West Side Story
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| West Side Story | |
| Music | Leonard Bernstein |
|---|---|
| Lyrics | Stephen Sondheim |
| Book | Arthur Laurents |
| Based upon | Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare |
| Productions | 1957 Broadway production 1958 Broadway revival |
| Awards | 1958 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical 1958 Tony Award for Best Choreography |
West Side Story is a musical written by Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (music), and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics), and was originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Produced by Robert E. Griffith and Harold Prince, West Side Story debuted on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theater on September 26, 1957 and played 732 performances before going on tour — a very successful run for the time. It was nominated for Best Musical in 1957, but lost out on the Tony Award to Meredith Willson's The Music Man.
The story explores the enmity between two rival gangs of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and is based loosely on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The innocent young protagonist, Anton ("Tony"), who belongs to an established local gang, the Jets, falls in love with Maria, the sister of the leader of the rival gang, the Sharks.
The dark theme, sophisticated music, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theater, which had leaned previously toward light themes. West Side Story is produced frequently by local theaters and, occasionally, by classical opera companies.
Bernstein's score for the musical has been extremely popular. Some of the songs include "Something's Coming", "Maria", "America," "Somewhere," "Tonight", "Jet Song", "I Feel Pretty", "One Hand, One Heart", and "Cool". Some music that Bernstein wrote that was originally intended for "West Side Story" wasn't used in the production. This music became later integrated into the Chichester Psalms.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Act 1
Prologue: The act begins with the gang leitmotifs established musically. The curtain rises. A conflict between two rival teenage gangs, the "American" Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks, is enacted through dance. The tension between the gangs is quite visible. The boys are struggling for control of the neighborhood. Accented by police whistles and taunting phrases, the Prologue establishes the fierce rivalry between the two groups.
The Jets break off and celebrate themselves. ("Jet Song"). But Riff (the Jet gang leader) has a problem: he wants to get his friend, Tony, back into the gang. Riff convinces Tony to re-join the Jets at the neighborhood dance, where Riff's plan will be put into motion. Tony agrees out of a sense of loyalty to Riff, but expresses his unhappiness with his current life ("Something's Coming"). He feels himself growing away from the gang and envisions a different, better future.
Maria, the sister of the Shark leader, Bernardo, has only been in the United States for a short time. She works with Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend, in a bridal shop. Anita is making Maria a dress to wear to the neighborhood dance. Maria sees this dance as the official beginning of her life in this country. Like Tony, she is full of hope. Bernardo arrives with Chino, a quiet, intense member of the Sharks. Maria's family has selected Chino to be her future husband.
A social worker, Glad Hand, introduces the rival gang members and their girls; they dance sociably for about two minutes. Then a challenge dance erupts ("Mambo"). Tony and Maria, however, suddenly see one another. In a moment of romantic suspense, they dance together, oblivious to the tension around them. They fall in love. The romantic idyll is interrupted when an enraged Bernardo roughly pulls Maria from Tony's arms ("Maria"). Maria is sent home and Riff and Bernardo arrange a War Council at the local luncheonette, Doc's Drug Store, which is considered neutral ground. Tony finds Maria and serenades her outside her bedroom ("Tonight"). Meanwhile, the Shark girls fawn over the differences between Puerto Rico and America ("America"). At Doc's, the Jets get antsy while waiting for the Sharks, but Riff tries to keep them calm ("Cool"). After a war council and an interruption by Lt. Schrank, they agree that Bernardo will fight Diesel
Tony meets Maria at the bridal shop, where they dream of their wedding ("One Hand, One Heart"). She begs Tony to stop the rumble and the violence. Tony, Maria, Anita, Bernardo (& the Sharks in some versions), and Riff (& the Jets in some versions) sing about what will happen that night ("Tonight Quintet"). Per her request, Tony tries to stop the impending rumble. Though Bernardo taunts Tony, ridicules his attempt to make peace, and provokes him in every way, Tony stays his ground. During the rumble, Riff and Bernardo get in a fight involving knives. Tony warns Riff to back away, but Riff blows him off and continues the fight. Bernardo stabs Riff. In blind fury, Tony angrily kills Bernardo in an act of revenge. The sirens scream; everyone runs except Tony, who stands transfixed at what he has done. Anybodys, a tomboy whose dream is to become a Jet, has followed the gang and prods Tony to escape, just in time. The curtain comes down on a stage which is empty except for the bodies of Riff and Bernardo.
