Ariana Debose | Entertainment News, Photos, and Videos

Ariana DeBose and David Alvarez stand on a stoop while filming a scene for the upcoming remake of the musical West Side Story on Sunday (July 14) in New York City.

The movie is being directed by Steven Spielberg and Ariana is playing the iconic role of Anita while David is portraying Bernardo.

Over the weekend we also got our first look at Mike Faist playing Riff while filming the “Jet Song” with his co-stars.

Ariana is best known for her Tony-nominated performance in the Broadway musical Summer. David previously won a Tony Award for playing the title role in the musical Billy Elliott.

West Side Story will hit theaters on December 18, 2020.

Steven Spielberg is hard at work on the upcoming movie remake of the classic musical West Side Story and he just shared the first look at Ariana DeBose as Anita.

The 28-year-old actress is a Tony-nominated Broadway star who has previously starred in the musicals Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and Hamilton.

Anita gets to sing the iconic song “America” in the musical.

Also starring in the upcoming film are Ansel Elgort as Tony, newcomer Rachel Zegler as Maria, Ana Isabelle as Rosalia, Corey Stoll as Lieutenant Schrank, and Tony nominee Brian d’Arcy James as Officer Krupke.

West Side Story will hit theaters on December 18, 2020.

The upcoming West Side Story movie from director Steven Spielberg has announced its core cast!

New Jersey High School student Rachel Zegler will star as Maria opposite Ansel Elgort in the role of Tony. Rachel won the role after auditioning against 30,000 other people around the world!

Broadway veterans Ariana DeBose and David Alvarez will star as Anita and Bernado, members of the Sharks. You may recognize Ariana from Hamilton and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and you may recognize David from his work in Billy Elliot.

“I am so thrilled to be playing the iconic role of Maria alongside this amazing cast,” Rachel, 17, said in a statement to Deadline. She submitted for the role after seeing the casting notice on Twitter. “West Side Story was the first musical I encountered with a Latina lead character. As a Colombian-American, I am humbled by the opportunity to play a role that means so much to the Hispanic community.”

“I’m honored to follow in the footsteps of the remarkable women who have played Anita – including Chita Rivera and, of course, the incomparable Rita Moreno,” Ariana added in a statement. “I relate so strongly to Anita – a strong Puerto Rican woman who came to New York in search of opportunity – and I feel so fortunate for the chance to work with this amazing cast and creative team.”

Filming will reportedly begin this summer. The Leonard Bernstein musical was previously made into a movie in 1961 and has been on Broadway several times over the past decades.

LaChanze and Ariana DeBose step out on the red carpet at the 2018 Tony Awards held at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday (June 10) in New York City.

The ladies were both nominated for playing Donna Summer in the new musical Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, LaChanze in the leading actress category and Ariana in the featured actress category.

The cast of the musical performed the song “Last Dance” during the show.

FYI: LaChanze is wearing a Sachin & Babi gown. Ariana is wearing a Prabal Gurung dress.

15+ pictures inside of LaChanze and Ariana DeBose at the show… More Here! »

Lauren Ambrose, Hailey Kilgore, and Katrina Lenk team up for the Tony Honors Cocktail Party!

The stars of My Fair Lady, Once on This Island, and The Band’s Visit, respectively, attended the event – Presenting The 2018 Tony Honors For Excellence In The Theatre And Honoring The 2018 Special Award Recipients – held at Sofitel Hotel on Monday (June 4) in New York City.

They were joined by My Fair Lady‘s Harry Hadden-Paton, Once on This Island director Michael Arden, and The Band’s Visit‘s Ari’el Stachel.

Also in attendance were Carousel‘s Joshua Henry, Lindsay Mendez, and Renee Fleming, Summer‘s Ariana DeBose, and SpongeBob SquarePants‘ Ethan Slater and Gavin Lee.

60+ pictures inside of Lauren Ambrose, Hailey Kilgore, Katrina Lenk, and more at the event… More Here! »

Ariana DeBose belts out the classic song “MacArthur Park” during an appearance The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday (May 21) in New York City.

The Tony-nominated actress plays Donna Summer in the new musical Summer and she was joined by fellow Tony nominee (and former winner) LaChanze and Storm Lever for the performance.

Ariana, LaChanze, and Storm play the late singer at three different points in her life.

The musical is currently playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway. Get your tickets now to see it live!

Tina Fey happily poses alongside her husband Jeff Richmond while attending the 2018 Tony Awards: Meet The Nominees Press Junket held on Wednesday (May 2) in New York City.

The happy couple were joined at the event by their Mean Girls stars Taylor Louderman, Grey Henson and Ashley Park, Angels in America‘s Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane and Denise Gough, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child‘s Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni and Anthony Boyle, Lobby Hero‘s Michael Cera and Brian Tyree Henry.

Also in attendance were Denzel Washington, Laurie Metcalf, Condola Rashad, David Morse, The Band’s Visit stars Tony Shalhoub, Katrina Lenk and Ari’el Stachel, Children of a Lesser God‘s Lauren Ridloff, Ariana DeBose, and My Fair Lady‘s Lauren Ambrose and Harry Hadden-Paton.

This year, Mean Girls received the most nominations with 12 total: “It’s incredibly thrilling. I am just ecstatic that these nominations are coming to every department — they’re so well deserved,” Tina expressed (via NY Times). “And I cannot lie: I cried a little bit in the middle of Equinox this morning, and not because my workout was too hard — I do not push myself at the gym.”

“It’s our day off from the show so I was trying and failing to sleep inasmuch as possible,” Andrew added about when he found out. “But I was, of course, excited just knowing that the nominations were coming out today. I’m usually very good at turning my phone off and getting myself enough sleep. I was just too excited.”

FYI: Laurie is wearing Via Spiga boots.