Addison Reid Coe, MaryJoanna Grisso, Michelle Alves Join West Side Story Touring Cast

Addison Reid Coe, MaryJoanna Grisso and Michelle Alves will be featured in an upcoming new touring version of “West Side Story.”

The national tour will kick off on October 29 at the Clemens Center in Elmira, N.Y., and the production will be based on Arthur Laurents’ 2009 Broadway revival of the classic musical. Laurents originally wrote the musical along with Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.

Coe will play Tony in the production, while Grisso will be playing Maria. Additionally, Theo Lencicki will star as Riff, and Andres Acosta will appear as Bernardo.

Here’s how producers describe the legendary story:

[“West Side Story”] tells the story of star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria as they struggle to rise above the hatred and intolerance that surrounds them. “West Side Story” soars as the greatest love story of all time and remains as powerful, poignant and timely as ever. The Bernstein and Sondheim score is considered to be one of Broadway’s finest and features such classics of the American musical theatre as “Something’s Coming,” “Tonight,” “America,” “I Feel Pretty” and “Somewhere.”

The production will be presented by Troika Entertainment, and features costumes by Tony Award-nominee David C. Woolard and lighting by Tony-winner Howell Binkley. Scenic designs are by James Youmans and sound design is by Peter McBoyle.

The original Broadway production opened in September 1957, and ran for 732 productions before beginning a national tour. The first Broadway revival was held in 1980, when it ran for 333 production from February through November of that year. For the 2009 revival, Arthur Laurents told the New York Post that “I’ve come up with a way of doing [“West Side Story”] that will make it absolutely contemporary without changing a word or note.”

The 1961 film adaptation won the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with nine other Oscars.