[edit] Act 2
Unaware of the tragedy under the highway, Maria daydreams during her work hours. Her friends wonder at Maria's strange and sudden euphoria ("I Feel Pretty"). Maria mentions marriage, but her friends assume she is thinking about Chino. Chino enters with the news Tony has killed Bernardo. Left alone, Maria is praying; Tony enters through the window and attempts to win her forgiveness. He explains why he killed Bernardo in a moment of anger over Riff's death. Maria forgives him, and they declare their determination to be together. They both imagine a new world where they can live together in peace and acceptance, where Jets and Sharks live in harmony. ("Somewhere"). At the end of the dream, Tony and Maria are in her bed, in each other's arms.
In an alley, Officer Krupke is questioning A-Rab and Baby John, two Jets, about the murders. After they run away, the gang reforms and ridicules Krupke and the adults (social workers, cops, psychiatrists, and judges) who fail to understand what motivates their behavior ("Gee, Officer Krupke"). Anita arrives at Maria's apartment. Tony escapes through the window, telling Maria to meet him at the luncheonette so they can run away together. Anita realizes Tony has been with Maria and turns on Maria in fury for making love to the man who killed her [Maria's] brother ("A Boy Like That"). However, when Maria explains ("I Have Love"), Anita realizes Maria loves Tony as much as she loved Bernardo. She warns Maria that Chino has a gun and is planning to kill Tony. When Shrank arrives to question Maria, Anita agrees to go to Doc's to tell Tony to wait for her.
Anita is prevented from reaching Tony by the ethnic prejudice of the Jets. The gang's verbal taunting of Anita gets physical and is turning into rape when she is saved by Doc. In her fury and humiliation, Anita lies and tells the Jets Chino has killed Maria. Doc tells Tony, who is hiding in his cellar. Maria and his dreams for the future are gone. Feeling there is nothing to live for now, Tony runs out to find Chino, begging for Chino to kill him too. On the street, he finds Maria to be quite alive. As they run towards each other, Chino turns up and shoots Tony. Tony is still alive, but struggling. As Maria the Jets and Sharks flock around the lovers, Maria tries to pull Tony back from the brink of death ("Somewhere Reprise"). Tony dies in her arms. The adults arrive at the scene, and Maria takes Chino's gun. She tells everyone that hatred is what killed Tony and the others, and now she can kill them because their hate has affected her. But she is unable to bring herself to fire it, and she collapses in her grief. She brings the cycle of violence that the gangs have had to an end. Gradually, all the members of both gangs assemble on either side of Tony's body, suggesting that the feud may be over. The Jets and Sharks form a procession and together they carry Tony offstage. In the words of the script, "The Jets and Sharks go off, two by two. The adults stand, bowed, useless, as the curtain falls".
[edit] Characters
Jets
- Riff - The leader of the gang "The Jets". Lives with Tony.
Songs: "Prologue", "Jet Song", "Mambo", "Cool", "Tonight Quintet", "The Rumble"
- Anton "Tony" - Riff's best friend and co-founder of the Jets; he falls in love with Maria. Tony is Polish-American.
Songs: "Something's Coming", "Mambo (Cha-Cha)", "Maria", "Tonight", "One Hand, One Heart", "Tonight Quintet", "The Rumble", "Somewhere", "Somewhere (Reprise)"
- Action - A member of Tony and Riff's gang; hot-tempered and bitter. He takes over Riff's leader position after the rumble. He also is the "juvenile delinquet" in "Gee, Officer Krupke".
Songs: "Prologue", "Jet Song", "Mambo", "Cool", "Gee, Officer Krupke"
- A-Rab - A member of Tony and Riff's gang; the son of an alcoholic. The Sharks jump him and pierce his ear in the prologue.
Songs: "Prologue", "Jet Song", "Mambo", "Cool", "Gee, Officer Krupke"
- Baby John- Youngest member of the Jets. According to the novelization, he is only fourteen. "Rapes" Anita in Act 2.
Songs: "Prologue", "Jet Song", "Mambo", "Cool", "Gee, Officer Krupke"
- Anybodys - A local girl who wishes to be included in the gang. However, she is rejected and regularly told to 'put on a skirt'.
Songs: None
- Other Jets - Snowboy, Big Deal, Diesel, Gee-tar, Mouth Piece, Tiger
Songs: "Prologue", "Jet Song", "Mambo", "Cool", "Gee, Officer Krupke"
- Their Girls - Graziella, Velma, Minnie, Clarice, Pauline
Songs: "Mambo", "Cool"
Sharks
- Bernardo - The leader of Puerto Rican gang "The Sharks", Maria's brother, and Anita's boyfriend.
