west side story international tour 2022

Lonny Price Directed WEST SIDE STORY World Tour To Launch December 2022

The production has been touring the world since 2003.

BroadwayWorld has learned that the West Side Story world tour will resume performances later this year, under the direction of Lonny Price - touring Germany and Austria before continuing to other countries.

This touring production - which will feature Jerome Robbins ' original choreography - has been delighting audiences all over the world since 2003. It has been seen by more than three million people in 28 countries on three continents, including at the Sydney Opera House, Dubai Opera, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Semperoper in Dresden and London's Sadler's Wells.

"West Side Story has endured for so many decades because it speaks to what is human in each of us - the power of love." said Director Lonny Price , who not only shared a close bond with Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim ; he has been inspired by the magic of this masterpiece since early childhood.

Now the Broadway luminary, who shaped American theatre and film for more than 40 years (including directing Sweeney Todd with Emma Thompson , Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close and several episode of the TV series Desperate Housewives, as well as playing the role of Neil Kellerman in the cult classic Dirty Dancing), brings a fresh perspective to the classic musical: "I want the next generation of theatregoers to fall in love with this piece, identify with the characters on stage and realise that there is so much more that unites rather than divides us - despite our cultural differences."

For this new production, which will delight West Side Story-superfans and first-time audiences alike, Lonny Price is working with a creative team that combines extensive experience of Broadway and West End productions, adding to its international appeal.

Choreographer Julio Monge recreates the stunning dance scenes in all their authenticity, bringing them to the stage with new energy. A former student of Jerome Robbins , he is one of only five people in the world who are authorized to stage his original choreography. With Anna Louizos , Price has one of America's most well-known and creative stage designers at his side.

Musical director Anthony Barnhill accompanied West Side Story on its previous tour to renowned venues all over the world. He conducts the large orchestra that will accompany the fresh young cast of performers who are to be cast in New York.

West Side Story World Tour Dates

14.12.2022 - 08.01.2023 - Munich, Deutsches Theater (Opens on 16th of December) 10.01.2023 - 15.01.2023 - Essen, Grugahalle 17.01.2023 - 29.01.2023 - Zurich, Theater 11 31.01.2023 - 05.02.2023 - Vienna, Stadthalle, Halle F 07.02.2023 - 12.02.2023 - Baden-Baden, Festspielhaus 14.02.2023 - 19.02.2023 - Leipzig, Oper 21.02.2023 - 05.03.2023 - Lausanne, Théâtre de Beaulieu 15.03.2023 - 19.03.2023 - Bremen, Metropol Theater 21.03.2023 - 26.03.2023 - Düsseldorf, Capitol Theater 04.04.2023 - 16.04.2023 - Frankfurt, Alte Oper

The tour will continue abroad in the summer of 2023.

TICKET CENTRAL

Recommended For You

For Artists

Friday, May 27, 2022

West Side Story - International Tour

The upcoming touring production of West Side Story and The Casting Collaborative (with Jason Styres & Richard Glover) are seeking submissions for singers and dancers for an international tour, playing major cities worldwide, including Vienna, Zurich, Bangkok, Paris, Tokyo and more! 

To submit for consideration, please visit the online form at the link below. You will be asked to send in your picture, resume, and other information. Further details are included on the online submission form!

https://airtable.com/shr3LGqSFUIX8YCdv

PROJECT INFO:

Producer: Mehr-BB Entertainment GmbH https://www.bb-promotion.com/

Producer: Ralf Kokemüller

Executive Producer: Martin Flohr

Book: Arthur Laurents

Music: Leonard Bernstein

Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

Concept: Jerome Robbins

Director: Lonny Price

Original Choreo. Set By/Additional Choreo.: Julio Monge

Musical Director: Anthony Barnhill

General Manager: Sundance Productions Inc.

NYC Casting Dir.: Jason Styres / The Casting Collaborative

Casting Assoc.: Richard Glover / The Casting Collaborative

Rehearsal: 10/31/2022 (Germany) Preview: 12/8/2022 (Duisberg, Germany) 1st Public Perf.: 12/14/2022 Opening: 12/16/2022 (Munich, Germany) Closing: 12/31/2023 Possible Extension: 7/31/2024

The Casting Collaborative New York, NY

For more information: Richard Glover [email protected]

previous listing  •  next listing

Sign up for Dance/NYC News

WATCH: Inside the “West Side Story” International Tour

West Side Story opened on Broadway in 1957. Sixty years later, it still lives on— vibrant and relevant as the day it opened.

In two months, Manila will be its next stop and Filipino audiences will be able to watch an all-American cast singing through Stephen Sondheim ’s iconic lyrics, Leonard Bernstein ’s memorable music, and even Jerome Robbins’ seminal choreography.

The musical has been performed in 100 cities in 20 countries in 4 continents. This current tour has been everywhere from Zurich and Dublin to Istanbul and Hong Kong. After Manila, it will go on to Bangkok and France, among other countries.

It’s a large, 11-ton production, 5 of which are used for sets as well as around 50 costumes for 32 cast members. What you will see on stage is only part of the big West Side Story machine.

Each show will feature 21 musicians, conducted by musical director Donald Chan , who has conducted the show over 3,000 times. As for the dances, Robbins’ original choreography will be presented under tour choreographer Joey McKneely who learned directly from Robbins, as a West Side Story dancer himself.

Featuring an all-American cast who auditioned last March 2016 on Broadway, the current international tour stars Kevin Hack as Tony, Jenna Burns as Maria, Keely Beirne as Anita, Lance Hayes as Riff, and Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva as Bernardo.

(READ: ‘West Side Story’ Cast Announced )

Check out photos of the show below:

[slideshowck id=16740]

GET TICKETS!

Make it a dance musical marathon you can buy west side story tickets bundled with disney’s  newsies  for 20% off. click this link for more info..

About the Author / TheaterFansManila.com

[email protected]

Follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram for live coverage on theater events around the city. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for your first look at the hottest shows in town.

Post a Comment cancel reply

To 54 Below

LIVESTREAM | The Cast of the 2022-2024 International World Tour of West Side Story

Streams live may 28, 2024 at 9:45pm et.

This event is being streamed online. To purchase tickets for the in-person event,  click here .

The voices of the current international tour of the Broadway classic West Side Story are elated to return to NYC to perform at 54 Below, after a year and a half of touring the world and playing at the most prestigious theaters!

Join us to witness the talents of these artists that go beyond what’s normally presented on the stage. They will be performing a mix of genres including Mexican folk, pop, rock, country, musical theater, and more!

You won’t want to miss out on this magical evening where representation, culture, and hope come together to create an unforgettable show that will ease your mind and fill your heart. This is exactly the kind of soul food we are all craving right now! Produced by Majo Rivero and Gerardo Esparza . Music directed by Geraldine Anello , and featuring musicians Laura Masferrer and Antonio Mandosi .

Christopher Alvarado (Chino u/s Bernardo in WSS intl. tour, On Your Feet! at Paper Mill Playhouse) Deanna Cudjoe (Consuelo u/s Anita in  WSS  intl. tour) Gerardo Esparza (Nibbles u/s Chino in  WSS  intl. tour, The Scarecrow in El Otro Oz tour) Taylor Harley (Riff in  WSS  intl. tour, Peter Pan in  Peter Pan  national tour) Gigi Hausman (Anybodys in  WSS  intl. tour, world premiere of His Story the Musical ) Sonya Hernandez (Swing u/s Maria in  WSS  intl. tour, Off Broadway’s The Magic Box ) Liam Johnson (Snowboy u/s Riff in  WSS  intl. tour, La Cage Aux Folles world tour) Milan Magaña  ( Anita in WSS intl. tour, Mean Girls national tour) Majo Rivero (Francisca u/s Anita/Rosalia/Consuelo in  WSS  intl. tour, The Madison Theater’s In The Heights ) Melanie Sierra (Maria in  WSS  intl. tour, Bartlett Sher’s Rigoletto at The Met) Gabi Simmons (Swing in  WSS  intl. tour, The Freefall Theater’s Peter Pan ) Michel Vasquez (Rosalia u/s Maria in  WSS  intl. tour) Marek Zurowski ( Diesel u/s Tony in  WSS  intl. tour, The Phantom of the Opera world tour) and special guest star  Gabriela Garcia  (Nina  In the Heights  West End, Maria in  WSS  at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester)

Live from 54 Below is a new series featuring streams of LIVE performances direct from Broadway’s Living Room! Designed to make more shows accessible to fans from across the globe and to recreate the live experience, all shows will be presented exclusively at the time of performance with an in-house audience and will not be available on demand afterwards.

Christopher Alvarado

Deanna Cudjoe

Gerardo Esparza

Taylor Harley

Gigi Hausman

Sonya Hernandez

Liam Johnson

Milan Magaña

Majo Rivero

Melanie Sierra

Gabi Simmons

Michel Vasquez

Marek Zurowski

Gabriela Garcia

Special guest.

Geraldine Anello

Music director.

Laura Masferrer

Antonio Mandosi

• $28.50 (includes $3.50 in fees)
• Shows are streamed live only and will not be available on demand afterwards.
• Tue, May 28

• Privacy Overview
• Strictly Necessary Cookies
• 3rd Party Cookies
• Additional Cookies
• Cookie and Privacy Policy

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

The 54below-welcome local storage cookie and GDPR settings variable should be enabled at all times to store whether you have seen our welcome screen and to save your preferences.

No data in these cookies are shared with other sites or stored beyond your browser.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

This website uses Google Analytics and Crazy Egg to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site and the most popular pages, and to aid in improving the design of the site to be more helpful to users.

The website uses Facebook and Google Ads tracking pixels to track ad performance.

Keeping these cookies enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!

This website uses the following additional cookies:

More information about our Cookie Policy

Getting Here

Plan your visit, groups & access, club membership, about this season.

The 2024 Season at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre presents the finest of live entertainment in a specially curated programme packed with unmissable productions for every taste.

