John Wilson conducts performances of West Side Story and On the Twon at this year’s BBC Proms. Picture: Sim Canetty-Clarke
This year’s BBC Proms will celebrate the centenary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein with performances of West Side Story and On the Town this summer.
John Wilson will conduct the performance of the classic Romeo & Juliet-inspired story which will feature West End star Sierra Boggess as Maria and Broadway star Ross Lekites as Tony.
The Proms’ version of West Side Story which will also feature students from Arts Educational Schools and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and the John Wilson Orchestra, will play two shows at the Royal Albert Hall on 11 August 2018.
This year also marks the centennial of Broadway legend Jerome Robbins who directed and choreographed the original Broadway production of West Side Story over 60 years ago.
Wilson will also conduct the performance of On the Town on what would have been the legendary composer’s 100th birthday (25 August). Part of a Bank Holiday weekend of Bernstein celebrations, the performance will feature Louise Dearman as Hildy, with Nathaniel Hackmann as Gabey, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra.
Based on a concept by Jerome Robbins with music by Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, the musical tale of three sailors on an eventful 24 hours’ shore leave in New York debuted on Broadway in 1944.
The weekend will also include the Proms’ debut of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with music director Marin Alsop, an acclaimed former student of the great man.
Running from Friday 13 July until Saturday 8 September 2018, this year’s BBC Proms season will include over 90 concerts marking a range of events that occurred 100 years ago.
Aside from Bernstein-associated material, the Proms will also mark 100 years since the end of the First World War and Parliament’s 1918 decision to give women aged 30 and over the right to vote.
Angela Thomas
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