SOMEWHERE IN PALM SPRINGS

Broadway’s original Maria and the film’s Bernardo
reunite to share two sides of West Side Story history

George Chakiris and Carol Lawrence share an unusual piece of West Side Story history. She was there when the musical first opened on Broadway in 1957, creating the role of Maria. He became Bernardo in the 1961 film and took home an Oscar and Golden Globe for it. On November 21, the two will compare memories when George Chakiris & Carol Lawrence Remember West Side Story comes to the Palm Springs Cultural Center.

Carol Lawrence

Lawrence earned a Tony nomination and Theatre World Award as Broadway’s original Maria, singing Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s score before most of the world had heard it. Chakiris arrived by another route. A dancer in such Hollywood musicals as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and White Christmas, he later spent two years playing Riff in the London production of West Side Story. Jerome Robbins then cast him on the other side of the Jets-Sharks divide as Bernardo in the movie.

Their Palm Springs appearance will draw on both experiences, with stories about the show’s creation, behind-the-scenes recollections, rarely seen clips, and performances by Broadway vocalists. Lawrence can speak to the musical’s original Broadway rehearsal rooms; Chakiris knew Robbins both as a stage director and as the exacting choreographer and co-director of the film. Chakiris also wrote about making the movie in his 2021 memoir, My West Side Story.

George Chakiris

Both went on to substantial careers beyond the musical. Chakiris appeared in Diamond Head, 633 Squadron, and Jacques Demy’s The Young Girls of Rochefort, while Lawrence returned to Broadway in shows including Saratoga, I Do! I Do!, and Kiss of the Spider Woman. Yet the roles of Bernardo and Maria have followed them for most of their lives, which should give the evening something beyond standard show-business reminiscence.

Premium tickets include the West Side Story Experience, with a pre-show meet-and-greet with Chakiris and Lawrence. But seeing them together is the real curiosity: Broadway’s first Maria and the movie’s Bernardo, each with a very different view of how West Side Story became West Side Story.

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George Chakiris & Carol Lawrence Remember West Side Story
Palm Springs Cultural Center, E. Baristo Rd. in Palm Springs
Saturday, November 21, 2026, at 7
tickets from $55
West Side Story Experience includes a pre-show meet-and-greet
with George Chakiris and Carol Lawrence
for tickets, visit Palm Springs Cultural Center or Ticketmaster

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