'West Side Story' by YPCCC - My Review

Over seventy students from towns including East Hampton, Portland, Middletown, Marlborough, Durham, Middlefield, Haddam, and Guilford have been hard at work this summer putting together Leonard Bernstein’s musical theater masterpiece ‘West Side Story.’ The talented group of teens under the direction of Rachel Mansfield presented their performances this weekend at their new venue, the massive stage at Coginchaug Regional High School in Durham.

In her director’s note, Ms. Mansfield devotes only one small paragraph to the accolades that this musical has received (and they are many, of course) before she heaps well-deserved praise upon the young people that were a part of The Young People’s Center for Creative Arts (YPCCC) this summer. The camp has been run every year since 1982 and has taken on some other pretty challenging productions such as ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ ‘RENT’ and ‘Chicago;’ next season they will revive ‘Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.’ The students spend their mornings in workshops of their choosing and rehearsals take up their summer afternoons.

CLICK HERE TO READ MY ENTIRE REVIEW ON ONSTAGE.

Kudos to this group of multi-talented teens and the adults who worked with them on a pretty impressive performance. I hope to be able to attend future YPCCC productions with what was a very easy commute to Durham. ‘West Side Story’ closes on Sunday with a matinee at 2:00pm and tickets are available at the door.

Graphic courtesy of YPCCC Photos of the cast of ’West Side Story’ by Laura Williams Laraia