What is the purpose of West Side Story?
Inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, the story is set in the mid-1950s in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, then a multiracial, blue-collar neighborhood. The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.
What inspired the creation of West Side Story?
Story Sources. It is widely known that West Side Story (WSS) is based directly on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (R&J). Far less well known is the fact that Shakespeare based his play (1594) on other material, particularly a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke entitled The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562).
Why did Sondheim write West Side Story?
Sondheim said he was working on music for a different show, and not looking for another job, when he was asked to be the lyricist on the original 1957 Broadway musical for "West Side Story," a Romeo and Juliet story set in the slums of old Manhattan's Upper West Side.
What is the moral of the story in West Side Story?
Why they've succeeded as well as they have here is simple: They realize the core message of West Side Story is that in world racked by racism, nativism, impossible division, poverty and a lack of hope, there is still the possibility that maybe, just maybe, love can prevail.
What was the original idea for West Side Story?
The original idea for “West Side Story” dates back to 1949 when Jerome Robbins conceived of a musical update of “Romeo & Juliet.” Originally set on the New York's East Side, and conceived as a societal war between Jews and Gentiles, “West Side Story” eventually morphed into a tale of two street gangs, the mostly Puerto ...
What is the meaning of West Side?
Definitions of westside. adjective. of the western part of a city. Synonyms: west. situated in or facing or moving toward the west.
How old is Maria in West Side Story?
María is a fiercely independent 18-year-old girl who desires to have a life of her own away from the harshness of New York City's gentrification. She is shown to be slightly subservient to her brother Bernardo, but upon meeting Tony aims to make her own decisions.
What does Anita say before Mambo?
Likewise, Anita yells at the band leader, “Ponle fuego, vamos,” and it is at her command that they play the mambo.
Did elgort do his own singing in West Side Story?
Yes, actor Ansel Elgort does sing himself in the 2021 remake, alongside his on-screen partner, Rachel Zegler. In the 1961 film by Robert Wise, the actors are known to have lip-synced to the previously recorded voices of ghost singers.
What was controversial about West Side Story?
But the film also drew criticism for its depictions of Puerto Ricans, especially the brown face that much of the cast wore, along with its over-the-top accents. A remake of “West Side Story,” now in theaters and directed by Steven Spielberg, has tried to address some of those issues.
What does red symbolize in West Side Story?
Instead, they dance separately and keep to opposite sides of the gym. Moreover, the rival gangs and their supporters are further sepa- rated through the colors they wear: blues, browns, oranges and yellows for the Jets; purples, black, navy, and red for the Sharks.
Why do the Jets and Sharks hate each other?
The sharks and the jets are rival gangs fighting for the same territory. Tensions rise as a shark girl named Maria and a Jet named Tony fall for eachother, but there's a problem they can never be allowed to be together. The sharks are Puerto Rican immigrants. A rumble is planned and Maria pleades with Tony to stop it.
What play inspired the musical West Side Story?
Without a doubt, American composer Leonard Bernstein's most significant contribution to the world of Shakespeare was West Side Story, the 1957 smash Broadway hit adaptation of Romeo and Juliet written and created by Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Bernstein.
What are the key influences of West Side Story?
West Side Story, American musical film, released in 1961, that was inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
What has West Side Story influenced?
West Side Story is so prevalent that it has been an inspiration for filmic versions of its source material, Romeo and Juliet. In a reverse from Shakespeare's play, in which Romeo kills Paris outside the Capulet tomb, Chino, the Paris figure, kills Tony.
Is West Side Story based on history?
That said, West Side Story isn't based on a true story. Even though West Side Story has been associated with a modern and American telling of Romeo and Juliet for decades, Tony Kushner, who worked on the screenplay of the 2021 flick, thinks differently.
Who was the composer of West Side Story?
Jerome Robbins. …career is well represented by West Side Story (1957), a musical that transplants the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet to the gritty milieu of rival street gangs in New York City. Robbins conceived, directed, and choreographed this work, which featured a musical score by Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim,….