Songs: "Prologue", "Mambo", "Tonight Quintet"
- Maria - Sister of Bernardo; she falls in love with Tony.
Songs: "Mambo (Cha-Cha)", "Tonight", "One Hand, One Heart", "Tonight Quintet", "I Feel Pretty", "Somewhere", "I Have Love", "Somewhere (Reprise)"
- Chino - Bernardo's best friend and Maria's fiancé. He takes over Bernardo's leader position after the rumble.
Songs: "Prologue", "Mambo"
- Anita - Maria's friend and Bernardo's girlfriend.
Songs: "Mambo", "America", "Tonight Quintet", "A Boy Like That"
- Other Sharks - Toro, Pepe, Indio, Luis, Anxious, Nibbles, Juano, Moose
Songs: "Prologue", "Mambo"
- Their Girls - Rosalia, Consuelo, Teresita, Francisca, Estella, Margarita
Songs: "Mambo", "America", "I Feel Pretty"
Adults
- Officer Krupke - Local police officer who is always having to prevent the gangs from feuding.
- Doc - The owner of a local luncheonette and confidante to Tony
- Glad Hand - Local social worker (Real name per novelization: Murray Benowitz)
- Lieutenant Schrank - Krupke's superior, is strong and always in command has a charming pleasant manner to cover his venom and his fear
[edit] Shakespearean counterparts
Most of the characters in West Side Story were inspired from those of Romeo and Juliet.
- Tony/Romeo
Male Lead. Modern-day Montague. Both characters are portrayed as being a devoted lover and growing out of youthful pastimes. Both die in the end: Tony from an enemy's gunshot; Romeo from suicide`by poison.
- Maria/Juliet
Female Lead. Modern-day Capulet. Both are young, naive, forced into engagements with men they do not desire. Maria's survival at the end of the story (despite her threats to commit suicide with the same gun that killed her lover) departs from Shakespeare's ending wherein Juliet willingly commits suicide with Romeo's dagger.
- Chino/Paris
The Embittered Fiancé. Both are engaged to the female lead. Paris dies from a duel with Romeo in Act V. However, Chino survives after having shot Tony to death in the final scene.
- Bernardo/Tybalt/Capulet
Ring-Leader of the Sharks and Capulets, respectively. Both are extremely aggressive and filled with prejudices. Both killed by their Romeo/Tony counterparts. While Tybalt was actually Juliet's cousin in 'Romeo and Juliet', Bernardo was written as Maria's brother and protector, creating a closer familial bond. He is also very father-like towards Maria, making him also much like her father, Lord Capulet.
- Riff/Mercutio
Friend to Tony/Romeo. Both men are indifferent and dismissive to the male lead's new romance and/or life goals. Both men are killed by their enemy's ring-leader, and their friends kill their assassin in retaliation, resulting in a path that leads to tragedy.
- Baby John/Benvolio
Friend to Tony/Romeo. Although he consorts with the Jets/Montagues, he is opposed to the bitter rivalry between the two gangs/families and wishes the fighting to stop. He is always encouraging his fellows to leave the scene of battle and not participate, but his wishes are often ignored by the more aggressive gang/family members.
- Anita/Nurse
Friend and confidante to the female lead. However, Anita is also Bernardo's girlfriend, which adds considerable interpersonal conflict. Both know about the romance between the leading characters, but choose not to subvert it. In fact, Nurse aids Juliet in her secret marriage to Romeo. Anita reluctantly chooses not to reveal Maria and Tony's relationship to Bernardo (her boyfriend), though she angrily denounces it to Maria a few scenes after Bernardo's death. Also, in the musical, Anita's lie to the Jets after the attempted rape is the impetus for Doc's mistaken information to Tony, where in the Shakespearean play, Nurse is unaware of the truth that Juliet is alive.
- Doc/Friar Laurence/Balthasar
Confidante/father figure to the male lead, as their real father figure is dead/uncaring about them. Friar Laurence blesses and officiates Romeo and Juliet's private nuptials. Doc loans a considerable amount of money to Tony so that he may flee New York City with Maria. Keeping with a theme of tragic irony, both characters unwittingly send the male leads to their deaths by relating the tragic "news" that Maria/Juliet has died, which relates them to Balthasar, Romeo's manservant.
- Schrank/Prince
Authority figure attempting to keep the fragile peace between the warring sides. However, Schrank is sympathetic to the Jets, unlike the neutral Prince.
- Krupke/Peter
Both considerably less intelligent than any other character in both plays, and both of a lower social status. Whereas Krupke is Schrank's underling, Peter is a servant to the Nurse of Romeo and Juliet. Peter is sent to invite a list of people to a party, but cannot read - a detail paid homage to in that the Jets' mockery of Krupke has him holding a newspaper upside-down.
