.
“We have created costume references from the 1950s to the present day to create this brilliant musical. The production will be mainly black and white, only using the use of colour to highlight specific moments of the story.”
Tickets start from £18 and are available via the Joseph Rowntree Theatre website.
There are also ticket offers for this production – which include a family ticket (two adults and two children under 18) for £60 (a saving of £16), or buy five tickets or more and save £2 on each ticket.