A stage sequel to West Side Story has been commissioned by a US theatre.

The project, which is titled Maria, will pick up at the end of the original production.

It has been commissioned by Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut.

Steven Sapp is writing the musical alongside his wife, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, with the plan to ground the show in Maria’s Puerto Rican origins and hometown. Ruiz-Sapp said: “The dream of every Puerto Rican is to go back to the island”.

The new piece aims to remedy the fact that, even though West Side Story has popularity all over the world, it is a tale about Puerto Rico not told by Puerto Ricans.