West Side Story one of 2 musicals at Stratford in 2009

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival will rumble to the sounds of West Side Story in 2009, one of two musicals announced Tuesday for the next season.

West Side Story, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with music and lyrics by Sondheim, willbe produced in the 2009 season.

Both stories have Shakespearean roots. West Side Story, written by Arthur Laurents, is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but set in New York in the 1950s.

Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, who penned the script for A Funny Thing Happened, were influenced by A Comedy of Errors with its multiple plots and broad farce.

Festival artistic director Des McAnuff, who has a track record on Broadway with Tony Award-winning shows such as Jersey Boys and Big River, has drawn some big names to work on Stratford's musicals.

McAnuff himself will direct A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which is being produced in Stratford for the first time. A Funny Thing Happened is the story of a slave desperate to win his freedom.

Wayne Cilento, who worked with McAnuff on the Broadway production of Tommy, will take on the choreography. Cilento has also choreographed Broadway productions of Wicked, Sweet Charity and Aida.

Gary Griffin, who won an Olivier Award in London for his production of Pacific Overtures, will direct West Side Story, in his debut at Stratford. Griffin is associate artistic director of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and also directed The Color Purple on Broadway.

West Side Story, a much-loved musical with numerous hit songs such as One Hand, One Heart, Tonight and America, was produced once before in Stratford, in 1999.

Nextyear's production will be choreographed by Toronto's Sergio Trujillo, who also did choreography for McAnuff's Broadway production of Jersey Boys. McAnuff and Trujullo are also collaborating on a new production of Guys and Dolls to open on Broadway in the early spring of 2009.