The cast of the Broadway revival of West Side Story is appearing tonight on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” which airs on CBS at 11:35 PM Eastern time, 10:35 PM Central.

The cast will be performing the song, “America,” written by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein.

Arthur Laurents, who wrote the Tony-winning libretto, will be directing this revival, which has been playing preview performances since February 23. The show will open to the public on Broadway on Thursday, March 19, 2009 at the Palace Theatre.

According to Laurents, “This show will be radically different from any other production of West Side Story ever done. The musical theatre and cultural conventions of 1957 made it next to impossible for the characters to have authenticity. Every member of both gangs was always a potential killer even then. Now they actually will be. Only Tony and Maria try to live in a different world.”

Additionally, LeonardBernstein.com says that this production “will introduce the unprecedented element of selectively weaving Spanish throughout both the book and songs.”

Press notes describe the musical:

West Side Story transports the iconic tale of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to the turbulent streets of New York City’s Upper West Side in the 1950′s. The star-crossed lovers, Tony and Maria, find themselves caught between rival street gangs of different cultural backgrounds. The lovers’ doomed struggle to exist together in a world of violence, hate and prejudice inspired one of the most innovative musical masterpieces of all time.

The original production of West Side Story premiered in September 26, 1957 at the Winter Garden Theatre. The show was the brainchild of Jerome Robbins (idea conception), Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (music), and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics).

If you miss it, we’ll try to get a video up here in a few days!

Visit the official West Side Story website for more information.