In addition, the original ending was more similar to that of Romeo and Juliet. After giving her monologue about how she can kill because "now" she "has hate," Maria fatally shoots Chino and then kills herself, in despair and the hope that she will see Tony again in death. The adults arrive on the scene too late, and Anita tells them the full story, resulting in the Jets and Sharks resolving their differences. It was described by preview audiences as "too depressing," so the producers went with the less tragic, more hopeful ending in the final version.
[edit] Productions
The original 1957 stage production starred Larry Kert as Tony and Carol Lawrence as Maria.
George Chakiris, who won an Academy Award as Bernardo in the 1961 film version of West Side Story, originated the role of Riff in the 1958 London stage premiere.
In 1984, Bernstein decided to re-record the musical, conducting his own music for the first time. Generally known as the "operatic version" of West Side Story, it stars Kiri Te Kanawa as Maria, José Carreras as Tony, Tatiana Troyanos as Anita, Kurt Ollman as Riff, and Marilyn Horne as the offstage voice who sings "Somewhere". It won a Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album in 1985 and the recording process was filmed as a film documentary.
A 1980 Broadway revival starred Debbie Allen as Anita. A 1987 tour starred Jack Wagner as Tony.
Several dances from West Side Story were presented as the featured performances in the 1989 production Jerome Robbins' Broadway.
[edit] Casts
[edit] Original Broadway cast
The original Broadway cast of West Side Story was as follows:
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Understudies |
[edit] Orchestration
The score for West Side Story was orchestrated by Bernstein himself, with assistance from Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal. The orchestra personnel required for a proper performance of the score is among the largest in the musical theater repertoire. The score calls for five woodwind players (each doubling on multiple instruments), seven brasses, five percussionists, a keyboardist, a guitarist, and twelve string players. In all, 30 musicians are needed to perform the score as intended by the composer.
[edit] Basis upon tritone
The work is notable for being largely based upon the interval of a tritone, also known as an augmented fourth or diminished fifth. This dissonant interval often represents tension or unrest, and comprises the two notes which are regarded as the most distant from each other in the Western tonal system. So by embracing these tonal polarities, the composer may be regarded as providing a musical representation of the opposing gangs in West Side Story.
The tritone is most obvious in the first two notes of the song "Maria": E-flat and A-natural, which are the first two notes of a three-note motif comprising a tritone and then a rising semitone. This motif is first heard in the Prologue and recurs throughout the entire musical, appearing in numbers such as the "Mambo" and "Rumble" and forming both the ostinato bass line and the melody of the song "Cool." In addition, the song "Gee, Officer Krupke" begins in B major and ends in the key a tritone away, F major. The tritone appears for the final time at the very end of the piece, where several times a pianissimo C major chord in the high register of the orchestra is interrupted by a low F-sharp in the bass register. In the recording, only in the final bar is the C chord allowed to remain uninterrupted, thus creating a very last-minute release of tension. However, the original score of the show has another F-sharp after the last C major triad, allowing the dissonance to continue un-resolved, and this is certainly how Bernstein intended it.
[edit] Recordings
Recordings of West Side Story include:
- The 1957 original Broadway cast album, with Carol Lawrence as Maria and Larry Kert as Tony.
- The 1961 movie soundtrack, with Marni Nixon singing Maria's role (played in the film by Natalie Wood) and Jimmy Bryant (played in the film by Richard Beymer) as Tony. It won the Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast from Motion Picture or Television.
- The jazz version recorded by Oscar Peterson and his trio.
- A 1985 studio recording of the "operatic version", with Bernstein conducting, Kiri Te Kanawa singing Maria and José Carreras singing Tony. It won the Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album.
Songs from the musical have been performed by various artists and groups, including Barbara Streisand and Ferrante & Teicher.
[edit] References in popular culture
- The Buddy Rich Big Band arranged and recorded "West Side Story Medley" on the 1966 album Buddy Rich's Swingin' New Big Band.
- The Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded Johnny Richards' "West Side Story", an entire album of jazz orchestrations based on the Bernstein scores, in 1961. It was previewed by the producers of the motion picture, who lamented that, had they known of its existence, it would have used as the musical foundation of the new film. The Kenton version won the 1962 Grammy award for Best Jazz Recording by a Large Group.
- The Hindi movie Josh, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai was inspired by West Side Story.