Browse all upcoming shows and select your favourite events from Broadway and West End musicals, contemporary and traditional dance, drama and comedy, opera and live music, family entertainment and innovative special events.

Getting to Bord Gáis Energy Theatre

Get directions to Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, explore car parking options and learn more about public transport connections.

Everything You Need To Know

If you have any queries in advance of your visit, browse our list of frequently asked questions detailing what to do before the show, at the show and after the show.

Bord Gáis Energy Rewards

Bord Gáis Energy Rewards Club customers have access to unmissable experiences in Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.

Box Office Information

Gift vouchers, groups & access bookings.

Discover the benefits of booking as a group, find out about accessible shows and let our team make your evening out a special one.

Discover the Circle Club, the Private Members Club at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, and explore membership options for an elevated theatre experience in a stylish and sophisticated setting.

Members Portal

Log in to your Circle Club Account, view upcoming shows and Club Nights, book tickets and manage your membership.

About The Theatre

Discover the secrets behind the majestic architecture of Ireland’s largest theatre and what makes Bord Gáis Energy Theatre a unique cultural icon in Dublin.

If you need to get in touch, all relevant contact details can be found here to assist you.

12 - 24 June 2023

WEST SIDE STORY

Produced by BB Promotion

This event is in the past, please search for other shows.

Two Gangs. One Love .

SPECIAL EFFECTS: This production contains strobe lighting, flashing lights, fog, haze, gun shots and the use e-cigarettes.

AGE GUIDANCE: Suitable for ages 12+. No Under 3’s permitted in the auditorium

Trouble is brewing on New York’s Upper West Side: Rival street gangs, heated rhythms, a bitter feud and, in the midst of it all, a great love fighting but tragically failing to overcome the obstacles standing in its way. Allow yourself to be swept away by a thrilling new production of West Side Story , a re-make of the iconic classic for a new era. Embarking on a world tour in late 2022, it is set to capture the hearts of audiences all over the globe.

Maria, Somewhere, America – Leonard Bernstein’s immortal melodies and Jerome Robbins’ phenomenal choreography redefined an entire genre. To this day, West Side Story is the undisputed No. 1 of classic musicals: daring, relevant and radical. Stephen Spielberg’s Oscar-winning film version of 2021 proves just how unique and timeless it is.

I feel pretty and witty and bright!

An international creative team has been assembled around the New York-based director Lonny Price. Opening a new chapter in West Side Story’s epic success story, their exciting new production features the legendary original choreography by Jerome Robbins. Two gangs. One love. An enduring but impossible love – the universal power that made Romeo and Juliet so immortal. It has lost none of its allure and fascination.

“We’re gonna hand ’em a surprise Tonight.”

CIRCLE CLUB

Similar Shows

Family, Musical

20 March - 14 April 2024

TWELVE ANGRY MEN

16 - 20 April 2024

1 Night Only, Concert

The nelson riddle orchestra.

28 April 2024

23 April - 04 May 2024

Drama, Musical

I should be so lucky.

07 - 11 May 2024

13 TONGUES- CLOUD GATE DANCE THEATRE OF TAIWAN

14 - 15 May 2024

VLADIMIR JABLOKOV – 4 SEASONS EXPLAINED WITH THE RTÉ CONCERT ORCHESTRA

24 - 25 May 2024

ANGUS AND JULIA STONE

26 May 2024

WIZARD OF OZ

28 May - 08 June 2024

1 Night Only

An evening with margaret atwood, mary robinson and laurie anderson. .

09 June 2024

COME FROM AWAY

11 - 22 June 2024

MARTY IN THE EVENING WITH THE RTÉ CONCERT ORCHESTRA

26 June 2024

NATHAN CARTER

27 June 2024

UNCANNY : I KNOW WHAT I SAW

28 June 2024

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL

02 - 13 July 2024

1 Night Only, Dance

Anton du beke & giovanni pernice- together.

14 - 14 July 2024

BONNIE AND CLYDE

16 - 20 July 2024

23 July - 14 September 2024

Daniel O’Donnell

12 August 2024

17 September - 16 November 2024

AN AUDIENCE WITH MONTY DON

03 November 2024

AN EVENING WITH FRAN LEBOWITZ

SWAN LAKE – STATE BALLET OF GEORGIA

20 - 24 November 2024

DR STRANGELOVE

05 - 22 February 2025

TOMMY FLEMING

23 February 2025

& JULIET

25 February - 08 March 2025

CHRIS DE BURGH

09 March 2025

Everything You Need To Know Before Your Visit

Discover Everything You Need To Know

Everything You Need to Know

Find out more about purchasing gift vouchers

Purchase a Gift Voucher Today

Find out more about Bord Gáis Energy Rewards

Bord Gáis Energy Customers

For more information on the benefits of membership, register below:

I am enquiring for

If you would like a callback, when is the best time to call you?

Please see our privacy policy for details of how we use your information To unsubscribe, click the link in any email you receive from us.

Elevate your theatre experience with Circle Club

Working from home? Switch to the DIGITAL edition of FRONT of HOUSE. CLICK HERE to signup now!

• Submissions

International Touring Production of ‘West Side Story’ Relies on Sennheiser Digital 6000

• By: FOH Staff
• Featured , International News
• April 11, 2023

WESTSIDE STORY, DUESBURG, 2022, Credit: Johan Persson

UK – Theater sound designer and live sound engineer Tom Marshall worked with BB Promotion and Stage Sound Services (SSS) on the audio design for an international touring production of West Side Story. The setup includes Sennheiser Digital 6000 wireless and monitor speakers and microphones from Neumann.

More details from Sennheiser ( www.sennheiser.com ):

Premiered in 1957, West Side Story revolutionized the musical genre with its iconic choreography by Jerome Robbins and timeless music compositions like “Maria,” “Somewhere” and “America” from the legendary Leonard Bernstein. With BB Promotion leading the charge as the organizer of the latest West Side Story production, the musical set out on a world tour in late 2022 and has been capturing the hearts of audiences around the world ever since.

The show’s audio equipment includes 34 Sennheiser SK 6212 mini-bodypack transmitters, two Sennheiser MKH 40 microphones, 14 Sennheiser EM 6000 dual-channel receivers, ten Neumann KH 120 monitors, eight Neumann KM 140 cardioid microphones and two Neumann U 87 microphones. To ensure seamless performances during the tour, Marshall requested an identical ‘B’ system, so the two systems can ‘leapfrog’ their way around the globe.

Working in theatre sound since 1995, Marshall’s expertise in mixing musicals, as well as his foray into live music mixing, have earned him a reputation as a highly regarded international theatre sound designer. He has a deep-rooted connection to brands like Sennheiser.

“Sennheiser is the trusted brand for audio professionals. Throughout my theatre career and my ventures into live bands, rock’n’roll, and corporate projects, I continue to use Sennheiser products, knowing that I am in the best of hands.”

Marshall’s association with BB Promotion, the organizer of the new West Side Story production, goes back to a project they collaborated on six years ago in Cologne, Germany. The relationship was further strengthened when Martin Flohr, the executive producer and artistic director of BB Promotion, attended a West Side Story production in the UK where Marshall was overseeing the audio. “They were impressed with the sound quality and wanted to replicate the design for the new production. I was thrilled to be invited to be part of the project,” he says.

Having worked for more than 15 years with Stage Sound Services on various productions, Marshall reached out to the company’s trusted experts to enquire about the equipment needed for the show. “I have a long-standing relationship with the company and its director, Phil Hurley,” Marshall explains. “When the deal was being negotiated, they were the only company that could provide what we needed. Since they supply a lot of my shows in the UK, I had unshakable confidence in them and knew I could trust them to deliver an exceptional service.”

Hurley notes that supplying products for the West Side Story global tour was exciting, so when Marshall contacted them, they were eager to be a part of the project. “Tom had a specific request for the particular loudspeaker manufacturer, which we had in our inventory,” he says. “We then discussed using Sennheiser Digital 6000 and the company’s flagship mini-bodypack transmitter SK 6212, a benchmark for advanced digital transmission technology in modern audio productions. Tom was pleased with the recommendation and decided to use the SK 6212 for the show, amongst the other products we supplied.”

Marshall concurs: “I remember Phil asking me if I was interested in using the SK 6212, and I said ‘definitely!’ With that much RF on a show that’s touring weekly in multiple territories, we needed a system that was really user-friendly, would work straight out the box, and had an intuitive interface. Product quality was of the utmost importance and that it is widely recognized worldwide would also allow us to easily find a local supplier if we had any issues.”

A big advantage of the SK 6212 is its size. “It’s one of the smallest transmitters available on the market,” he continues. “As soon as you show it to the performers and the costume department, they are immediately on your side because hiding them in wigs or costumes is so much easier.” Marshall also emphasizes the SK 6212’s exceptional battery life: “It takes a headache away from the backstage team; they put the batteries in at the beginning of the day and get a whole day’s rehearsals and the show in the evening out of them. Things like that make life so much simpler, especially on the road, as there’s no need to take multiple sets of batteries,” he says.

For orchestra monitoring, Marshall and the rest of the team, which includes Dan Gregory [lead production sound engineer], Tom Meehan [head of sound], Aaron Barker [deputy head of sound] and Clara Lim [assistant sound engineer], wanted some self-powered monitors that could be used as and when needed.

“I was determined to incorporate top-notch monitor speakers into the show, so when Phil suggested the Neumann KH 120 studio monitors, I was intrigued. Neumann is renowned for producing exceptional sound, and after listening to the KH 120s I was blown away. I was using a different brand before, but the KH 120s truly exceeded my expectations. I was so impressed that I even asked if I could take a spare set home with me,” Marshall jokes.

Sennheiser’s business development manager, pro audio, Kevin Gwyther-Brown, along with other members of the Sennheiser and Neumann team, played an instrumental part in supporting SSS with the delivery of the products for the show.

