The core themes: inequality, intolerance, prejudice, and racism. The backdrop: immigration, poverty, gang identity and distrust of others. The action: bullying, hatred and violence. We see these conflicts each day on our daily news feed.
They tug at the heart and soul of millions of Americans, and over sixty years ago, these same conflicts brought together the creative team of Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim to produce the musical West Side Story.
On the first two weekends in April, (April 6, 7, 13, 14 at 7:30pm and April 8 at 2pm) the Jacobs School of Music will present a new production of West Side Story-a musical that was a success on stage and, as a film, garnered 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
West Side Story tells our story as a people and as a country. The performance harnesses the creative artistry of heart-stopping music and powerful dance sequences to draw our attention to the critical social justice issues that challenge our view of United States as a “melting pot”-a country where people from different ethnic, geographical, racial, and religious backgrounds come together in an effort to build community. In the musical, we watch as prejudice, hatred, and violence play out between street gangs-the Jets and the Sharks in the 1950s. Today, we continue to see injustice and violence focused not only on immigrants from outside the United States, but also on people of color, different religions, and gender and sexual identities.
In commenting on West Side Story, writer and co-creator Arthur Laurents said, “That kind of bigotry and prejudice was very much in the air, … It’s really, ‘How can love survive in a violent world of prejudice?’ That’s what it’s about.”
The heart of West Side Story as musical drama lies not in the hatred and the violence. Rather, West Side Story illustrates our capacity to see ourselves in each other’s faces and our capacity to reach across the walls and find that most human of qualities: love.
Inspired by this legendary production, the Jacob School of Music has organized a series of educational programs to engage students, faculty, and the broader Indiana community in a dialogue on the challenges we face, as well as the enormous capacity we have to right the injustice and improve the conditions for all those who live in our country.
Opera performances
Dates: 7:30 pm on April 6, 7, 13, and 14 and 2 pm on April 8
Location: Musical Arts Center Auditorium
West Side Story Educational Program
- Creative Team Presentation
Date: Tuesday, April 3 at noon
Location: Musical Arts Center Lobby
Discussion: Sasha Janes, choreographer; Steven Kemp, set designer; David Neely, conductor; Mitchell Ost, lighting designer; Linda Pisano, costume designer; Michael Shell, stage director discuss how, as citizen artists, their creative skills empowered West Side Story for our time. - Who is the Immigrant? Finding a Place in America
Date: Wednesday, April 4 at 7 pm
Location: Musical Arts Center Lobby
Discussion: Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, professor of law and Harry T. Ice Faculty Fellow, Maurer School of Law, will discuss the undemocratic legal status of citizens living in Puerto Rico; Dallin D. Lykins, J.D., Senior Associate, Lewis Kappes in Indianapolis, will take up the current legal difficulties faced by immigrants to the United States; and, in keeping with the theme of hope in West Side Story, Miriam Acevedo Davis, president and CEO of La Plaza, a social services agency providing educational programs, social services, and workforce development, will describe the great work being done today to assist immigrant families build community in Indianapolis. - Luis Davila Latinx Thematic Learning Community pre-performance
discussion
Date: Friday, April 6 at 6:40 pm
Location: Musical Arts Center North Mezzanine
Discussion: Constance Cook Glen, senior lecturer and director of music in general studies, Jacobs School of Music, and Javier León, academic specialist and director, Latin American Music Center, Jacobs School of Music, will lead a discussion of West Side Story. - Post-performance feedback session
Date: Friday, April 6 (immediately following performance)
Location: Musical Arts North Mezzanine
Discussion: Stuart D. Yoak, ethics consultant and former executive director, Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, will facilitate a discussion of the ethical and social justice issues in West Side Story. - Who is the Other? Conflict and Community in West Side Story
Date: Tuesday, April 10
Location: Musical Arts Center Lobby
Discussion: Ian Forrest Gilmore, Executive Director of the Shalom Community Center, will challenge us to consider the many way in which we categorize and marginalize members of our community as “The Other;” Marietta Simpson, professor of voice and director of Diversity Committee, Jacobs School of Music, will discuss the ways in which the Jacobs School of Music is creating a diverse musical community; P. Q. Phan, professor of composition, Jacobs School of Music, will give his first-person account of being a refuge in the United States; and Tislam Swift, doctoral student in voice, Jacobs School of Music, and senior graduate assistant at the Neal Marshall Black Culture Center will provide a first-person account of being an African American student and performer.
Educational Program Sponsors
- La Casa/Latino Cultural Center
- Latino Studies Program
- The Maurer School of Law
- Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion
- Hutton Honors College
- The Jacobs School of Music
- The Musical Arts Center
Bringing this series of West Side Story educational programs together was truly a team effort involving students, faculty, administrators and community leaders. Many thanks to all those who participated and made these conversations possible.