The extremely Caucasian Ansel Elgort has been cast as doomed Puerto Rican heartthrob Tony in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming adaptation of the Broadway musical “West Side Story,” which is being penned by Pulitzer prize winner and Oscar nominee Tony Kushner. (It was originally written by Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim, of course, with music by Leonard Bernstein).
Earlier this year, Camila Cabello was announced as a contender for the role of Maria, with former 1D singer Liam Payne (of all people) having the inside track on Tony, along with Glee actress Naya Rivera, who posted her ‘audition’ clip (for the Rita Moreno role?) on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
@unitedtalentagency file was too big to send via email for my audition. Thought I’d try it this way.
Not sure about Camila or Naya’s status as of this moment….
Anyway…
For those of you not in the know: West Side Story was inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and centers on the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs. The soundtrack features some of the all-time great Broadway show tunes including ‘Maria’, ‘Tonight’, ‘America’, ‘Somewhere’, ‘I Feel Pretty.’
According to THR: The remake is expected to include all the original Bernstein songs, as well as some of the iconic dance numbers from the original film.
(Top photo: Avalon Red)