“Sennheiser went above and beyond in delivering the new RF system, despite tight deadlines and challenges in the global supply chain,” explains Hurley, who worked closely with Huw Semmens, head of hires and technical at SSS, and other members of his team to gather the required equipment. “Their timely delivery was critical to ensure we could continue with Tom’s original audio system design, and I am truly grateful for their commitment and willingness to work with us to ensure that we had everything we needed and make it come together seamlessly. Their flexible approach made all the difference.”

“Collaborating with the great team at Stage Sound Services is always an enjoyable experience,” concludes Gwyther-Brown. “We were thrilled to be able to provide a comprehensive solution, featuring top-notch products from Sennheiser and Neumann, for this tour, especially within such a tight deadline. Our team is proud to have delivered a world-class audio setup that includes everything from microphones to on-stage and musician monitoring, ensuring an exceptional experience for this incredible worldwide tour.”

The West Side Story production premiered in Munich at the end of last year, with 1,500 cheering spectators, including Alexander Bernstein, son of composer Leonard Bernstein, who called it a ‘fantastic production,’ enjoying the electrifying spectacular that opens a new chapter in the show’s epic success story. Currently touring in Germany, the show is set to travel all over the world.

Production photos: Johan Persson

Equipment photos: Aaron Barker

The FOH Newsletter

The latest in industry news and products, delivered every Tuesday.  Sign Up Today.

" * " indicates required fields

Recommended for You:​

The 20th Annual Parnelli Awards: A Brief Recap

Lawo Names Adil Syed Business Development Manager for Media Infrastructures in North America

DirectOut Announces MADI4.SRC.IO and PRODIGY.MX Upgrade

Nearly 1,300 NAB Show Exhibitors to Showcase New Products and Technologies

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas Rigged with L-Acoustics from Bow to Stern

DiGiCo Announces V1742 Software Release for SD and Quantum Consoles

Fan Zone Areas within Austria’s New Raiffeisen Soccer Arena Feature Genelec Smart IP Loudspeakers

Closure In Moscow Announce ‘The Singularity’ Tour

By John Ritchie

It seems that fans of Melbourne’s Closure In Moscow just can’t get enough. Days after wrapping up their Supreme Turbo Facilitator Tour (selling out all but one of the shows) the popular five piece have announced their Singularity Tour featuring headline dates in all capital cities.

The tour marks the beginning of what plans to be a super massive travel cycle for Closure In Moscow as they head across to the U.S on the Warped Tour playing all 44 shows.

Support on the tour is from good buddies, Secrets In Scale. Tickets for all shows are on sale now.

Closure in Moscow ‘The Singularity Tour’ plus guests Secrets In Scale

Thursday 27th May Mona Vale Hotel, Sydney 18+ Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow

Friday 28th May 28th Gaelic Theatre, Sydney 18+ Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow

Saturday 29th May The Civic Hotel, Perth 18+ Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow

Sunday 30th May YMCA HQ, Perth U18 2pm 5pm Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow

Thursday 3rd June Republic Bar, Hobart 18+ Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow

Friday 4th June Fowlers Live, Adelaide Lic/AA Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow

Saturday 5th June East Brunswick Club, Melbourne 18+ Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow www.eastbrunswickclub.com / The East box office – PH: 9388 9794

Sunday 6th June Phoenix YouthCentre, Melbourne U18 2pm -6pm Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow

Thursday 10th June The Fort, Brisbane U18 6pm 9pm Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow

Friday 11th June The Zoo, Brisbane, 18+ Tix: www.moshtix.com.au/closureinmoscow, http://zoo.oztix.com.au

Share article

A Guide to Every Australian Music Festival Happening in 2023/24

A Guide to Every International Tour Coming to Australia in 2023/24

The Top 50 Australian Songs of 2023

AJ Tracey, RAYE, Faye Webster + More Announce Laneway 2024 Sideshows

Golden Plains 2024: The Streets, Yussef Dayes, Cymande + More

WOMADelaide Announces 2024 Lineup: Gilberto Gil, Arooj Aftab, Yussef Dayes, WITCH + More

triple j’s Like A Version – The Complete List

Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2023: 100-1

Ninajirachi Announces New EP ‘Girl EDM’, Shares Dark Crystal Tour Dates

Emilee South Announces Debut Album ‘Luxury’, Shares ‘Control’

BABY GRAVY Announce Debut Australian Headline Tour For 2024

In Hearts Wake Part Ways With Clean Vocalist Kyle Erich & Announce Final Tour Together

BB Promotion GmbH & Sundance Productions Inc. NY

DANIEL J. FULLERTON

Daniel is thrilled for the opportunity to play his dream role in such a remarkable show. Recently Daniel has been touring with the international production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC playing Rolf Gruber. Other credits include Jack Kelly in NEWSIES, Jerry Lukowski in THE FULL MONTY, Fyedka in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Daniel got his BFA in Musical Theatre at Montclair State University.

MELANIE SIERRA

Maria / Somewhere Soloist

Melanie Sierra, who studied Musical Theatre at Otterbein University, made her Lincoln Center debut at 12 years old, when she was invited by Licia Albanese to perform as the only musical theatre guest soloist, for the annual  Licia Albanese Puccini Concert . Since then, Melanie has performed throughout the United States in roles including Vanessa in IN THE HEIGHTS   (North Carolina Theatre), Cinderella in INTO THE WOODS   (Fritsche Theater at Cowan Hall), Lady of the Evening in LA BOHÈME   (the Metropolitan Opera), Ensemble Cover in RIGOLETTO   (the Metropolitan Opera), Principal Swing/ Ensemble in LES MISÉRABLES   (Fritsche Theatre at Cowan Hall), and Ensemble in MAMMA MIA (The Rev Theatre Company).

MILAN MAGAÑA

Milan is a New York City based actor and performer. Most recently, she toured North America in the ensemble of the First National Tour of MEAN GIRLS. She grew up in San Diego, California and received her BFA in Music Theatre from the University of California, Irvine. Some of her favorite shoes to step into have been Anita in WEST SIDE STORY, Diana in A CHORUS LINE, Heather Duke in HEATHERS and The Witch in INTO THE WOODS. She has also been a part of new works such as NICKEL MINES at ACT of Connecticut and SISSY S. PITCHFORK at The Playroom Theater in New York City.

TAYLOR HARLEY

This is Taylor’s 10th production of West Side Story !

Some favorite theatre credits include Peter Pan in the National Tour of PETER PAN, the Boy in PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, George Gibbs in OUR TOWN, Jack in INTO THE WOODS, and Riff in West Side Story . TV and Film Credits include 1923, Somewhere in Queens, Bodybag, Law & Order: SVU .

ANTONY SANCHEZ

Antony Sanchez is a graduate of the Edge Pac Scholarship Program in Los Angeles. His theatre credits include Bernardo and Nibbles in West Side Story (Opera San Jose and Barrington Stage Company), Nikos in LEGALLY BLONDE (Mason Street Warehouse), Kiki in ON YOUR FEET! (Gateway Playhouse), a Swing in PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT (Norwegian Cruise Line), Mercedes/understudy Hanna in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (EWP, Los Angeles and SDMT), Issachar in JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT (Fireside Theatre) and Viigan in CHESS THE MUSICAL (East West Players). He furthermore has appeared in several TV shows. Among them are Law and Order: SVU, American Horror Story , and Comedy Central’s Alternatino .

DARREN MATTHIAS

Darren Matthias toured with MACBETH (Great Britain and France), THE SOUND OF MUSIC , THE WHO’S TOMMY, SEUSSICAL, and JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT with Donny Osmond. He performed leading and supporting roles at The Shakespeare Theatre Company D.C., Kennedy Center, Goodspeed Opera House, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Ordway Center, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse, Asolo Repertory Theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Great Lakes Theater, Clarence Brown Theater and Red Pear Theater (Antibes). Darren’s Film and TV credits include No Money Down, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU and Chappelle’s Show

Lt. Schrank

This is Bret’s fourth production of West Side Story over the years. In doing so, he has had the privilege of appearing on stage as all four of the show’s “adults”. On Broadway he played 200 performances as Hertz in ROCK OF AGES after 300 performances of the same role on the US national tour. Notable regional work includes: multiple productions with The Goodman Theatre and several productions with the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. On television Bret has been seen on NBC’s Chicago Fire and Chicago PD , Fox’s Empire , abc’s Mind Games and Fx’s Power: Book iv Force .

ERIK GRATTON

Officer Krupke / Cover Gladhand & Doc / Fight Coordinator

Erik Gratton graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from Hilberry Repertory Theatre. He has a longstanding history performing with stages in New York and Los Angeles, among them as Sylvestre in SCAPIN and Cloten in CYMBELINE (NY Classical Theatre in Central Park), Rosalind in AS YOU LIKE IT (directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel), and Vice Principal Panch in THE 25 TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, but he’s probably best known for playing Buddy the Elf in ELF THE MUSICAL (Theater at Madison Square Garden). His other theatre credits include the lead roles in THE FOREIGNER (directed by Brian Yorkey), SHREK, HAMLET, and as New Yorks former governor Andrew Cuomo in A TURTLE ON A FENCE POST. His TV credentials include him playing a comedy writer on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel , a beaver on Grimm and the world’s worst drama teacher on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt .

STUART DOWLING

Glad Hand / Cover Lt. Schrank & Doc & Krupke

Stuart Dowling is a proud Canadian from Toronto, Ontario and is thrilled to be a part of this International Tour. Some of his theatre credits include Boolie in DRIVING MISS DAISY, Edna in HAIRSPRAY, Lenny in OF MICE AND MEN (for which he was a Dora Award nominee in the category Best Actor), Freda Heights in THE LAST RESORT, Panch in THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, Bill in MAMMA MIA, as well as PROM QUEEN, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, HERE ON THE FLIGHT PATH, West Side Story 50th Anniversary World Tour, and numerous Christmas Pantomimes. His film and television credits include: In the Shadow of the Moon, Spinning Out, Murdoch Mysteries, Imposters, Mayday and the upcoming Painkillers .

