[what_the_heck013]

I really want my teen community theatre group to do West Side Story for their summer show this year (they want to do Annie ). Anyways, my mom thinks that we can't do it because it's "too difficult". I disagree. Anyways, I want to see what other people think. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the easiest, 10 being the most difficult, how would you rate West Side Story. In my opinion, it's only a 7.

[Ulla Dance Again!]

Yes, to a degree it is a difficult show. I did the show when I was in high school and we were a small school in Maine (ok, so we weren't that tiny) but we had a school of about 900 or so kids. For a small school to produce a musical like WSS, it took alot of work.

Mainly, the choreography is the hardest thing to learn - we spent four months rehearsing and most of the time it was for dance scenes or the fight scenes. Acting wise, it's a bit hard in some parts but that depends on who you get to play the characters. Out of all the scenes, I think the rape scene is probably the most difficult to perform.

Overall, I would give it about a 7 or 8. It does take a lot of work, but in the end it can be one of the most rewarding shows to be a part of.

[MsDivaKate]

When I was in high school my teen summer theatre did this show.

While some of it can be challenging...mostly you need to make sure you have people who vocally can fit the ranges of the leads, its really not that difficult. As long as you have people to vocally fit the leads and guys who can sing in harmony with one another (this was a bit of a downfall for our boys) you should be ok. All the dancing can be greatly altered at the discretion of the director and the choreographer to be simple yet still look interesting to watch.

However the music can be challenging for a pit orchestra to play, so also take that in to consideration.

[what_the_heck013]

[MsDivaKate]

Awesome! Then I'd definitely say its possible for you guys to do this show!!

[nicfer2001]

It's hard, but it's SO worth it. I agree that the toughest parts are the choreography and stage combat stuff...and, it's so important to develop your characters in this one...it's all about the relationships between the characters.

[deedlebug103]

WSS is quite hard musically because it requires beautiful legit voices for the two leads- maria needs a high C and tony needs a high B flat!

[Celeste_SM]

The hardest part of WSS is finding enough talented young men to play all the parts. You need a bunch of kick-ass male dancers who can sing and act too.

Otherwise, not so hard.

[what_the_heck013]

[Webster]

[broadway_baby416]

A lot of the parts are demanding. I've done a music-only version of West Side Story before (as Maria! woo hoo!) and it took a LOT of rehearsal...it's just a very challenging show...but the crew has to be just as good as the cast, because the sets are really great if done right. Not that I've ever been in the actual show, but I've seen it and it's pretty demanding.

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT worth it, though.

[bwayluvor31]

WSS is definitely a hard show, but my high school did it last year and it was great. The hardest aspect is that you need triple treats for almost all of the leads, but it's not impossible. The difficulty of the dancing would be obstacle #2 (I was Maria though, so that didn't really apply to me) Keep pushing!

[Mr_X]