Transcript West Side Story - cloudfront.net

Romeo & Juliet in the Ghetto
• West Side Story is a modern
version of Shakespeare’s
famous play Romeo & Juliet.
It shows the conflict between
the White and Puerto Rican
gangs in 1950’s New York City.
• Opening on Broadway in 1957,
West Side Story was
revolutionary for its time. The
story was very modern and
violent, including teenage rebellion, gang violence, racism,
murder, and other problems in American society. Almost all of
the characters do a lot of modern dancing in the production.
Movie
• West Side Story was made into a
popular movie in 1961 starring
Natalie Wood. It won 10 Oscars
including Best Picture, the most
that any musical film has ever won.
• There has been word that Stephen
Spielberg has shown interest in
remaking the film.
Composer & Lyricist
• Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was a
well-known composer and conductor who
wrote musicals, operas, ballets and
chamber music. Because of his classical
background, West Side Story’s music is
quite a bit more complex than the usual
musical. It also includes a lot of Latin
music elements.
• Stephan Sondheim (b. 1938) wrote the
lyrics as a young man, but went on to
become one of the most successful
modern musical composers himself.
(Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd)
The Story
• The Sharks (Puerto Rican immigrants)
and the Jets (White) gangs have
territory disputes that erupt into fights
broken up by the police. The gang
leaders Bernardo (Sharks) and Riff (Jets) plan an all-out
rumble to settle things once and for all.
• In the midst of this, Tony (Riff’s best
friend) and Maria (Bernardo’s little
sister) see each other at a community
dance and fall in love at first sight.
Despite the overwhelming cultural barriers, they meet in
secret and plan to spend their lives together.
The Story
• Knowing that the fighting isn’t
good for their relationship, Tony
goes to the rumble and tries to
stop it. Instead, he ends up
getting in the way and distracting
Riff so he gets killed by Bernardo.
In his grief, Tony gets revenge by
killing Bernardo.
• With Tony wanted by the police and sick of all the hate and
violence, Maria and Tony plan to run away. Maria sends
Bernardo’s fiancée Anita to send a message to Tony about their
plans. But after being abused by the Jets, the grieving Anita
tells them to tell Tony that they killed Maria for loving Tony.
The Story
• Devastated, Tony recklessly walks
the streets yelling for the Sharks
to come kill him too. Rushing to
find Tony, Maria sees him just as
one of the Sharks shoots him.
As Maria tries to cheer him with
plans of their future happiness,
Tony dies in her arms.
• The distraught Maria grabs the gun and scolds both Sharks and
Jets for their stupid hatred that killed both her brother and her
love. She considers killing someone or even herself, but finally
puts the gun down and just sobs.
• The remorseful gang members join together in carrying Tony’s
body off.
“America” and “Tonight”
• “America” On the rooftop of a building, the Sharks complain
about how hard their life is as immigrants in America. Their
girlfriends, however, argue that with the opportunities in
America their lives are much better than the ever were in
Puerto Rico.
• “Tonight” Meanwhile, Tony sneaks over to Maria’s apartment
and calls for her to come out. This is the first time they have
seen each other since they met at the dance. The equivalent
of the “balcony scene” of Romeo & Juliet, the lovers learn
more about each other as they talk and declare their love.
• DVD: 47:00-55:00, 56:00-1:03 OR
• http://youtu.be/Qy6wo2wpT2k AND
• http://youtu.be/5_QffCZs-bg
• Mambo: http://youtu.be/NEs8yqhavtI