鈥淚t鈥檚 hands down my favorite show that I鈥檝e ever done and probably my favorite show of all time,鈥� says Jeremy Jordan of West Side Story. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so well-crafted and well-balanced and creative and moving, and [it] kind of has all those things that you want.鈥�
So you can imagine how thrilled he was that in between filming seasons of television鈥檚 Supergirl, Jordan was able to revisit the role of Tony in West Side Story at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. (Jordan shared the role with Matthew Hydzik, performing twice a week, from 2009-2010 in the Broadway revival.)
For Jordan, there are two moments that he cherishes most. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something about the song 鈥楽omething鈥檚 Coming鈥� that鈥檚 so indicative of the power of something so simple and how it infects you as a viewer and as a performer,鈥� says Jordan, 鈥渂ecause you come from this scene where he鈥檚 kind of dull and downward and basically breaking up with his best friend to coming into a moment where everything feels hopeful and ahead of him and excited, and it just excites me to get to do that; it鈥檚 the most exciting moment, I think, in the show. And then, also, just the whole 鈥楾onight鈥� meeting sequence is really just magic. You hear those opening chords of 鈥楾onight鈥� and you just cannot help but [glow].
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I miss the most; I miss doing theatre bigtime,鈥� says Jordan of his bi-coastal life. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely my number one [passion].鈥� For one week in July, Jordan teamed up with Tony winner Karen Olivo and George Akram, who both starred in the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story as Anita and Bernardo, respectively, to put on an abridged version of the classic musical.
The focus of this production, which took place July 14 and 19, was the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Master Chorale. So even though West Side Story is famous for its choreography, there was no dancing in this staging鈥攅ven minimal scene work. 鈥淭hey had this version of the show in San Francisco where the only dialogue was the dialogue that was in the music,鈥� explains Jordan. 鈥淭he show lives almost equally in the book as it does in the score, which is really cool. 鈥� So we incorporated little mini-scenes throughout the entire [show] to tell the story.鈥�
Under the artistic direction of Grant Gershon and book direction of David Saint, Jordan considers the show a success. 鈥淚t was really fun and exciting,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd it was great to reunite.鈥�
Ruthie Fierberg is the Features Editor at 半岛体育.com. She has also written for Backstage, Parents and American Baby. See more at and follow her on Twitter at .
