West Side Glory
The "Gypsy of the Year" event is an annual awards show that honors the lesser-known performers on Broadway, the chorus and dancers who head from show to show -- ostensibly like gypsies. They put on a pretty good entertainment at the same time. This comes from the 2007 show.
2007 was the 50th anniversary of one of the great musicals in Broadway history, West Side Story. And as a tribute to the show, the "Gypsy..." awards producers raised the bar a bit. They reunited 22 members of the original cast of West Side Story for an extensive medley production number. It's all mixed together with some current Broadway chorus members, but the original Sharks and Jets are in the forefront, along with a couple of unexpected surprises.
A few notes.
One of the first chorus members to have a solo turn here is a fellow introduced as "Mickey Callan." He actually went on to have a bit of a film character, performing as Michael Callan. His best known-role was probably in the film, Cat Ballou, playing Jane Fonda's love interest, as the nephew of Dwayne Hickman, the two somewhat cowardly rustlers who she hires hoping to get tough gunslingers.
Also, though chorus member gypsies are the stars here, the Gypsy of the Year production don't overlook career stars. And for this tribute, they were able to get Carol Lawrence, the original 'Maria,' as well as Chita Rivera, who at the time was an up-and-coming actresses, and played Maria's older, wiser friend 'Anita.' (If you're wondering why the original 'Tony," isn't here as well, he had sadly passed away a few years before.)
For the record, below that's Chita Rivera on the left, and Carol Lawrence in the center.
Comments