West Side Story at Vermont Children's Theater

This was a particularly difficult poster for me. For all practical purposes as much as I love West Side Story as a musical it is not a poster I would choose to illustrate. I like to draw animals and I like to create illustrations that have a humorous side to them. I am grateful for the insight of the director, John Walker. Without his vision and ideas, I would not have been able to come up with this. I just don't think this way. In his director's statement he said “…these bad choices and this unleashed hatred kills even the most beautiful and pure thing, authentic love. Like a rose trying to grow out of a dirty sidewalk only to be crushed under trash and the tread of tires or shoes.”

I found the idea of the rose growing in the grime and darkness of the inner city depicted in the musical captivating. I ran with it. In the end I am glad I had the opportunity to stretch myself.