High-schooler cast as Maria in 'West Side Story' has treasure trove of musical YouTube videos

Landing one of the most coveted roles in musical theatre, 17-year-old Rachel Zegler has beat out over 30,000 auditions to be cast as Maria in Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story.

But the best part of this casting news is that Zegler, a self-proclaimed "theatre kid" has a treasure trove of YouTube and Twitter videos showing her belt everything from karaoke favorite "Part of Your World" to Queen and Lady Gaga hits.

As per Deadline, the New Jersey high school student will make her debut in Spielberg's remake, alongside Baby Driver's Ansel Elgort as Tony, Broadway veterans Ariana DeBose and David Alvarez as Anita and Bernardo, Josh Andrés Rivera as Chino, and the already-announced legend Rita Moreno, who won an Academy Award for her performance as Anita in the 1961 movie.

According to the publisher, Spielberg and his production team set out to cast the film with performers from the Puerto Rican and broader Latinx community.

Zegler, who is Colombian-American, reportedly saw a notice posted on Twitter in January 2018, which was calling for Latinx actors to audition. She submitted a video of herself singing two songs from the musical, "Tonight" and “Me Siento Hermosa” (“I Feel Pretty”).

“I am so thrilled to be playing the iconic role of Maria alongside this amazing cast,” Zegler told Deadline. “West Side Story was the first musical I encountered with a Latina lead character. As a Colombian-American, I am humbled by the opportunity to play a role that means so much to the Hispanic community.”

Zegler is one talented teenager, something you can tell from her YouTube and Twitter videos — including those which show she's already nailed the part of Maria in a performance of West Side Story at Bergen Performing Arts Center in New Jersey.

But it's her covers of both pop music and musical theater numbers, with minimal production, that really stand out. Her killer rendition of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's "Shallow" from A Star Is Born gained over 5.54 million views.

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In fact, Zegler's been covering Lady Gaga for some time now on her YouTube channel — she's nailed a fair few A Star Is Born covers — along with a bucketload of Queen, like this casually excellent cover of "Love of My Life."

But of course, being cast as a lead in one of the most iconic musicals of all time, Zegler is right into musical theatre, covering songs from Broadway shows like Hamilton, Mean Girls, Waitress, In the Heights, Rent, Dear Evan Hansen and some Disney favourites, often from her bathroom. It's all in the acoustics, right?

And guys, she even tackled the Les Miserables Big Ones, "I Dreamed a Dream," and "On My Own." Chills.

But seriously, this rendition of "Part of Your World," from Disney's The Little Mermaid is pure fire. Jodi Benson's notes are not easy to smash, and Zegler nails it.

Go and watch all her vids, guys. She's about to be everywhere, and pitch-perfectly at that.

Filming for West Side Story is reportedly set to start in the summer of 2019, and will be released by Twentieth Century Fox. Sit tight.