ANTHONY J. GASBARRE, III

Action / Cover Riff

Anthony J. Gasbarre, III is excited to be joining the World Tour of West Side Story . His regional performances include his role as Chadd in the regional premiere of ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE (Ogunquit Playhouse), Joey in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (MSMT), Sonny in GREASE   (KC Starlight), the understudy of Bill Flynn in CHICAGO   (New Theatre), Rum Tum Tugger in CATS (MTH), Pirate in PETER PAN   (Fulton Theatre) and Riff Raff in the ROCKY HORROR SHOW (Crown Uptown Theatre). He also appeared in several films and TV shows, those include The Crowded Room, Bros, Love Outbreak, Succession, Tosh.0, and Finneas “Naked” . Anthony graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Wichita State University.

SKY BENNETT

A-Rab / Cover Action

Sky Bennett, a Pittsburgh native, graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Pace University in New York City. His regional theatre credits include Disney’s NEWSIES, MAMMA MIA, OKLAHOMA!, GREASE, CAROUSEL, as well as KINKY BOOTS. Sky is thrilled to be making his international tour debut with this wonderful production.

CALVIN TICKNOR-SWANSON

Calvin Ticknor-Swanson graduated in 2020 from Northwestern University where received his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance with a certificate in Music Theatre. He made his professional debut in the role of Baby John in WEST SIDE STORY at the Marriot Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois.   

LIAM JOHNSON

Snowboy / Cover Riff

Liam Johnson graduated from Webster Conservatory of Theatre and Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. In addition, he trained at the Housten Ballet Academy and MET Dance Houston. Liam toured around the globe in productions of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES as Chantal, Dennis in ALL SHOOK UP, Carmen Ghia in THE PRODUCERS, Action in West Side Story , Tulsa in GYPSY, as well as in THE MUSIC MAN, MEMPHIS, MARY POPPINS, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and many more.

ASHTON LAMBERT

Ashton Lambert graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre and a Minor in Dance from Otterbein University. His theatre credits include Mike in A CHORUS LINE (Reagle Music Theatre), Baby John in West Side Story (Utah Festival OMT), as well as Henry in NEWSIES (Utah Festival OMT). He first toured nationally being a Swing and Assistant Dance Captain for TOOTSIE . Ashton is thrilled to now be touring again!

MAREK ZUROWSKI

Diesel / Cover Tony

Marek Zurowski graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Illinois Wesleyan University. His regional theatre credits include TITANIC THE MUSICAL (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), CAROUSEL (Madison Theatre), GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER (Rocky Mountain Repertory), DAMN YANKEES (Thingamajig), TARZAN (White Plains PAC), and the ROCKY HORROR SHOW (Playhouse on the Square). His international theatre credits include the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA World Tour, West Side Story (Tokyo 360) as well as the JEKYLL AND HYDE World Tour.

GIGI HAUSMAN

Gigi Hausman (she/her) is so excited to be dancing with WEST SIDE STORY. Her most recent credits include the world premiere of HIS STORY THE MUSICAL (Assistant Choreographer, Dance Captain, Universal Swing), AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (Argyle Theater; Ensemble, U/S Lise), LITTLE MARBLE KISSES (The Tank; Principal Soloist), and HIS STORY THE MUSICAL (Developmental Workshop at New 42 Studios; Swing).

VICTORIA BIRO

Victoria Biro is a current New Yorker raised in Dallas, Texas, where she began studying music, acting, and dance 20 years ago. She went to Booker T. Washington Highschool for the Performing and Visual Arts, and later graduated from Boston Conservatory with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. She is a National YoungArts Jazz Dance winner. Victoria recently starred as Val in A CHORUS LINE, Demeter in CATS, as well as in NEWSIES, SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, RENT and SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. She is thrilled to be making her international debut with this beautiful and important story!

ANNA GASSETT

Anna Gassett is a New York City based performer. Her performance credits include Marilyn Wald in BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROL KING MUSICAL, CHESS, CHICAGO, JOSEPH… DREAMCOAT, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, MARY POPPINS, and BEATUY AND THE BEAST all at The Muny. Credits at Music Theatre Wichita include RAGTIME (Evelyn Nesbit) and CATS (Victoria). Additionally, Anna is an IDO gold medalist for Team USA and a Jimmy Award winner for Best Dancer. Anna recently graduated from Texas State University with her BFA in Musical Theatre (2023).   

NICOLE LEWANDOWSKI

Minnie / Cover Graziella

Some of Nicole Lewandowski’s theatre credits include West Side Story (City Springs Theatre Company), DANCE AGAINST CANCER (Lincoln Center, New York) and IHEARTDANCE NYC. Her favorite roles include Cassie in A CHORUS LINE, Reno in ANYTHING GOES, and Peggy in 42 ND STREET. Additionally, she can be seen dancing in Dolly Parton and Debbie Allen’s  Christmas On The Square  on Netflix. Nicole is a 2022 National Young Arts Winner in Jazz Dance. She is absolutely thrilled to be making her international debut with such an important and iconic show.

KAITLIN NIEWOEHNER

Clarice / Cover Graziella / Dance Captain

Kaitlin Niewoehner toured internationally as Graziella in West Side Story (Stage Around Tokyo) and as Assistant Dance Captain at the premier of Stephen Schwartz’s SECRET SILK. Her other theatre credits are comprised of national tours including AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and SOUTH PACIFIC ,  Silly Girl in Disney’s BEAUTY & THE BEAST, Teenage Girl in MEMPHIS, and A CHORUS LINE . Her regional repertoire includes HIS STORY ,  a new musical workshop, and her role as Mersister/Princess in Disney’s LITTLE MERMAID.

CHRISTOPHER ALVARADO

Chino / Cover Bernardo

Christopher Alvarado graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. The credits of the Puerto Rican performer include ON YOUR FEET (Paper Mill Playhouse), Chino in West Side Story (IHI Stage Around Tokyo), part of the ensemble in EVITA (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina), Coachman in CINDERELLA, and ensemble in ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE (Cumberland County Playhouse), as well as partaking in the workshop for A CROSSING with the Barrington Stage Company.

ALESSANDRO J. LÓPEZ

Pepe / Cover Bernardo / Fight Captain

Alessandro J. López graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in both acting and dance from Southern Methodist University. His Off-Broadway Credit includes ¡AMERICANO! (New World Stages), which won outstanding performance by an ensemble at the 2022 HOLA Awards. Regionally he performed in ON YOUR FEET (Actors Playhouse at the Miracle Theater and Phoenix Theater Company) and FRANKENSTEIN (Zoetic Stage). Furthermore, he has also appeared in several TV productions such as  When Sharks Attack ,  The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel , and  Full Circle . Alessandro is thrilled to be a part of the West Side Story company and happy to share this story with the world.

MATT VILLANUEVA

Matt Villanueva is a dancer, singer, and record producer based in Los Angeles, California, and is overjoyed to join the international tour and bring this story to life! He has toured internationally with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Disney Cruise Line) and WEST SIDE STORY (IHI StageAround Tokyo), and within the US with the JON LEHRER DANCE COMPANY and WORLD DANCE MOVEMENT company. Matt began his training at Dan & Company Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and attended Pace University (Commercial Dance) in 2015.

MICHAEL BISHOP

Michael Bishop received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance/choreography from Belhaven University before attending the Alvin Ailey School. He toured internationally and nationally with the European Tour of West Side Story from 2012-2014, the Opera Philadelphia, and WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED by Bill T. Jones to name a few. Michael started his own dance film production company and his inaugural film, These Waters Bleed Deep, was screened at two international film festivals. He worked as an adjunct professor and choreographed the musical PIPPIN at Five Towns College.

VAKO GVELESIANI

Vako Gvelesiani will be making his Broadway debut with West Side Story . He began training at the age of two starting with traditional Georgian ballet before training in all styles including hip-hop, jazz, contemporary, tap, and ballet. He studied dance at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Performing Arts and at NYU Tisch Dance. He was a finalist for the National Young Arts Foundation, as well as featured in multiple music videos, TV shows such as Today’s Show , and he is a member of NBA Entertainment industry. He not only accomplished all of these achievements but did so whilst being deaf!

GERARDO ESPARZA

Nibbles / Cover Chino

Gerardo Esparza is a recent graduate of The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. His prior credits include the role of Mungojerrie in CATS, Scarecrow in EL OTRO OZ, Sister Leo in NUNSENSE A-MEN, Benjamin in JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, ensemble in MAME, and the role of Conrad Birdie in BYE BYE BIRDIE, both in Mexico and the U.S.A.

MICHEL VASQUEZ

Rosalia / Cover Maria

Michel Vasquez graduated from Belmont University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. Her regional theatre credits include Teresita/Maria u/s in  West Side Story   (Flat Rock Playhouse) Cinderella in INTO THE WOODS   (Timber Lake Playhouse), Aquata in THE LITTLE MERMAID   (Timber Lake Playhouse), Lisa in MAMMA MIA! (Timberlake Playhouse), and Hope Cladwell in URINETOWN . Michel is so thrilled to be joining this tour! All Glory to God!

DEANNA CUDJOE

Consuelo / Cover Anita

Deanna Cudjoe graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Having had more than ten years of classical ballet, contemporary dance, and musical theater training, she is eager to bring this timeless story to audiences around the world! Deanna is beyond excited to be making her theatrical debut in the international tour of West Side Story !

GIANNA ANNESI

Gianna Annesi is a graduate of Point Park University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Since 2018, Gianna performed in Disney Cruise Line’s award winning BEAUTY AND THE BEAST as Dancer, Swing, and Dance Captain, and she served as onboard dance supervisor for the Disney Dream relaunch. Her other credits include the role of Helene in SWEET CHARITY (Pittsburgh Playhouse). Additionally, she was an apprentice with Parsons Dance Company, and a mentee with the company Giordano Dance Chicago.