Who choreographed the West Side Story musical?
…of the rival gangs in West Side Story (1957), it creates a powerful dramatic effect. Other innovative choreographers include Agnes deMille, whose dances in Oklahoma! (1943) were the first ever used to advance the plot, and Bob Fosse, particularly known for his work on ...
Where was Leonard Bernstein's music written?
Leonard Bernstein at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Bernice B. Perry/Courtesy of The MacDowell Colony. Bernstein’s score blended various styles, including jazzy sounds evocative of the decade in which the music was written, as well as Latin rhythms.
What year did West Side Story go up on Broadway?
On Sept. 26, 1957 , Broadway changed forever when the curtain went up on “West Side Story.”. The artistic innovations popped immediately: Instead ...
What is the East Side Story set on?
Initially, Robbins had envisioned “East Side Story,” an update to Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” set as a clash between Catholics and Jews in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
What did Robbins want the cast to feel?
When rehearsals began, Robbins wanted the cast, which had no established stars, to really feel like turf-defending street toughs and their girls. He instructed them to follow Method acting, a technique in which performers adopt their characters’ emotional and psychological states.
Why did Robbins forbid socializing between actors who were playing the Jets, the white gang, and?
To enhance the us-versus-them mood, Robbins forbade socializing between actors who were playing the Jets, the white gang, and the Sharks, the Puerto Ricans. “Read this; this is your life,” he wrote and posted on a bulletin board along with a newspaper article about a gang killing.
How many Tony Awards did West Side Story win?
Broadway may not have been ready for “West Side Story.”. Despite its critical success, it had a modest run of 732 performances and won only two Tony Awards, for choreography and set design. The award for best musical that season went to “The Music Man,” a far more conventional show.
Where did Laurents and Bernstein stay?
A new idea came in 1955, when Laurents and Bernstein were coincidentally both staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. While lounging at the pool, they saw a newspaper headline about Chicano youth gang violence, and the immediacy of the issue set them on a discussion.
What is the 60th anniversary of West Side Story?
As “West Side Story” celebrates its 60th anniversary, it stands as more than art: It was an artistic confrontation of social issues from immigration and bigotry to economic inequality and gang violence. But it didn’t quite start out that way.
What is the goal of the West Side Story?
The goal was to critique the language of the script and learn more about the history and culture behind the characters through a distinctly Latinx lens, rather than from the show’s original creators, who were white men. Harvard College cast members rehearse their performance of "West Side Story.".
When will West Side Story be remade?
With an upcoming revival on Broadway premiering in December and a film remake slated for release in 2020, “West Side Story” will stay relevant for years to come. (Director Steven Spielberg took pains to avoid whitewashing the cast in the upcoming movie.)
Who plays Graziella in West Side Story?
Lessons of ‘West Side Story’. Emmaline Cook '20, who plays Graziella, rehearses choreography with the cast.
Was West Side Story written by Latinos?
Harvard College cast members rehearse their performance of "West Side Story.". “Even though ‘West Side Story’ was not written by Latinos, and there are many problematic choices in the text and the movie, including brownface and the stereotyping of Puerto Rican people, there is still a lot of resonance in the text for modern Latinx people ...
Why is West Side Story so memorable?
West Side Story stands out compared to other shows because of its consistent intricacies throughout all of its aspects. One of the most memorable parts of the show is the use of ballet and dance. Obviously the show is going to contain dance-it’s a musical- but the way that dance is used to represent all of the important acts on ...
What is Leonard Bernstein's musical story about?
Leonard Bernstein’s timeless musical story of love and gang violence is and always will be a landmark piece of musical theatre and art. The 1957 Musical groundbreaker West Side Story is a crucial milestone in the history of music and musical theatre. Brought to fruition by a sea of names including (in no particular order!)
Who conducted the West Side Story?
