West Side Story

Back in the 1950’s, four men (Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim) decided to do a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet.  Initially the four — all Jewish — thought to make the conflict about Jewish and non Jewish gangs on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Eventually, though, they went for a more modern, more socially relevant conflict — the influx of Puerto Ricans into Manhattan’s Upper West Side and the rivalry between the immigrants and the white residents who were being displaced.

West Side Story opened on Broadway in 1957.  Four years later, the movie premiered.  There were some changes  — the lyrics for “America” were rewritten, the order of the songs was changed, and the ballet sequence was dropped — but the movie was faithful to the Broadway version.

It’s been revived on Broadway multiple times.  It’s a staple of high school drama clubs (including mine — I was in the chorus, one of the Jet girls).

You know the plot.  

The Jets, led by Riff, and the Sharks, led by Bernardo, are fighting over control of the same streets.  Riff’s best friend Tony seeks to separate from the gang and make a better life for himself.  There’s a dance at the gym, the Jets and Sharks attend. Bernardo dances with his girlfriend Anita, Bernardo’s sister Maria is supposed to dance with a young man named Chino.  During the dance Tony meets and dances with Maria, which angers Bernardo.  Tensions between the two gangs escalate.

Later that night, Tony finds Maria on her fire escape, and the two profess their love.  They meet in secret the next day and vow to stay together forever. 

That night the two gangs meet to fight.  Tony tried to prevent the violence, but when Bernardo kills Riff, Tony kills Bernardo. He flees the scene, and heads to Maria’s apartment.  The two make plans to run away together.  Tony leaves, and Maria plans to meet up with him.  But when Maria is detained by the police, she sends Anita to find Tony.  Anita is assaulted by the Jets.  She tells them Chino killed Maria.

Despondent, Tony goes looking for Chino.  No sooner does Tony find out that Maria is alive than Chino arrives, and kills Tony.

So now it’s 60 years later, and Stephen Spielberg wants to remake the movie.  But how do you improve upon perfection?

You keep everything the same but yet make everything different.

You keep every note by Bernstein and every lyric by Sondheim. You don’t add any new music or any strange lyrics. You follow the same outline but completely rewrite the script. You move the songs around, ask different characters to sing them…and you create something wonderful.

Some of the things I really liked:  the gangs aren’t just fighting over turf.  They’re fighting over turf that is about to disappear, as NYC clears away the slums and gentrifies the West Side.  The irony that the neighborhood is being cleared so that Lincoln Center can be built does not escape me.

Some of the dialogue is in Spanish.  No subtitles.  I understood most of it, thanks to high school Spanish class, but even those who don’t speak the language will get the gist of what’s being said.

Tony is given a back story which explains his reasons for leaving the Jets.  Chino’s character is much more developed, and his reason for killing Tony more complex.

And then there’s Rita Moreno.  In the original story, Tony worked at Doc’s drugstore, and Doc was his father figure.  In the new movie, the drugstore is owned by Valentina, Doc’s Puerto Rican widow.  She bridges the two rival communities.  She is Tony’s boss and mentor. And she gets to sing “Somewhere”.

And yes, at age 90 she can still sing.

They’re talking about an Oscar for her.  That would be wonderful, seeing as how she won an Oscar for her portrayal of Anita 60 years ago.

The movie was everything I anticipated, and more.