He¡¯s the menacing gang leader who fights, frolics and finger-snaps his way through ¡°West Side Story¡±: That¡¯s Riff, the frontman of the Jets, who commands a cadre of lost boys in their turf battles against the Sharks, and takes center stage in numbers such as ¡°Jet Song¡± and ¡°Cool.¡±
In Steven Spielberg¡¯s remake, with a screenplay by Tony Kushner, the role of Riff is played by Mike Faist, a 29-year-old veteran of the New York stage. Faist earned a Tony Award nomination in Broadway¡¯s ¡°Dear Evan Hansen,¡± where he originated the role of the title character¡¯s would-be friend, Connor Murphy; he also performed in ¡°Newsies the Musical,¡± understudying its hero, Jack Kelly.
Despite his theatrical pedigree, Faist says it was not so easy to keep calm and collected for this ¡°West Side Story¡± ¡ª he did not necessarily think he had the required dancing skills and wasn¡¯t sure of the project¡¯s intentions.
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