Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2009

Got a rocket in your pocket? Tonight, tonight won't be just any night… We're gonna jazz it up and have us a ball during our ever-popular sing-along when we fete WEST SIDE STORY, one of cinema’s most celebrated and important musicals. The film was created by queer cinema dream team Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins, and Stephen Sondheim (who will make a rare live appearance at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall in late October).

With just the right mix of theatricality, beauty, and realism, Romeo meets Juliet—or rather, Tony meets Maria—but their transgressive romance is taboo. Their rival neighborhood gangs, the Jets and the Sharks will never accept the lovers’ star-crossed union.

Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, swarthy George Chakiris, and the electric Rita Moreno, the legendary 1961 film won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture. With a newly restored print on the Cinerama’s giant screen, Bernstein’s unforgettable score will take your musical abilities to new heights. But don't worry—if you forget the words, they’ll be right there on the screen so that you can sing along feeling pretty, witty, and gay! Come dressed as a Shark, a Jet or dust off your poodle skirt and get ready for a musical rumble.