As classic musical West Side Story heads to Hong Kong, director and choreographer explain its contemporary relevance
Sixty years after its Broadway debut, this controversial show about the tension between delinquent locals and newcomers still resonates, says director Eric Rolland, while choreographer Joey McKneely describes how it changed dance theatre
“Back where ya came from,” spits a young blonde Jet to a Shark, the rival Puerto Rican gang.
It is a line from the musical West Side Story, yet it sounds strangely familiar – a racist slogan of far-right politicians and their supporters, and part of the nationalist rhetoric sweeping Europe and the US.
Now on a 15-month global tour – including stops in Dubai, Istanbul, Paris and Berlin before arriving in Hong Kong in May – this classic musical with stunning choreography from Jerome Robbins reminds us that in the 60 years since the work was written, the world has not moved on much.
West Side Story, based on the book by Arthur Laurents, is a modern adaption of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that tells the tale of an innocent love caught between two warring gangs – the operative word being “warring”.
“The musical was originally conceived to take place in the Lower East side [of Manhattan] between Italians and Jews,” says resident director Eric Rolland, who also plays the role of social worker Glad Hand.
“As it developed and as we moved into the ’50s with the making of Puerto Rico as United States territory, there was a huge influx of Puerto Ricans into the West Side in northern Manhattan. That shook things up a lot,” Rolland says.