MAJO RIVERO

Francisca / Cover Anita & Rosalia

Majo Rivero was born and raised in León Guanajuato, México. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the Chicago College of Performing Arts and is an Interlochen Arts Academy alumni. Some of her theatre credits include Yolanda/Dance Captain in IN THE HEIGHTS (directed and choreographed by Stephanie Klemons), Mijita in DESAPARECIDAS (Joe’s Pub NYC), and Adelita in LITTLE DUENDE (NAMT festival, streamed on Broadway On Demand). Majo is thrilled to be making her West Side Story debut with such an amazing team!

VERONICA QUEZADA

Margarita / Cover Anita & Rosalia / Assistant Dance Captain

Veronica Quezada graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Point Park University. Her regional theatre credits include BANDSTAND (Phoenix Theatre Company), ON YOUR FEET! (Phoenix Theatre Company), IN THE HEIGHTS (Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center) and 42 ND STREET (Pittsburgh Playhouse). Veronica is very grateful to be a part of this incredible production.

DANIEL DiPINTO

Swing / Cover Tony

Daniel DiPinto is very excited to join the company of West Side Story ! West Side Story is actually the musical that inspired Daniel to pursue theatre. Being Puerto Rican and Italian, it hit really close to home. A Texas native, living in New York City, and working globally, it’s safe to say he likes traveling! Some of his favorite credits include MAMMA MIA!, SWEENEY TODD, and Ren McCormack in FOOTLOOSE! Much love to mom and dad, and many thanks to his agent Brian!

JUSTIN LOPEZ

Justin Lopez trained for three years at Montclair State University, where he played roles such as Paul in A CHORUS LINE   and Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf in INTO THE WOODS. After having just made his professional debut as Patrick in A CHORUS LINE at   the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, he is thrilled to making his international debut in  West Side Story .

SONYA HERNÁNDEZ

Sonya Hernández (She/Her) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer and singer. She studied Musical Theatre at New York Film Academy and got her BFA in acting from University of Puerto Rico.   Her credits include Off Broadway’s THE MAGIC BOX and regional productions of WEST SIDE STORY, THE POLAR EXPRESS, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND and MAN OF LA MANCHA.

GABI SIMMONS

Gabi Simmons recently appeared as Clarice/understudy Anybodys in West Side Story at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy. Select theater credits include Wendy in PETER PAN, Jeanne in STATE FAIR, Tammy in HAIRSPRAY, Cora in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, and Pauline in West Side Story . She also was a lead vocalist at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in SOUNDSATIONAL and CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR.

ORIGINAL CREATIVE TEAM

Jerome Robbins

Idea, conception, direction and choreography

Jerome Robbins was born in New York City on October 11, 1918. He was trained in modern dance and ballet and began his career in 1937 as a dancer in musicals. In 1940 he moved over to ballet. The first time he created the choreography for a ballet was in 1944 for the show Fancy Free , which was later made into the musical On the Town . Jerome Robbins became famous as an innovative choreographer for Broadway musicals such as High Button Shoes (1947) and The King and I (1951). Other musicals included Peter Pan (1954) as well as the legendary West Side Story (1957) and Fiddler on the Roof (1964). In 1989 he produced an anthology of his earlier Broadway hits as a large Broadway show under the title Jerome Robbins’ Broadway .

Jerome Robbins was appointed the Associate Artistic Director for the New York City Ballet by George Balanchine in 1949 and from 1983 to 1990 he shared the position of Ballet Master in Chief with Peter Martins. He was a soloist in the New York City Ballet and choreographed nine ballets before he founded Ballets: U.S.A. in 1959. Many of his 66 ballets are still produced by the New York City Ballet, such as Dances at a Gathering (1969) and Goldberg Variations (1971).

Jerome Robbins was a member of the National Council on the Arts from 1974 to 1980 and from 1973 to 1988 was a member of the New York State Council on the Arts/Dance Panel. He established and partially endowed the Jerome Robbins Film Archive of the Dance Collection of the New York City Public Library at the Lincoln Center. He received numerous awards including the Handel Medallion of the City of New York in 1976, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1981 and the National Medal of the Arts in 1988. His academic honors included three Honorary Doctorates and an honorary membership in the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1985.

Jerome Robbins died in 1998 in New York.

Leonard Bernstein

The composer, conductor, pianist, teacher and humanitarian Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1918 to Russian Jewish immigrants. After his studies at Harvard College and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (under teachers such as the legendary Fritz Reiner for conducting) he became the assistant to Sergej Kussewitzky in Tanglewood in 1942 and worked from 1943 to 1944 as an assistant music director at the New York Philharmonic. On November 14, 1943 he stood in for the ailing Bruno Walter in a Carnegie Hall concert and overnight became one of the leading conductors in America. After three years as the Musical Director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra he assumed the same position in Tanglewood from 1951 to 1955 and then in the New York Philharmonic from 1957 to 1958, where in 1958 he succeeded Dimitri Mitropoulos as Principal Conductor. In the seventies, Bernstein was one of the pioneers to initiate the renaissance of Gustav Mahler’s work. In 1986, Leonard Bernstein helped Justus Frantz establish the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival. On December 23 and 25, 1989 he conducted Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in both sections of Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Leonard Bernstein was the first superstar conductor in the USA. In addition to this work, which took him to all the major orchestras in the world and let him work together with the most famous soloists, he composed music for concerts, ballets, stage and films. He specialized in jazz and new music, with instrumental compositions that were just as successful as his vocal pieces. His best-known compositions include Fancy Free (1944), On the Town (1944), Peter Pan (1950), Trouble in Tahiti (1952), Wonderful Town (1952), Candide (1956), West Side Story (1957), Chichester Psalms (1965), Mass 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976) and A Quiet Place (1983). He was a dedicated patron of the world’s youth throughout his lifetime. From 1951 to 1956 he was a professor at Brandeis University in Massachusetts and in 1951 he began his television career as a music commentator and teacher on shows such as Young People‘s Concerts . His works refute the deep-seated prejudice that both serious and entertaining music cannot coexist in the works of a talented composer.

Leonard Bernstein died on October 14, 1990 at his house in New York.

Arthur Laurents

Arthur Laurents was born in New York City on July 14, 1917. He is one of the most successful authors and created musical plays such as West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Do I Hear A Waltz? (1965), Hallelujah Baby! (1967 Tony Award for Best Musical), and Nick&Nora (1991); and the screenplays for The Snake Pit (1948), Rope (1948), Caught (1949), Anastasia (1956), Bonjour Tristesse (1958), The Way We Were (1973), and The Turning Point for which he reveived a Golden Globe Award in 1977, a Screenwriters Guild Award, a Writers Guild of America Award and a National Board of Review Best Picture Award. The last two screenplays were novels as well. His plays include Claudia Lazlo, Home of the Brave, The Time of the Cukoo, A Clearing in the Woods, Invitation to a March, The Enclave, Scream, Two Lives, The Radical Mystique, My Good Name, and Jolson Sings Again .

He has also directed plays and musicals for the theatre among them I Can Get It For You Wholesale (1962), Invitation to a March (1960), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), The Enclave , The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979), Birds of Paradise , three revivals of Gypsy with Angela Lansbury in 1974, with Tyne Daly in 1989, with Patti LuPone in 2007 and La Cage Aux Folles, for which he was honored with a Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical in 1984 and a Sydney Drama Critics Award for Directing in 1985. In 2009, Laurents directed the Broadway revival of West Side Story in New York. He has also written radio episodes for Hollywood Playhouse, Assignment Home , which received a Variety Radio Award in 1945, The Thin Man, Army Service Force Presents, The Man Behind the Gun , and This is Your FBI.

He has been honored with awards from many organizations, among them the National Institute of Arts and Letters, Writers Guild of America, Antoinette Perry (Tonys), Golden Globe, Drama Desk, National Board of Review and the Sydney Drama Critics. He was a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame, P.E.N., the Screenwriters Guild, the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences and is an emeritus member of the Council of the Dramatist Guild.

Arthur Laurents died on May 5, 2011 in his hometown New York.

Stephen Sondheim

The composer and lyricist Stephen Joshua Sondheim was born in 1930 to a wealthy New York dress manufacturer. When his parents divorced, his mother moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and young Stephen found himself in the right place at the right time. His mother’s neighbor was Oscar Hammerstein II, who was at the time working on the musical Oklahoma! . It didn’t take long for the adolescent boy to discover his fascination with musical theater, and he consequently began studying music at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and later composition with Milton Babbitt. Like Oscar Hammerstein he would write the occasional pop song (with Jule Styne for Tony Bennett) and dabble in film, but like Hammerstein, his true love remained the theater.

His initial success came in 1957 as a lyricist to Leonard Bernstein on West Side Story , followed by Jule Styne on Gypsy in 1959. He wrote the music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Pacific Overtures (1976) and Merrily We Roll Along (1981). He collaborated on Richard Rogers’ Do I Hear A Waltz ? (1965) and cemented his reputation as a genius lyricist and composer with Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd (1979), Sunday in the Park with Geo rge (1984), Into the Woods (1987), Assassins (1991) and Passion (1994). In 2003, his musical Bounce had its premiere in Chicago while the Off-Broadway version (2008) was named Road Show .

He was President of the Council of the Dramatist Guild from 1973 to 1981. In 1983 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was appointed the first Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University in 1990.

Stephen Sondheim is one of the most successful artists of the musical and theatrical world, who gained nearly all important prices and awards. He is the only composer in the world to win seven Tony Awards and has been honored with the special Tony Award for “Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre” in 2008 and won several Grammys and Olivier Awards. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985 for Sunday in the Park with George and also was honored with the Academy Award for his Song „Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)“ from the movie Dick Tracy .

