Ansel Elgort is about to put on his dancing shoes. The actor has been cast as the male lead in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
Elgort will play Tony, a role first portrayed by Larry Kert in the original 1957 Broadway musical & by Richard Beymer in the 1961 classic movie.
Oscar-nominated screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner has written the adaptation of the 1957 musical originally penned by Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim with music by Leonard Bernstein. The beloved musical, the original film adaptation of which won the 1962 Best Picture Oscar, is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet transposed to late 1950s New York City. It explores the rivalry between two warring street gangs, the white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks, amidst simmering racial tensions. Tony adds fuel to the fire when he falls for Maria, the younger sister of the leader of the Sharks, and the two forge a forbidden bond. The original film featured an all-star cast including Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno, and Russ Tamblyn.
It was recently announced Justin Peck, who won a Tony award for his work on Carousel, will be serving as the film’s choreographer, suggesting the remake will maintain its ties to Jerome Robbins’ ballet-inspired original choreography.
Filming is scheduled to begin on West Side Story next summer.
