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Friday, February 21, 2020
By APB Staff Writer
New York City
Midtown Manhattan: Protesters gathered outside the Broadway premiere of “West Side Story,” to demonstrate outrage at the casting of ballet dancer and cast member Amar Ramasar. The NYPD reports no incidents.
Protesters weathered the cold, holding signs and chanting in unison outside the Broadway Theatre, to demand the removal of Ramasar.
The 38 year-old Ramasar, who plays Sharks gang leader “Bernardo” in Ivo Van Hove’s revival of the 1957 stage musical, incited controversy over his alleged involvement in a scandal during his tenure as a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet. Ramasar was fired and then reinstated from the company in 2018 after being accused of sharing sexually explicit photos of other dancers.
Despite protests, the show’s producers have firmly refused to remove Ramasar from the production. “There is zero consideration being given to his potentially being terminated from this workplace,” the producers said in a statement this month.
Alexandra Waterbury, a former student of the School of American Ballet who named Ramasar in her lawsuit against ex-boyfriend and fellow student Chase Finlay, was also present at the protest.