“There’s A Place For Us, by Sulfiati Meariam Magnuson CORE Theatrics: The Art of Being Human, was founded in 2008, Kirkland, WA by Marianni Magnuson Groves, Artistic Director. To prepare young adults for the world’s stage, CORE offered intensive training in the performing arts. Through classes, individual coaching, workshops and live performances, each individual was given the support and challenge they needed to access their innate core strengths, and to become confident players in their own lives and families, as well as their society. Summer Stock was part of CORE’s offerings, and in 2012, one of the three shows was Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. The book, There’s A Place for Us tells the story of the making of CORE’s 2012 production of West Side Story. In doing so, this book follows the tradition and inspiration of a small genre of fine art photography that photographs the process of making a work of theater, dance, festival or performance. I was not an actor nor musician, but a photographer who was granted access to the making of a play. The practice of theater arts is not about perfection, but about creating electric moments that are enlivening between cast, crew, musicians and audience. Therefore, what I offer is only how I saw as a witness. What I saw throughout the process was the Beauty of each individual as he/she gave their all, thus encountering and revealing their own humanity and soul. As I watched these rehearsals, my insides vibrated with the emotions being playing out: first love, first death, exuberance, belonging, being Other, joy and horror - the best and the worst of humanity. My muscles somehow recognized movements small and large which enabled me to be in sync with the actors, dancers and singers as if I knew where their movement was taking them, which beat I would click on. My eyes were frequently moist with the sheer exquisite union of music, dance, youthful passions and strengths to create an experience of Beauty that is unique to the Arts. Because of mirror neurons, what the director, actors and dancers felt, and my own experience as an observer became one and the same, a communion of souls created through risks being taken, much sweat, and the dedication of artists to speak what needs to be spoken of justice and love. While a performance tells the story of the play, rehearsals tell yet another story, the one of personal growth and transformation that occurs for all involved. There are no images from “performances” included in this book. Instead, you will be taken through the audition processes of dance, voice and acting callbacks. A performance may only be a moment in time for an audience member, but the process of making a play, witnessing and being the vehicle for each others’ growth, stays with the actors, dancers and creative team forever. You will see the fruit of long, joyful and exhausting rehearsals come together in the, “Stumble Through,” and the, “Run Through.” You will then be taken into the rehearsal studios where actors and dancers were forged into a “company,” the Theater World’s term for the family that emerges out of each show that may only exist for a fragment of time, or one that remains and sustains for years to come. Finally, you will see what happens when the cast and creative team move into the theater for dress rehearsal where they work out costumes, and patiently adjust to blocking or lighting changes required by the restrictions of the performance venue, as well as improvising as a team through wardrobe malfunctions! The creation of a piece of musical theater is an alchemical process made up of the music, lyrics, and text, but above all, the efforts of those who are breathing their souls into the work. A Director is not unlike a medieval alchemist who gathers raw elements of humanity, color, fabric, sets and light to create a solid container for the transformation process, and then breathes onto the fires of creation deep within each participant. In the end, what you have is, “the gold,” the amalgamation of all the disparate parts that have been melted down in the sweat and pain of dance and relationships sweet or challenging, the expansion of voice and understanding, the sacrifices, commitments, selfless giving, of going deeper, and ultimately the true opening of human hearts. Each successive rehearsal illuminates the progression of this process. Under the genius of West Side Story’s original creative team (Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim), William Shakespeare's story of the conflict, destruction and tragedy that arise when one group of people sees themselves as superior to and simultaneously threatened by another because of race, politics, religion, geography or culture is once again most relevant. Shakespeare built on the mythic tradition of two lovers from different backgrounds struggling to surmount prejudice and hatred found in ancient stories like Troilus and Cressida and many other twice-told tales throughout human history. The genesis of West Side Story was conceived in 1949 as a tale of love between a Jewish girl and a Catholic boy on New York’s Lower East Side. After Chicano-American street riots in 1955 in Los Angeles, the locale was shifted to New York’s West Side where newer factions created by the second wave of immigration in America were colliding. As I originally wrote this introduction in 2012, we were again in the middle of an outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Palestine. Now, the conflicts of unimaginable scope circumventing our beleaguered globe threaten the extension of ways of life, belief systems and the ground we stand upon. Stephen Sondheim’s poignant plea for, “a place for us,” where our common humanity outweighs our differences can still be heard, even if only faintly, sometimes, through the pleas of artists everywhere. It is the job of artist’s to attend to the preservation of Beauty and to inspire empathy.If we have learned anything from the ever expanding data base of our shared histories, we surely must know that no one truly survives alone in this fragile coalition of elements we call our Earth. These truths are brought home in West Side Story because it is fundamentally a story of two relatable individuals, Tony and Maria, who have no choice but to believe that the power of love can break the cycle of hate in their families and communities. Curious about one another, they then choose to love and honor their differences, and so step onto a bridge that leads to the place that is so eloquently longed for in this tale. Instead of succumbing to the toxicity of fear and hate, the story reminds us that there is a place where change can happen, a place where people can choose to love. This kind of intentional love is contagious! May we all become infected and cross this bridge together. Sulfiati Meariam Magnuson Sierra Madre, CA, February, 2023