Roughly 400 theatres across the U.S. will present the 7 PM screening of the 1961 film. The screening will be preceded by a special pre-taped conversation with Academy Award winner George Chakiris, who played Bernardo; Marni Nixon, who served as Natalie Wood's voice double; as well as Walter Mirisch of The Mirisch Company, which produced the film. TCM host Robert Osborne moderates the talk.
New York City cinemas presenting the event include the Empire 25 with IMAX (234 W. 42nd St.), Kips Bay 15 with IMAX (570 2nd Ave.) and Chelsea Cinema (260 W. 23rd St.).
West Side Story has lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, music by Leonard Bernstein and a book by Arthur Laurents. The film, which credits Ernest Lehman as screenwriter, was co-directed by original Broadway director Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise. It stars Wood as Maria, Richard Beymer as Tony and Rita Moreno as Anita. It earned ten Academy Awards including Best Picture.
The Bernstein-Sondheim score features the American classics "Somewhere," "Tonight," "One Hand, One Heart," "Maria," "I Feel Pretty" and "America."
As previously reported, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release a remastered version of the film on Blu-ray and DVD Nov. 15. A limited edition 4-disc box set will be released, including special memorabilia and a tribute CD, as well as a 2-disc collector's edition Blu-ray set. For a list of participating theatres visit FathomEvents.com.
