We are incredibly blessed  to once again present some fabulous costumes designed by Jessica Jahn. We had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Jahn when we last presented her costumes in our 2025 production of Rigoletto,   and we are pleased to once again conduct an interview with her over email to get her thoughts on designing costumes for Laurents and Bernstein's masterpiece   West Side Story. 

In our recent production of   Rigoletto, you had to distinguish between the different classes of that show through your costumes.   West Side Story   has similar distinctions that need to be made since the story revolves around the two rivaling gangs, the Jets and Sharks. How do you visually represent the differences in these gangs with your costumes?   

Ha! This is a good question–and one that always comes up with West Side Story. In this case, Francesca Zambello and I chatted a bunch about what would make the most sense, and we settled on something that is used quite a bit in both productions of West Side Story as well as Romeo and Juliet. Color! After deliberating, we decided to make each gang have a definitive color marker–to be able to tell the Jets from the Sharks! See if you can find it!    

 West Side Story   has been revived multiple times along with receiving 2 Academy-Award winning movie adaptations, with all these productions, how did you pay homage to the musical’s history while also carving your own unique identity to this production? 

I think that deciding to place our own West Side Story in a contemporary, New York City/large metropolis setting was an interesting way to continue the story but keep to the original “tradition” of the work. For me, creating an environment that was relevant for the time that we were producing it, was the closest that I could get to the original creators, taking Romeo and Juliet and reimagining it to their own contemporary environment of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, when so much civic and neighborhood change was being thrust on the communities in the story.   That also allowed us, and me, a new lens in which to frame the work; especially with the general youth of the cast involved–it created a channel to tell the story in new and interesting ways.    

With the amount and intensity of dancing in   West Side Story,   what were some things you had to consider when putting together the costumes for dancers? 

In all honesty, the physicality of dancers is not that different from the physicality of singers–they just use their bodies differently! Some of the things are self-explanatory; making sure that the clothes don’t impede the dancers' movements, that they are able to have a total range of movement, that their shoes fit! Other things that always come up are the breathability of fabrics and clothing items, making sure that they can see well if they are wearing hats, or have interesting flamboyant hairstyles. The other thing that I like to consider is the timing of their costume changes–and if we have built enough time into the change for them to take care of their bodies; catch a breath, drink water, for example.   

With   West Side Story   being so beloved, we want to know your own personal experience with the show and what the story means to you? 

Oh, ha–well, my mom was of course a huge fan (she’s now in her 80s) of the original–and I remember her singing all the songs around the house when we were young. I knew the songs of the musical long before I knew or understood the story. So, when Tony breaks out into “Maria”, I can only hear my mother’s voice, singing and then laughing about her experience with the movie version that came out in ‘61. Another personal experience that I have is then knowing about the Robbins choreography, as I grew up as a dancer. That first opening scene will always bring me joy.       

 With this production’s focus on making even the ensemble characters have unique personalities, how have you made each costume design unique while making sure the main characters, Tony, Maria and Anita, stand out amongst everyone? 

I think that sometimes, for productions like these, that have a really strong ensemble cast, I tend to think about each performer as a real person that I have seen in my life, or that I know personally. That helps me to focus and bring out traits in the costume that makes that character unique to only themselves. Then, once I have landed on what I think that the ensemble should look and feel like; who they represent to me, then I turn to the principals and create looks that have not been seen already, and that reflect who those characters are. To be honest, even in life we all look pretty different, even if we have overlapping similarities; we have unique traits that bring out our personalities. I just use that fact to my advantage when creating these “pretend” people who live in their own “pretend” environment.   

What are some things you’re hoping that audiences will take away from   West Side Story?  

Honestly, this production has so much life and love–I just hope that anyone who comes leaves with a sense of exhilaration and warmth.   

We feel the exact same way and hope that you are lucky enough to see West Side Story   on our stage in all of its grandeur.  Click here to get tickets to this amazing production opening on September 20.