All That Chat - re: More to the 'West Side' story

Threaded Order Chronological Order

re: More to the 'West Side' story
Posted by: PlayWiz 08:02 pm EDT 05/26/23
In reply to: re: More to the 'West Side' story - AlanScott 07:10 pm EDT 05/26/23

Wasn't the story that Larry Kert was hired among other cast members at first as one of the Jets and only found out after being cast (or perhaps at rehearsal) that he had been cast as Tony, the male lead? The creative powers might have felt differently about such things as demanding a high C or sustained Bbs if he had auditioned specifically for Tony and prepared, say, a difficult tenor aria. But apparently they thought he had the right quality for the role that those high notes weren't required of him after all, with Bernstein's approval.
reply to this message

re: More to the 'West Side' story
Posted by: AlanScott 08:18 pm EDT 05/26/23
In reply to: re: More to the 'West Side' story - PlayWiz 08:02 pm EDT 05/26/23

He is listed as a possible Tony on the list of auditionees dated May 16, 1957, which is out there. Maybe it first appeared on the NYPL digital gallery? Not sure, but it's out there. I think early on he might have been thought of more for Riff than Tony. Anyway, he definitely knew before rehearsals started that he was Tony as it was mentioned in the Herald Tribune on June 3, 1957.
reply to this message

Time to render: 0.011371 seconds.