{"id":207975,"date":"2021-11-30T15:00:16","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T20:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/?p=207975"},"modified":"2021-12-14T13:50:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T18:50:58","slug":"red-hawks-wow-in-spielbergs-west-side-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/2021\/11\/30\/red-hawks-wow-in-spielbergs-west-side-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Hawks Wow in Spielberg\u2019s \u2018West Side Story\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two days after Carolina Abreu graduated from Montclair State University in May 2019 with a degree in Filmmaking, she reported to her first day of work at her new job as production assistant on legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg\u2019s remake of\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>. After the pandemic delayed the opening by a year, the film finally had its New York City premiere on Monday and opens in wide release on December 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still pinching myself,\u201d Abreu says.<\/p>\n

Abreu is among nearly two dozen recent Montclair alumni who worked on the film \u2013 whether as dancers, actors, singers or behind the scenes in production. The experience is a high water mark in many young careers \u2013 and has sustained the former students as COVID-19 hit pause on their early, remarkable success.<\/p>\n

West Side Story<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 a retelling of Shakespeare\u2019s\u00a0Romeo and Juliet<\/em>\u00a0through the lens of New York City gang warfare \u2013 jolted Broadway in 1957, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents and choreography and direction by Jerome Robbins. The 1961 film, directed by Robert Wise and Robbins, won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Spielberg is updating the classic with the help of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner and Tony Award-winning choreographer Justin Peck. The new film stars Clifton native Rachel Zegler (as Maria) and Ansel Elgort (Tony) of\u00a0The Fault in our Stars<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The film is already eliciting\u00a0rave reviews<\/a>, further cementing Spielberg\u2019s status as a legend of American cinema.<\/p>\n

\u201cI consider my role in\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>\u00a0my greatest professional accomplishment,\u201d says\u00a0Carlos E. Gonzalez \u201911<\/a>, a dancer and actor who was cast as a Shark (rival gang to the Jets). \u201cTelling this incredible story and getting to work with Steven Spielberg was truly a dream.\u201d Gonzalez has also worked on Broadway and in the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda\u2019s\u00a0In The Heights<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the best summer of my life,\u201d says\u00a0Melody Marti \u201918<\/strong>, BA Dance and Education. \u201cI went in as a rookie and I\u2019ve been following these people on Broadway and\u00a0So You Think You Can Dance<\/em>. It never occurred to me that I would be working with them.\u201d Marti rehearsed for weeks at an indoor location for \u201cDance at the Gym\u201d \u2013 where Tony and Maria meet while the gangs challenge each other in a dance contest, and also for\u00a0\u201c<\/em>America\u201d<\/em>\u00a0which was shot on the streets of Harlem and Paterson in July 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned so much about artistry and the magic of cinema,\u201d says\u00a0Annelise Cepero \u201917<\/strong>, who was cast as a singer and actor. \u201cThe professionalism on set was unmatched and everyone\u2019s sole purpose was to work as a team and make something legendary. To be singing and listening to the classic score everyday on set was a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filmmaking major\u00a0Amy Muniz \u201920<\/strong>\u00a0worked as a PA with crews in Paterson, Newark and Harlem. \u201cThe experience was amazing \u2013 seeing all of the aspects of filmmaking that I had been taught and had been practicing at Montclair State being performed by truly the best of the best in the industry was unforgettable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned so much about artistry and the magic of cinema,\u201d says Cepero, who was cast as a singer and actor. \u201cThe professionalism on set was unmatched and everyone\u2019s sole purpose was to work as a team and make something legendary. To be singing and listening to the classic score everyday on set was a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abreu and Muniz and the 17 other Montclair students and recent graduates who worked as PAs on\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>\u00a0were hired through Broadcast and Media Operations at the School of Communication and Media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have talented and eager students and we produce graduates with real\u2013world experience who are ready to hit the ground running \u2013 at the highest level,\u201d says Patricia Piroh, director of Production Services and Technology for Broadcast and Media Operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMontclair State is widely acknowledged as the leader among all universities in New Jersey in its engagement with the burgeoning film and television industry here,\u201d says Daniel Gurskis, dean of the College of the Arts.<\/p>\n

\n

For photos and more about Montclair alumni in\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>\u00a0read\u00a0Ready to Rumble<\/a>.<\/p>\n

See our students share their experiences on ABC7NY<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumni bring on-screen and behind-the-scenes know-how to reimagined Broadway classic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":207976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207975"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207981,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207975\/revisions\/207981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}