To mark his 80th birthday there were numerous celebrations around the world: he received the accolade of having a London Prom Concert dedicated to his work. New York’s Henry Miller’s Theatre was renamed The Stephen Sondheim Theatre and a new show Sondheim On Sondheim opened on Broadway. The Royal Academy of Music conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate of the University of London and volume two of his collected and annotated lyrics, Look I Made a Hat , was published. In July 2013 the Stephen Sondheim Society launched The Stephen Sondheim Society Archive.

CREATIVE TEAM

Lonny Price

On Broadway, Lonny Price directed  Sunset Boulevard, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, 110 in the Shade, ‘Master Harold’… and the Boys, Sally Marr… and Her Escorts  (co-written with Joan Rivers and Erin Sanders),  Urban Cowboy, A Class Act  (Tony Award nominated book co-written with Linda Kline), and  Scotland, PA , which had its world premiere at Roundabout Theatre Company’s Laura Pels Theatre in the Fall of 2019.

West End credits include  Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill , as well as Sunset Boulevard (with Glenn Close) , Sweeney Todd (with Emma Thompson) ,  and  Man of La Mancha,  all for the English National Opera.

Film and television credits include his film version of the New York Philharmonic’s  Sweeney Todd  and  Company . He also directed the stage and filmed versions of his tribute to Stephen Sondheim,  Sondheim: The Birthday Concert!  (Emmy Award). Other Philharmonic collaborations include the “Live From Lincoln Center” broadcast of  Camelot, Candide, Sweeney Todd  (Emmy Award), and Sondheim’s  Passion  (Emmy Award).

Additional television credits include  Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill  for HBO, as well as episodes of “2 Broke Girls,” “Desperate Housewives,” and “The Jack and Triumph Show.” For his first feature, ‘ Master Harold’ … and the Boys , he received a Best Director Award from the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. His documentary,  Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened  premiered at the New York Film Festival and was named one of New York Times’ Top 10 Films of 2016, and his other documentary  Hal Prince: The Director’s Life  (PBS) was released to critical acclaim as well.

Julio Monge

Choreographer

An actor, director and choreographer, Julio has performed on film and television as well as on numerous Broadway and international theater productions. Choreography works include Tony Kushner’s adaptation of  Mother Courage and Her Children  starring Meryl Streep, and the musical  Radiant Baby,  both directed by George C. Wolfe. He recently directed the English language US premiere of Jacobo Morales’ play,  Bipás,  at George Street Playhouse .  He also collaborated closely with writer Tony Kushner and served as artistic consultant for the new film version of  West Side Story,  directed by Steven Spielberg.

Julio has staged Jerome Robbin’s original  West Side Story  choreography for Pittsburgh Ballet, Opera of Australia, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Tokyo in Stage Around, and at Chungmu Art Center in Seoul, South Korea.

Grant Sturiale

Musical Supervisor

For 10 seasons, Mr. Sturiale led the orchestra for the annual Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall and conducted its original cast album for Sony Records. He was associate conductor for the NY Philharmonic’s presentations of CANDIDE, SWEENEY TODD and COMPANY. On Broadway, he has conducted JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, DREAM and wrote and arranged music for THE LITTLE PRINCE AND THE AVIATOR.

He was musical director for the Off-Broadway revivals of THE ROTHSCHILDS and JUNO, the national tours of BLOOD BROTHERS and THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, a North American tour of the new musical DURANTE (starring Lonny Price) and a European tour of EVITA.

As a composer, Mr. Sturiale garnered an Outer Critic’s Circle Award nomination for his score for the Off-Broadway musical OLYMPUS ON MY MIND and conducted its New York run and original cast album. He is the recipient of the Theater For The American Musical Award for his musical UNDER FIRE (written with Barry Harman) presented at The New York Musical Theater Festival in 2009.

His musical, KIKI BABY, written with Ellen Fitzhugh and Lonny Price, was presented at the Eugene O’Neill Festival in 2006 and by Primary Stages in NY in 2007. He has written music for ABC TV’s ONE LIFE TO LIVE and arranged and conducted music for ALL MY CHILDREN.

An evening of his work as a composer was presented in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, produced by Arts And Artists At St. Paul.

He has conducted for Petula Clark around the world and played the piano for many other luminaries, from Gloria Gaynor to Sergio Franchi to Patti LuPone.

He is a grant recipient from the National Endowment For The Arts and has won numerous ASCAP awards.

Anna Louizos

Anna Louizos is a New York City based Scenic Designer who has received multiple Tony Award nominations, Emmy and Drama Desk Award nominations for her diverse production designs. Broadway credits include School of Rock (also US Tour, London, Brazil, Australia, China, Korea -for which she designed both sets and costumes) In the Heights, Avenue Q, Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Dames at Sea, High Fidelity, Honeymoon in Vegas, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Curtains, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Golda’s Balcony and others . International productions include West Side Story for Tokios 360 Stage Around Stage Around, a theatre in which the revolving audience is surrounded by scenery.  Among her many off -Broadway and regional theatre designs some include the world premiers of The Altar Boyz, Tick, Tick…BOOM, Scotland, PA, Speech and Debate, Sons of the Prophet, Just Jim Dale, Franz Kafka’s The Castle, and Fly, the Musical. USA regional revivals include Romeo and Juliet , Crimes of the Heart, The Foreigner , The Substance of Fire, Much Ado about Nothing , and The School for Scandal for theatres from Connecticut to California.

As television art director credits include Sex and the City, Big Apple and Welcome to New York.

Louizos is also the founder and CEO of Broadway Design Exchange an online marketplace for theatre artists offering sketches, models costumes, and props for collectors.

Tom Marshall

Sound Designer

Tom has worked in theatre sound for nearly three decades. His UK Sound Design credits include Sister Act (UK Tour), The Color Purple  (Curve & UK Tour), Grease (Dominion Theatre & UK Tour), Bonnie & Clyde (Arts Theatre), Beautiful – The Carole King Story (UK Tour), The Drifters Girl (Garrick Theatre, London ), Spike (Watermill Theatre & UK Tour), A Chorus Line (Curve, Leicester), Amelie (Criterion Theatre, London & UK Tour), A Christmas Carol (Watermill Theatre ), Hairspray, (Pimlico Opera), The Boy In The Dress  (RSC), Curtains (London Wyndham’s Theatre & UK Tour), White Christmas (London Dominion & UK Tour) , Moll Flanders  (Mercury Theatre),  Oklahoma!  (Grange Park Opera),  An   Officer And A Gentleman  (UK Tour),  The Jungle Book  (UK Tour),  Sunset Boulevard  (UK Tour),  Project Polunin  (Sadlers Wells & London Coliseum),  Crazy for You  (UK Tour),  Nativity!  (London & UK Tour),  Flashdance  (UK Tour),  A Little Night Music  (Watermill Theatre),  Working  (Southwark Playhouse),  Brass  (Hackney Empire),  Bugsy Malone  (Curve),  Crazy for You  (Watermill Theatre & UK Tour),  Oliver!  (Grange Park Opera)  Legally Blonde  (Curve),  Tell Me on a Sunday  (UK Tour),  The Silver Sword  (UK Tour),  Sweet Charity  (Curve),  Oliver ! (Watermill Theatre),  Dirty Rotten Scoundrels  (London Savoy & UK Tour),  Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown  (Playhouse Theatre, London), The Hired Man  (St. James Theatre) and  West Side Story  (Victoria Warehouse, Manchester).

Furthermore, his Sound Recording & Mixing Credits are The Color Purple & Sunset Boulevard for Curve ‘At Home’ season, Gianni Schicchi, L’heure Espagnole, Owen Wingrave, A Feast in The Time of Plague and The Found Season and the Interim Season both for Grange Park Opera.

Tom has acted as an associate sound designer on over 30 shows in the UK and internationally, including  The Bodyguard, Warhorse & Gypsy  to name a few. Prior to this he worked as Head of Sound, opening and mixing numerous large West End shows over the past two decades. As a freelance mix engineer Tom has had the privilege of working on countless events, such as the 2012 Olympic stadium athletics and touring as Front of House engineer for many artists including PJ Harvey, The Coral, The Bees, The Lightning Seeds, Elaine Paige, Lewis Taylor and Martina-Topley-Bird.

Alejo Vietti

Costume Design

An Argentine native, he has immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1990’s. He has designed Broadway’s ALLEGIANCE, BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL (also West End – Olivier Nomination, National Tour, Australia and Japan) and HOLIDAY INN, as well as designs for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, NY City Center Encores, Atlantic Theatre Company, Primary Stages, MCC, New York City Opera, Irish Rep, The New Group, Cherry Lane, Rattlestick, Ensemble Studio Theatre and Soho Rep among others.

Other credits include   Disney’s   THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME   in Japan and Germany, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Opera,   Donesk Opera (Ukraine), Colorado Ballet,   and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus .

Regionally, Vietti has designed shows for The Alley Theatre, Arena Stage, Geffen Playhouse, Goodspeed Opera, the Guthrie, Hartford Stage, Paper Mill Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Old Globe, Wolf Trap Opera and Minnesota Opera among others.

He is the recipient of the 2010 TDF Irene Sharaff Young Master Award.

Fabrice Kebour

Lighting Design

A native of Paris with more than 250 productions to his credit, Fabrice Kebour is known as one of Europe’s leading lighting designer. His career began in New York where he won entry to the United Scenic Artists internship program which allowed him to work with some of the leading American lighting designers of the day, both Off and On Broadway.

After 5 years in New York gaining multiple experience, Fabrice Kebour returned to paris and became the associate lighting designer of the Cameron Mackintosh productions LES MISÉRABLES which he designed in Madrid, Dublin, Edinburgh, Singapore, Duisbourg and Hong Kong, as well as MISS SAIGON in Stuttgart and Scheveningen.

