Tony Award winner Karen Olivo, who stars as Anita in the Broadway revival of West Side Story, broke her foot at the Palace Theatre during the matinee performance on May 8. The actress confirmed on her Facebook page that the injury occurred onstage while running away from the Jets—“the dancing gang, not the football team.” According to a show spokesperson, she is expected to be out of the show for six to eight weeks.
The role of Anita is currently being covered by understudy Natalie Cortez, who played Morales in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line.
In addition to West Side Story, Olivo has been seen on Broadway in Rent, Brooklyn and In the Heights. She recently landed a recurring role on the TV series The Good Wife, starring opposite Julianna Margulies and Chris Noth.
West Side Story continues to star Josefina Scaglione, Matthew Hydzik, John Arthur Greene and George Akram. The production also features Steve Bassett as Lt. Schrank, Mike Cannon as Snowboy, Kyle Coffman as A-Rab, Joey Haro as Chino, Eric Hatch as Big Deal, Curtis Holbrook as Action, Michael Mastro as Glad Hand, Lee Sellars as Krupke, Tro Shaw as Anybodys, Ryan Steele as Baby John and Greg Vinkler as Doc.
West Side Story celebrated its one year anniversary on March 19, 2010.