'West Side Story' set to make Broadway comeback

Washington, July 18 : More than 50 years after it made its debut in New York, 'West Side Story' is returning to Broadway.

Arthur Laurents, who wrote the original book, will be directing the musical about rival gangs The Jets and The Sharks in 1950s Manhattan.

Not only has Laurents promised that the latest adaptation will be tougher and grittier, but that it will, for the first time, be bilingual, with words and lyrics in English and Spanish, reports Contactmusic.

He told the New York Times: "They will speak Spanish where they would naturally. The scenes with the Spanish are wildly exciting because they are much less inhibited."

The production, due to open in February 2009, first hit the stage in 1964, and then in 1980.

It was adapted into a movie in 1961 starring Natalie Wood.

ANI