His work has been seen on the most prestigious international theaters: the Comédie Française, Opéra National de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper, Bregenzer Festspiele, the Teatro Alla Scala, Mariinsky Theatre, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Salzburg Festival. He designed Giorgio Barberio Corsetti’s productions UN CHAPEAU DE PAILLE D‘ITALIE for La Comédie Française, MACBETH and TURANDOT for La Scala, as well as DON CARLOS at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Since 2007, he has been designing most of David Pountney’s productions amongst which LA FORZA DEL DESTINO for the Wiener Staatsoper, DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE for the Bregenzer Festspiele, Philip Glass’ world premiere, SPUREN DER VERIRRTEN for the Landestheater Linz and the Ring Cycle presented at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

His design credits also include BONHEUR for the Lido de Paris, CARMEN LA CUBANA, a world premiere musical directed by Christopher Renshaw produced by BB Promotion, as well as the 2006 the opening and closing olympic ceremonies of the Asian Games in Doha.

Fabrice co-founded the french lighting designer’s association Union des Créateurs Lumière in 2009 for which he held the president position until 2012. In 2011, the Prague Quadrennial invited him to be part of the Light Speaks exhibit which displayed the work of the world’s leading lighting designers.

Fabrice received three Molière nomination and one Welsh Theatre Award nomination for „Best Lighting Design“.

Martin Flohr

Executive Producer

Martin Flohr has been passionate about music and theatre all his life. While studying economics at university, he gained experience in show business by working on Broadway in New York, in London’s West End, and by travelling all over Europe and Asia as tour manager for STOMP.

In 2006, he joined BB Promotion. As Head of Project & Booking he was responsible for BB Promotion’s own productions, including West Side Story and Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show , and for international touring productions including Cats, Evita, Porgy & Bess, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Tanguera. Due to his special talent for combining creative and organisational processes, he became the company’s Artistic Director in 2014. He bears artistic responsibility for all in-house productions and has executive-produced Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show , West Side Story and We Will Rock You . He also successfully brought Bodyguard – The Musical and Carmen la Cubana to Germany for their German premieres. By creating the concept of BERLIN BERLIN, he is fulfilling his long-held dream of bringing his favourite era to the stage in a great 1920s show.

In May 2021, Martin Flohr was appointed Managing Director of OnStage Productions, a subsidiary of Mehr-BB Entertainment responsible for creating first-class in-house and touring productions.

Ralf Kokemüller

Original Producer

In 1995 Ralf Kokemüller joined BB Promotion, the forerunner of the BB Group. In close cooperation with the founder Michael Brenner one of the most successful promoters of live entertainment in Germany and Europe was created. For many years Ralf Kokemüller was responsible for scouting and booking, cultivating close relationships with internationally acclaimed hit shows such as Stomp , Tanguera and Yamato . After Brenner’s death in 2011, Ralf Kokemüller, as CEO of the group, maintained the BB Group’s maxim of discovering and realising new, fascinating shows and artists. The (co-) productions include show experiences such as Thriller – Live , Blue Man Group or Tango Pasión , stage performances and dance productions such as the world-famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and musicals such as the original English-language production of Disney’s The Lion King or Cameron Mackintosh’s Miss Saigon . In 2015 Ralf Kokemüller produced the German-language version of Bodyguard . He had been involved in the original West end production in London as a co-producer for several years before that. The in-house production of the first Cuban musical Carmen La Cubana, co-produced with the renowned Théâtre du Châtelet, premiered in Paris in 2016 and has been presented in theatres worldwide since 2018. In addition to the portfolio of high-quality productions and an international network of artists and producers, innovative concepts such as Ballet Revolución from Cuba or the Cats theatre tent tour  were also repeatedly found under his leadership. At Mehr-BB Entertainment, with which the BB Group merged in April 2019, Ralf Kokemüller was CEO and producer. In this position, he was responsible for the in-house production of the 1920s revue Berlin Berlin , which celebrated an acclaimed premiere at the Admiralspalast in 2019 and subsequently went on tour several times. Ralf Kokemüller was CEO of Mehr-BB Entertainment until the end of 2022. However, he continues to be associated with the company as a producer and consultant.

Sundance ProductionsDavid Coffman

Co-Producer

Russia says Ukraine struck nuclear plant, Kyiv denies it was behind the attack

M OSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said Ukraine struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station controlled by Russian forces three times on Sunday and demanded the West respond, though Kyiv said it had nothing to do with the attacks.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, which has experts at the site, said it was the first time the nuclear plant, Europe's largest, was directly targeted since November 2022 and said the attack had endangered nuclear safety.

Russian forces took control of the plant in 2022 shortly after their full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Both Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of risking a nuclear accident by attacking the plant.

Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said Ukraine attacked the plant three times on Sunday with drones, first injuring three near a canteen, then attacking a cargo area and then the dome above reactor No. 6.

"Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station has been subjected to an unprecedented series of drone attacks, a direct threat to the safety of the plant," Rosatom said.

"The radiation levels at the plant and the surrounding area have not changed," it said.

A Ukrainian intelligence official said Kyiv had nothing to do with any strikes on the station and suggested they were the work of Russians themselves.

"Russian strikes, including imitation ones, on the territory of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant ... have long been a well known criminal practice of the invaders," a spokesperson for Ukraine's HUR Main Intelligence Directorate, Andriy Usov.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield accounts from either side.

The nuclear plant has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing Uranium 235 and also has spent nuclear fuel at the facility.

Reactors No. 1, 2, 5 and 6 are in cold shutdown while Reactor No. 3 is shut down for repair and Reactor No. 4 is in so-called "hot shutdown", according to the plant.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova urged world leaders to condemn the act of "nuclear terrorism."

Zakharova asked how many more times Ukraine would endanger nuclear safety at the plant before Western leaders took action.

The IAEA said its experts had confirmed three drone attacks and that Russian troops engaged what appeared to be a drone approaching reactor No. 6.

"This is a major escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers facing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Such reckless attacks significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident and must cease immediately," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

"Attacking a nuclear power plant is an absolute no go," Grossi said.

"Although the damage at unit 6 has not compromised nuclear safety, this was a serious incident that had the potential to undermine the integrity of the reactor’s containment system," he added.

(Reporting by Felix Light in Tbilisi and Guy Faulconbridge in MoscowEditing by Ron Popeski, Bill Berkrot, Matthew Lewis and Lincoln Feast.)

2018 Primetime Emmy & James Beard Award Winner

R&K Insider

Join our newsletter to get exclusives on where our correspondents travel, what they eat, where they stay. Free to sign up.

A History of Moscow in 13 Dishes

Featured city guides.

• Testimonials

Watch a Movie at the MIFF While Visiting Russia

When travelling to Russia, there are many hidden treasures that tourists may miss while seeking for engaging and authentic attractions. One such tourist hot-spot is the Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF)- among the oldest and most popular of its kind. Incepted in 1935, the festival gained popularity in the late 50s and 60s when a new generation of Russian directors were inspired by their nation’s woes and victories in the previous decades. As a true platform for the cultivation and recognition of artistic talent, the Moscow International Film Festival paved the way for many filmmakers who later became known throughout the world: Istvan Szabo and Kaneto Shindo, Krzysztof Kieslowski and Aki Kaurismaki, Kohei Oguri and Humberto Solas.

Some highlights from the 34 th annual festival in 2012 include the American film director Tim Burton receiving the honorary prize for contribution to world cinema. The diverse program included more than 200 films from 50 countries around the world. The panel of judges for the competitive portion of the festival included internationally renowned directors and actors from all over the globe.

The Moscow International Film Festival is held annually during the summer, and is sure to be an interesting attraction while visiting Russia’s capital in the warm months. 

• Terms & Conditions
• Private Order
• Travel Insurance

East West Tours Division of Bridges Unlimited Inc. 18518 Bothell Way NE, Ste. # B Bothell, WA 98011

[email protected] toll-free: (800)848-6449 local: 425-487-2835 (4TRAVEL)

• Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Best of Moscow by high speed train

By shuguley , February 15, 2014 in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Recommended Posts

Sure would appreciate someone who has taken "Best of Moscow by high speed train" from St. Petersburg could please share their impressions of this shore excursion. From the description this sounds like a very long day.

Wondering how the 4 hour train trip was in terms of accommodations, etc. Also what time did you leave the ship and what time at night did you return? Were both legs of the trip on the high speed rail (I read that slower trains also travel the same tracks)?

My wife and I are considering this excursion. We thought that if we are making all the effort to go to Russia then how could we pass up going to Moscow, walking in Red Square, seeing St. Basil, etc.

Link to comment

Share on other sites.

If you are considering this on the 2015 June Baltic cruise on Voyager; my suggestion is don't. There is so much to do in St. Petersburg and although a train is one of my favorite ways to travel the time would be far better spent in St. P.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, this would be on the Voyager during the 2015 season but not yet sure exactly which cruise.

We did the Moscow excursion "on a different luxury line", but from your brief description it sounds very much like the same trip, so I will operate on that assumption. It is a VERY long day! We left the ship at 5:30 AM and returned at 12:30 AM. The highspeed train trip is comfortable, and while they call it "Business Class" it does not compare well to the equivalent class on say Rail Europe. When we did it in 2011, we did have highspeed both ways, and the trip back seemed much longer as the adrenaline and excitement had worn off!:D

Moscow itself is not that terribly different from any other big city in the world, but this Cold War kid never thought he would ever stand in Red Square, never mind walk the grounds of The Kremlin, or tour The Kremlin Palace, or see (but not visit) Lenin's Tomb, or visit The Armoury. But he did, and he loved every minute of it! Yes, it is a long day, and you barely scratch a scratch on the surface, but it is worth it. There is a tremendous amount to see in St. Petersburg, but every Baltic cruise goes to St. Petersburg, so you can go back if you choose to. Not every cruiseline offers you the chance to see Moscow.

