WEST SIDE STORY

Based on a Conception of JEROME ROBBINS

Book by ARTHUR LAURENTS 

Music by LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM

​Entire Original Production Directed and Choreographed by JEROME ROBBINS

June 12th thru June 28th

Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm

Sundays at 2:00pm

From the first notes to the final breath, West Side Story is regarded as a landmark Broadway musical - one of the finest musicals and greatest love stories of all time; "a story that must be told without fail." Arthur Laurents' book set in the 1950s in the Upper West Side of NYC remains a powerful and poignant theatrical story reborn throughout every age of human existence. At its core is the story of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet echoed in the story of Tony and Maria's idealistic love caught between 2 warring street gangs/families/cultures on the streets of New York a message of unity that transcends all boundaries, whether it be "together, we are all Verona" or "together, we are all America/New York"

The score by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim are widely regarded as among the best ever written. ​The original 1957 Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, marked Sondheim's Broadway debut as a lyricist. It ran for 732 performances before going on tour. The production was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 1958, winning two: Best Choreography and Best Scenic Design. The show had an even longer-running West End production, a number of revivals, and international productions. A 1961 musical film adaptation, co-directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and won ten, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Join us for this outstanding performance during our 2026 Woodstock Playhouse Summer Theatre Festival Season as we celebrate the 88th season of the iconic Woodstock Playhouse; originally established in 1938 by Robert Elwyn, a fifth-generation Woodstock Resident, Broadway/Film professional director/actor and member of one of Woodstock's oldest families...and during this 16th anniversary season of leadership by the current Woodstock Playhouse team.

This performance is brought to the stage of the iconic Woodstock Playhouse featuring the Woodstock Playhouse Summer Theatre Cast 2026, a regional company of professional performers widely acclaimed for some of the finest performances in our NY & Tri-State region at one of the most iconic theatrical sites in the Hudson Valley.

Director/Choreographer: Randy Conti

Resident Music Director: Robert J. Tomasulo

Resident Lighting Designer: Michael Gugliotti, Jr.

Lighting Designer: Tony Michael Clayton

Resident Sound Designer: Steve Maffia

Resident Costume Designer: Diane Stein

Length of Performance: 2 hours and 30 minutes with intermission 

TICKET PRICING:

•$65 for Front-of-House Seating, Rows A - F

•$60 for Mid-House Seating, Rows G - N

•$50 for Rear-of-House Seating, Rows P - Q

If you are booking tickets for Saturday, June 13th, you may wish to join the celebration at Cucina of Woodstock right next-door to the playhouse. Check out the benefit dinner and celebration details by clicking here.

Second Saturdays are Cabaret Nights after the mainstage show in the East Piano Gallery.

Each ticket price already includes a $5 handling/convenience charge; All seating is Reserved Seating, and all sales are final; no refunds nor exchanges.

West Side Story is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).
All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.
www.mtishows.com

The Woodstock Playhouse, established in 1938 as a rural extension of Broadway and Summer Theater by a member of one of Woodstock's Oldest Families, became a central hub for the launching of major careers on Broadway and in film and television - including Robert Hutton, Larry Hagman, Lee Marvin, Diane Keaton, Chevy Chase, Andrea Martin, Karl Malden, Kitty Kelly, Elissa Landi, Judd Hirsch, Anne Meara, Dick Van Patten and Estelle Parsons to name just a few - as it continues to do today.

During the late 1950s and into the 60s, the Woodstock Playhouse directors instituted Saturday morning children's productions & concerts as well as midnight concerts featuring such artists as Tom Paxton, Peter Yarrow, Tim Hardin, Pete Seeger, Happy and Artie Traum, Billy Faire, and Jack Elliot. The Band, including Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Jaime Robbie Robertson, would record their album Stage Fright at the Woodstock Playhouse with Todd Rundgren serving as sound engineer. As the 1960s evolved and Woodstock found itself at the center of a cultural revolution, the Playhouse was host to the final concert in a series of performances known as the Sound-Outs in 1968. Produced by John “Jocko” Moffitt and generally perceived as a precursor concert to the Woodstock Festival held in Bethel a year later, the Playhouse concert featured Richie Havens, with additional performances by Jerry Moore, Don Preston, Major Wiley and Bunky and Jake. 

Throughout the 60s and 70s, legendary musicians and bands played at the Woodstock Playhouse, including Arlo Guthrie, Van Morrison, Orleans, Full Moon, Sonia Malkine, John Hammond, Holy Moses, Dave Van Ronk, Levon and The Band, The Montgomeries, Geoff and Maria Muldaur, Jim Rooney and Bill Keith, and after the burning and rebuilding of the Woodstock Playhouse: Leon Russell, Cindy Cashdollar, Jacke DeJohnette, Sonny Rollins, Peter Yarrow, Bethany and Rufus Cappadocia, John Sebastian, Natalie Merchant, Larry Campbell, David Bromberg, Richie Havens, Noel Paul Stookey, The Indigo Girls, Leon Russell, Well Strung, all of the amazing Headliners at the annual String Sampler Concert, and so many more. 

A more detailed history of the Woodstock Playhouse can be enjoyed by viewing the History Wall and memorabilia when visiting the Woodstock Playhouse and by viewing our history page online at  https://www.woodstockplayhouse.org/history-of-the-woodstock-playhouse where you can also read about and purchase tickets for our other upcoming events.