Symphonic Dances Form West Side Story was premiered by the New York Philharmonic on February 13, 1961, but the conductor was Lukas Foss. Bernstein was named Music Director of the Philharmonic one year after the opening of WSS, and although he later performed and recorded the Dances with the orchestra, he never, prior to the 1985 recording, conducted a performance of the show. (He was in the pit to conduct the so-called Overture - - a compilation of tunes not made by him - -for one of the early Broadway revivals). But why should someone whose career has been so diversified concentrate on one all-consuming project, a Broadway run? Bernstein never conducted a live theater performance of his Candide, Wonderful Town or Mass, either.
What was the name of the story set on the Lower East Side of New York City?
The action, set during the Easter-Passover season, was to have occurred on the Lower East Side of New York City. Hence the title might have been EAST Side Story. (Another working title was Gangway!) That was in 1949.
What innovations did the WSS creative quartet introduce?
The operatic innovations introduced by the WSS creative quartet: broader song dimensions, simultaneities in complex counterpoint, etc. became grist to the Sondheim mill. But, strangely, not one Sondheim show has ever advanced the choreographic inventiveness of Jerome Robbins in WSS.
Where did the WSS riots take place?
The newspapers were filled with reports of street riots by Chicano Americans in Los Angeles. Those headlines turned the trick, triggering the imaginations of the collaborators. The locale swiftly shifted to New York’s West Side, and in 1957 WSS exploded onto the American State.
Who voiced apprehension of making a musical that tells a tragic story in musical comedy terms?
Still, in 1949, Bernstein voiced apprehension of. "making a musical that tells a tragic story in musical comedy terms . . . never falling into the ‘operatic’ trap". That trap must be the vise (as well as the vice) of vocal pyrotechnics for its own sake, without moving the story forward.
Who helped Bernstein prepare the symphonic dances from West Side Story?
Ramin and Kostal also helped Bernstein prepare the Symphonic Dances From West Side Story, and that they performed the same valued function for the composer's opera, A Quiet Place ?
Who wrote the Glad Hand book?
Guide and Commentary by Jack Gottlieb. Irving Shulman wrote the novelization of Arthur Laurents’ "book" in which he provided family names for the characters: Tony (Anton) Wyzek, Maria (and Bernardo) Nunez, Riff Lorton, Chino Martin, Anita Palacio, and (now it can be told) Glad Hand was "christened" Murray Benowitz!
When was West Side Story written?
Written in the mid-1950s, West Side Story pushed the envelope for musical productions during conservative times. Written in the mid-1950s, West Side Story pushed the envelope for musical productions during conservative times. "Terrible," he said. "I hated all of it.". I was stunned.
Who wrote West Side Story in the 1950s?
It was Robbins who dominated the production of West Side Story, which had been written in the mid-'50s by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and a young Stephen Sondheim.
Who is the choreographer of West Side Story?
The Real-Life Drama Behind 'West Side Story'. Choreographer Jerome Robbins created real animosity and antagonism between the two opposing gangs, both on and off stage. Choreographer Jerome Robbins created real animosity and antagonism between the two opposing gangs, both on and off stage.
Did West Side Story have a 50s ending?
There's that '50s imagery, though neither on stage nor in life did West Side Story have a '50s-style Ozzie and Harriet ending.
What is the message of West Side Story?
Conceived in 1949, West Side Story has a serious message that pleads for racial tolerance, delivered in unforgettable song and dance. People have been listening to that message, and humming the songs, ever since the show premiered on Broadway in 1957 and debuted on the silver screen in 1961.?
When did the idea of changing the conflict to involve Puerto Rican versus white gangs come to fruition?
However, this concept never gained traction, and the project foundered until 1955, when teenage Latin gang violence in L.A. made the news. Laurents then presented the idea of changing the conflict to involve Puerto-Rican versus white gangs on the then-grungy Upper West Side of Manhattan. All at once, the project took off.
Where was the Philadelphia Connection?
The Philadelphia Connection. The show had a two-week, pre-Broadway run at Philadelphia's Erlanger Theatre? before it moved on to NYC to open at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1957.
