"West Side Story" is an iconic musical that portrays a more modern story of Romeo and Juliet involved in the street gangs of New York. Taking place in the upper west side, the two gangs consist of the Puerto Rican Sharks led by Bernardo and the white Jets led by the Riff. The musical contains well-known songs like "America," "I Feel Pretty," and "Maria" as well as iconic dance numbers. The main characters, Maria and Tony, separately come from both gangs and fall in love. Maria's brother is Sharks leader Bernardo and Tony is a part of the Jets.
The original movie from 1961 captured a grand audience and was extremely successful. Now acclaimed director Steven Spielberg is doing a remake of the film. He cast Ansel Elgort as Tony and YouTube phenomenon Rachel Zegler as Maria. Rachel Zegler is a Colombian-American senior in high school who takes part in many of her school's Broadway show productions. She posts covers of her singing Broadway songs as well as some currently popular songs. She's best known for her short viral cover of Shallow by Lady Gaga:
The internet is very excited about her being cast to play Maria, as am I. She's an extremely talented 17-year-old and was selected out of 30,000 applicants! I wouldn't say she was lucky, but much rather that her talent is what got her this legendary role. I fell in love with her covers of No One Else from "Natasha, Pierre, And The Great Comet Of 1812" and Breathe from "In The Heights". Zegler began performing in theatre at the age of twelve and hasn't stopped since. She's played Belle in "Beauty and the Beast," Cosette in "Les Miserables," Ariel in "The Little Mermaid," and Maria in a performing arts school presentation of "West Side Story".
Zegler already has experience with this famous musical, which only further enables her to play this strong female lead. She even posted a clip of her in the final scene of the theatre production of "West Side Story" in which she starred:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIjDdiC0LHo
Rachel Zegler will become a household name that I hope to never stop hearing. She's only just getting started and I can't wait to see how far she goes in her career. I'm definitely looking forward to the day she's performing her heart out on Broadway.
