Dance is essential to the show
As musical Theater’s first author/director/choreographer (and the first to ask for a box around his name in the billing), Robbins not only decided that dance would be an essential component of the show, but he hired two young unknown dancersto play his leads. That choice was important because it began the first major elevation of the role of the actor in the process of musical development. Robbins was seeking to infuse a level of realism in the show that had not been tried before, and so he cast real New York kids with the dancing ‘chops’ to get through it. Their authenticity informed the way the music, dance, and dialogue were conceived. In keeping with the world of the play, Robbins separated the actors playing the Jets and the Sharks during rehearsals, forbidding them to socialize and occasionally would start vicious rumors between the two “gangs”.
The creativity of Oklahoma! and West Side Story greatly influenced the Golden Age of Broadway and were essential to the development of the modern musical.
As musical Theater’s first author/director/choreographer (and the first to ask for a box around his name in the billing), Robbins not only decided that dance would be an essential component of the show, but he hired two young unknown dancersto play his leads. That choice was important because it began the first major elevation of the role of the actor in the process of musical development. Robbins was seeking to infuse a level of realism in the show that had not been tried before, and so he cast real New York kids with the dancing ‘chops’ to get through it. Their authenticity informed the way the music, dance, and dialogue were conceived. In keeping with the world of the play, Robbins separated the actors playing the Jets and the Sharks during rehearsals, forbidding them to socialize and occasionally would start vicious rumors between the two “gangs”.
The creativity of Oklahoma! and West Side Story greatly influenced the Golden Age of Broadway and were essential to the development of the modern musical.
