Regional NewsWest Side Story Concert Will Play Hollywood Bowl
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic while the 2021 West Side Story film is screened.
By
Margaret Hall
May 27, 2022
The 2021 film of West Side Story is coming to the Hollywood Bowl.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association will present a concert variation of the Oscar-winning film as part of The Music of Leonard Bernstein at the Hollywood Bowl. Los Angeles Philharmonic Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel will bring the score to life alongside the Philharmonic July 12 and July 14 at 8 PM.
Dudamel—who conducted the score for the 2021 adaptation—will lead a performance of the beloved musical by Arthur Laurents, Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerome Robbins while the 2021 film is projected on the Bowl’s big screens.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, with an adjusted screenplay by Pulitzer and Tony winner Tony Kushner, West Side Story features Ansel Elgort as Tony, Golden Globe winner Rachel Zegler as Maria, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose as Anita, and David Alvarez as Bernardo.
The film also includes Josh Andrés Rivera as Chino, Tony nominee Brian d’Arcy James as Officer Krupke, Corey Stoll as Lieutenant Schrank, and EGOT winner and star of the original 1961 film Rita Moreno in the newly created role of Valentina (a take on the role of Doc).
Additional concerts featuring Dudamel and the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl include The Valkyries July 17, Dudamel and Paris Opera Ballet July 20–21, Beethoven’s Fifths July 26, and Carmina Burana July 28.
The Fred Ebb Award recognizes excellence in musical theatre songwriting, by a songwriter or songwriting team that has not yet achieved significant commercial success.