I have not personally done this tour, but our last time in St Petersburg, the private guide that we hired for a day was leading the regent tour to Moscow on the high speed train the next day. He said it was way better than the previous alternative, which was flying to Moscow and back. He said that you actually got to Moscow faster because you didn't have to deal with airline checkin etc. it did seem like a very long day to me, and there is so much to see and do in st. Petersburg that I didn't consider doing it.

countflorida

We toured to Moscow from St. Petersburg via the hi-speed SAPSAN train last September, from a Baltic cruise on the Oceania Marina. You need to have a two-night, three day port call in St. Petersburg to take this tour because the tour typically leaves the ship around 5:00 - 5:30 AM and doesn't return until after midnight the next day. We didn't take the ship's tour; we made private arrangements with TravelAllRussia for three days of touring, the first and third days in St. Petersburg and the second day the tour to Moscow by train. Our cost for the private tour for three days was about the same as what the ship charged for the excursion to Moscow alone. There are a number of private tour agencies that operate in St. Petersburg and offer the Moscow train tours; we would strongly recommend them over the ship's tours.

All three days had private guides with car and driver. The second day, the driver picked us up at the ship and took us to the train, but we were alone on the train, and met in Moscow by the guide on the station platform. After our tour and dinner, we were brought back to the train and after the return train trip met by the driver and taken back to the ship. Because you are alone on the train you must have your own Russian visas.

If this is your first visit to St. Petersburg, I would agree there is much more to see there. We found Moscow somewhat a disappointment, particularly Red Square. The Kremlin and the cathedral in Red Square were also worth seeing. But the best thing we saw was the Moscow subway! I worked for the Washington Metro system back in the 1980s as it grew from 40 to 80 miles and although I was in the computer area, I learned a lot about the challenges of running a subway system. We used the Moscow system to get across the city from where we had dinner to the train station, and I was amazed at the cleanliness', speed of operation, the short headways maintained, and the courtesy of everyone involved. A very impressive experience!

We had been to St. Petersburg before, and so had the time to take a day and go to Moscow. Also, I really like trains, and the SAPSAN is a German train set running on Russian rails. Seats are like first class domestic air, spacious but not too plush or comfortable, but with enough room. Not too much recline, and almost 8 hours on the train in two shots is a lot for an old man. They come through and sell drinks, candy, etc. but the sellers don't speak English and no one around us helped, so we had just poor coffee once coming, and brought stuff with us for the trip back. Not too much to see from the train either, particularly on the return when it is night the whole way.

If you decide to go, take a private tour and avoid the overly expensive ship's tour. I'm glad we did it, but wouldn't bother to repeat the tour; we've seen Moscow.

Thanks so much to all of you for the thorough and thought insight. Yhe information you have provided is most helpful.

countflorida: Your detailed post is very helpful. We are not quite ready for a Baltic cruise but should do so within a year. Time enough to do our pre travel research, bookings and visa gathering.:) Thank you!

Emperor Norton

Sure would appreciate someone who has taken "Best of Moscow by high speed train" from St. Petersburg could please share their impressions of this shore excursion. From the description this sounds like a very long day.   Wondering how the 4 hour train trip was in terms of accommodations, etc. Also what time did you leave the ship and what time at night did you return? Were both legs of the trip on the high speed rail (I read that slower trains also travel the same tracks)?   My wife and I are considering this excursion. We thought that if we are making all the effort to go to Russia then how could we pass up going to Moscow, walking in Red Square, seeing St. Basil, etc.

I did this on Seabourn. IMO DONT. Take Aeroflop (er Aeroflot). The train has non folding seats where you are literally knee to knee with your fellow passenger (facing each other). Further they don't believe in air conditioning. It's also the worlds slowed bullet train. I think I would have found more enjoyment wandering around the St. Petersburg and Moscow airports.

Countflorida,

This is a little off topic,, however we had planned a river cruise in Russia but decided we would rather stay on land and have booked about two weeks with Travel-All-Russia using the private guide and driver. I'm curious as to how you found them as a tour company.

The guides they provided were fine. We had a different guide each of the days in St. Petersburg, but both were flexible, pleasant, knowledgeable and spoke English very well, as did the guide in Moscow, incidentally. She was a bit aloof, distant, not too friendly, but otherwise fine. In fact, she was the one who suggested taking the Metro, which unexpectedly became one of the highlights of the Moscow excursion. If I have a complaint with AllTravelRussia, it is with their plan and its execution (more later).

I had requested emphasis on World War II (in Russia, the Great Patriotic War) sites and info. In scheduling us, they weren't careful about dates and a couple of the sites we wanted to see were scheduled on the third day, after we'd been to Moscow. But both sites were closed that day of the week, and that info was readily available, right on web sites describing them. Also, the included meals (lunches in St. Pete, dinner in Moscow) were not what we asked for: light meals with some choices, so we could avoid things we didn't like and choose things we did like. My request was ignored; we were given full Russian meals with a fixed menu, no choice. On the first day, a fish dish was the entre, but I am allergic to fish. Fortunately, I had the e-mail I'd sent with me and showed it to the guide, and she was able to change my entre to chicken, which was very good actually. But we didn't want a 3-4 course lunches or dinner (in Moscow). We had the guide drop the lunch the third day, although we never got any credit or refund. But, particularly in contrast to the ship's tours, the prices were so reasonable we didn't worry too much about it.

The people who were on the ship's tour to Moscow saw us boarding the same train for which they were forced to queue up and wait on the way back, and asked us what we had done. I was candid and open so they were not happy when I explained what we had arranged and particularly what it had cost. Also, when we returned to the ship, we found they had laid on a late supper for those who had gone to Moscow, so up we went and had something. Well, it turns out the late supper was supposed to be just for those on the ship's tour, but we and others on 'independent' tours, there were a dozen or more of us, crashed the party, actually got there first, and they didn't realize it until the larger group arrived and there weren't enough tables/places set. By that time, the 'independents' had all gotten served and were eating; what could they do?

A couple from the larger group sat down with us and asked us about our tour, and they were the ones I told about our arrangement and its cost. They turned to others who’d been with them and announced the details, loudly enough so the whole room heard, which started a lot of bitching and complaining. I gathered they weren't very happy with the ship's tour to begin with, and this was the straw that broke the camel's back. We finished up and beat it out of there, but overheard later that one of the excursion staff came to check on something and ran into a real mess. I caught a cold on the trip, which forced me to bed the second day following in Tallinn, so by the time we reappeared we heard about the contretemps' but apparently no one recalled who started it, thankfully.

Because of what happened to us, I would probably not use AllTravelRussia if I were to go again, or if I did, I would be sure to get confirmation of every detail of the tour. They do have good reviews generally, and we were certainly helped by their visa department and liked the guides and drivers. Their weakness, I say now with full 20:20 hindsight, is that once the sales person who plans the tour, sells it to you and collects your money, he (or she) transfers the plan to their Russia office for implementation; there is no follow-up to make sure it gets done right. And that is where our problems arose; we paid for a custom tour but got a standard package with a few destinations switched, and no one checked them out, even to see when they were open the day we were scheduled to go. If you check every detail that’s important to you, it should be OK, but that’s a hell of a way to have to do business, in my opinion.

Thank you for the 20/20 hindsight observation on your Russian tour operator, and better priced than the ship's excursion cost.

Thanks very much for the feedback.

We had the same experience as you so far as price. We originally booked a Viking Cruise but, hearing some things about the river cruises that made us unhappy, looked into other options. T-A-R cost the same or less than a cruise and had us in hotels for 11 days. We opted for the private tour. They have three tour levels, based on hotels. We originally opted for the four star as it did not cost much more than the three star hotels. Finally we decided to throw it all in and upgraded to five star. In Moscow we will be at the newly opened Kempinsky which is two blocks from Red Square. In St. Petersburg it is the Grand Hotel Europe, one of the most vaunted luxury hotels in Russia. Location is important for us as the tours use up only part of the day so being in the center of everything for our independent touring is important. As with many other cities, the less you pay, the farther out of the center of town you are.

We have been working with our salesman in D.C. and he seems to get back to us with the changes we want. He recently returned from Russia so is up on everything. When I asked they said they paid the full TA commission if I wanted so I got my usual TA on board so he is watching our back and giving us that extra level of comfort. He also set up our air, which I know pays him little or nothing, and got us business class for much less than T-A-R wanted for economy, though it took working for a while with a consolidator. He's happy to get his 10 percent on this trip without having booked it. He also took care of the trip insurance. We've been doing a lot of research on the CC sister site Trip Advisor and will write a report there. We will, I guess, become a source of info for CC members after having spent 5 days in Moscow and 6 in SP.

• 4 months later...

scubacruiserx2

Anybody considering a day trip to Moscow from St. Petersburg on the Sapsan may want to look at our travelogue filled with pictures.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1927687

Very informative. Thanks dor sharing. Jeff

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in

• Welcome to Cruise Critic
• ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
• New Cruisers
• Cruise Lines “A – O”
• Cruise Lines “P – Z”
• River Cruising
• Cruise Critic News & Features
• Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
• Special Interest Cruising
• Cruise Discussion Topics
• UK Cruising
• Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
• Canadian Cruisers
• North American Homeports
• Ports of Call
• Cruise Conversations

Announcements

• New to Cruise Critic? Join our Community!

Write Your Own Amazing Review !

Click this gorgeous photo by member SUPERstar777 to share your review!

Features & News

LauraS · Started 23 hours ago

LauraS · Started Yesterday at 12:53 AM

LauraS · Started Tuesday at 07:17 PM

LauraS · Started Monday at 10:08 PM

LauraS · Started Monday at 09:45 PM

• Existing user? Sign in OR Create an Account
• Find Your Roll Call
• Meet & Mingle
• Community Help Center
• All Activity
• Member Photo Albums
• Meet & Mingle Photos
• Favorite Cruise Memories
• Cruise Food Photos
• Cruise Ship Photos
• Ports of Call Photos
• Towel Animal Photos
• Amazing, Funny & Totally Awesome Cruise Photos
• Write a Review
• Live Cruise Reports
• Member Cruise Reviews
• Create New...