17 July 2008 9:03 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news
West Side Story is returning to the Broadway stage, more than 50 years after it first debuted in New York.
The new adaptation will be directed by Arthur Laurents, who wrote the original book - about rival gangs The Jets and The Sharks in 1950s Manhattan.
Laurents promises the production, due to open in February 2009, will be tougher and grittier than ever before, and will be bilingual for the first time - with words and lyrics in English and Spanish.
The 91-year-old tells the New York Times, "They will speak Spanish where they would naturally. The scenes with the Spanish are wildly exciting because they are much less inhibited."
Laurents' play was adapted into a movie in 1961, starring Natalie Wood, and Broadway revivals in 1964 and 1980.
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