Internationally acclaimed musical “West Side Story” has been confirmed as part of the 2024-2025 season lineup at the Lewis & Shirley White Theatre at The J.
The production, which will run from July 5-27, 2025, will be co-produced with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City in partnership with The White Theatre.
“It’s been my dream for years to produce this classic show here, but we’ve always worried about the challenge of authentic casting,” said Keith Wiedenkeller, director of arts and culture at The J and managing artistic director at The White Theatre. “We think it’s crucial to get this right, and the Hispanic Chamber, under the leadership of my friend Carlos Gomez, is just the organization to help us do that.”
Inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” “West Side Story” tells the tale of two young lovers who find themselves caught between warring street gangs in New York City: the ‘American’ Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. With a score composed by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the original production, which debuted in 1958, was nominated for six Tony Awards and won two. Since then, “West Side Story” has seen four Broadway revivals and has been adapted to film in 1961, 1979 and 2021.
In producing this musical, The White Theatre staff will have an opportunity to work with the Hispanic Chamber to create greater opportunities on- and off-stage for Hispanic actors and theatre professionals in the region.
“We are thrilled to work with The White Theatre in next year’s production of ‘West Side Story,’” said Carlos Gomez, president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber. “This partnership offers a unique opportunity to build a bigger stage for Hispanic actors and theatre professionals in the area and will potentially lead to even more creative opportunities within the Hispanic community in Kansas City.”
Both The White Theatre and the Hispanic Chamber are hoping for a long-term partnership that can continue to grow and evolve.
“We’ve been lucky enough to partner with The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City several times, but we couldn’t find an analogous theatre company in Kansas City focused on the Hispanic community,” Wiedenkeller said. “One of our main hopes for this project is that it could potentially be kind of a ‘springboard’ for the organic formation of such a group.”
“West Side Story” will be part of The White Theatre’s 20th season lineup, which will be announced this June. Season tickets for the 2024-2025 productions will go on sale shortly thereafter. Updates will be available at thewhitetheatre.org.
Tickets for the current 2023-2024 season are on sale now. “Disney’s The Little Mermaid” will run from July 6 to 28, and “Tree of Life,” a new play by Victor Wishna, will run from Sept. 14 to 22.
