Romeo & Juliet Meets Westside Story
Now that spring has settled onto the North Coast, a celebrated Humboldt County performing arts high school will present a combination of two stage productions that, perhaps more than any other, epitomize the beguiling and sometimes devastating romantic demands of spring fever.
From Thursday, May 21 through Saturday, May 23, students from Arcata’s Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy will present, "Romeo and Juliet Meets West Side Story,” at the Van Duzer Theater at Humboldt State University, 8pm. Tickets cost $15 General, $12 Seniors and Students each and are available at Wildberries Marketplace and at the Door.
Under the direction of NPA founder and former HSU Theater professor Jean Bazemore, NPA students will present a single production that combines two ancient but timeless tales of impossible love. The play is replete with the high drama one expects from Shakespeare, and the fabulous music and riveting dance of West Side Story. A distinct and intentional connection between these plays allows their convergence. “West Side Story,” originally a 1957 Broadway production by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, is adapted directly from “Romeo and Juliet” and carries the same themes: How does love differ from infatuation? How do we hurdle the cultural constraints that keep people apart? The NPA production promises a rich depiction of the change in ambiance when love is present, the seduction of moonlight on the Seine and on the Pacific. As Romeo and Juliet and Riff and Maria ably remind listeners, in dialogue and song, there is an essence and joy of being in the world, of finding and even losing love, that is of the ages.
DATES/TIMES
WHERE
PRICE
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$15
/ $12 Students & Seniors