- The video for the Michael Jackson 1983 song "Beat It" was inspired by "The Rumble."[citation needed]
- An ESPN ad in the 1990s featured many of the sportscasters divided into two "gangs," due to a fictitious "dispute" at ESPN, facing each other and rhythmically snapping fingers, parodying the opening number and the "rumble" scene in West Side Story.[citation needed]
- Selena, the Tejano singer, recorded the song "A Boy Like That" in March, 1995, just seven days before her death, so this song turned out to be her last recording. In early 1996, that song was released as the first single from the album The Songs Of West Side Story.
- The mid-1990s Animaniacs segment "Goodfeathers" spoofed the musical, going so far as to parody nearly every song from "Maria" (as "Carluta") to "America" ("Perching on Scorsese's Head").[citation needed]
- In comedian Robin Williams' stand-up show, "Live on Broadway," he talks about the fact that before the 9/11 attacks, one was allowed to take a four-inch blade onto an airplane. He says, "What, are they afraid you're gonna do a little West Side Story? "Going down the aisle! Crazy aisle!" This was edited out of the U.S. release of the filmed version of the performance.[1]
- The character Paul Viti from the 2002 movie, Analyze That sings a variety of West Side Story songs to try and prove he is legitimately insane.[citation needed]
- World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) spoofed the musical in a commercial for the 2005 Royal Rumble.[citation needed] One gang was composed of Raw wrestlers and the other of SmackDown wrestlers singing about how they will be the "last one standing" at the Royal Rumble.[citation needed] A fight quickly broke out between the two gangs before the TV cameras cut to Vince McMahon waking up, revealing he had dreamed the whole thing.[citation needed] The bit ended with McMahon saying, "That wasn't the Rumble I had in mind!"[citation needed]
- "America" has been covered in several different ways:
- The Tijuana Brass released an upbeat version on an early album, with no apparent irony about its theme of anger and frustration felt by the Puerto Rican community ("Life is all right in America / If you're a white in America").
- 1960s progressive rock band, The Nice, recorded a cover version of "America" in the form of an instrumental protest song (much to the annoyance of Bernstein.[1]).
- Keith Emerson would continue to perform it in concerts with his later groups, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and 3.[citation needed]
- The melody of "America" is heard at the beginnng of the Yes cover of Paul Simon"s America.[citation needed]
- The melody of "America" is heard at the beginning of the Metallica song "Don't Tread On Me," which appears on their Black Album, which was released by Elektra Records in 1991.[citation needed]
- The BBC used the song "America" as the theme song for their telecasts of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, again with no apparent irony.[citation needed]
- In 1997, the British singing group The Pet Shop Boys recorded a cover version of "Somewhere", which also used elements of "I Feel Pretty." During their 1997 series of concerts at the Savoy Theatre, London, they used an extended version of "Somewhere" that started with "One Hand, One Heart."[citation needed]
- The Santana/Product G&B Maria Maria was inspired by the musical.[citation needed]
- The popular children's show Sesame Street made a spoof of West Side Story called "Veg Side Story". It features a muppet reluctant to eat his zucchini. Once he tries it, he realizes that he likes it, and bursts into a song about his zucchini that is a parody of "Maria".
- The popular Nicktoon Rugrats also had a West Side Story homage in 2001, Wash-Dry Story, in which the Rugrats battle with the McNulty babies at a laundromat.
- Liverpudlian band The Zutons used West Side Story in their video for Why Won't You Give Me Your Love? in 2006.
- In the movie Anger Management, the song "I Feel Pretty" was used in a number of scenes.
- In the tv series Family Guy, the episode Saving Private Brian has a reference in the cadence as they run through the forest as well as a choreographed bit in after using the music from the "Mambo."
- West Bank Story is an Academy Award-winning comedy/musical short film, directed by Ari Sandel which won Best Live Action Short Film at the 2007 Academy Awards.
[edit] External links
- The Official West Side Story website
- West Side Story at The Internet Broadway Database
- West Side Story at the Internet Movie Database
- 2002 Interview with Chita Rivera on the 1957 stage show of West Side Story
| Musicals of Leonard Bernstein |
|---|
| On the Town • Trouble in Tahiti • Wonderful Town • Candide • West Side Story • 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue • A Quiet Place • The Race to Urga |
Saturday Night • West Side Story • Gypsy • A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum • Anyone Can Whistle • Do I Hear a Waltz? • Evening Primrose • Company • Follies • A Little Night Music • The Frogs • Pacific Overtures • Side By Side By Sondheim • Sweeney Todd • Marry Me A Little • Merrily We Roll Along • Sunday in the Park with George • Into the Woods • Assassins • Putting It Together • Passion • Bounce
