West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein

  West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein (music), Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics). 2009 revival Spanish lyrics by Linn-Manuel Miranda West Side Story is a top contender for the best-known musical of time. Before it premiered in 1957, composer Bernstein, lyricist Sondheim, and book write Laurents originally set Jewish and Italian communities against one another in this adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The changing demographics of the West Side (where Lincoln Center Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera is today) moved them to instead create a gang of Irish and Italian boys to pit against a group of newly arrived Puerto Ricans. Many of the songs are considered an essential part of the musical theater canon: “Somewhere,” “Tonight,” “I Feel Pretty,” “Maria,” “Cool,” and “America.” Sandoval-Sanchez’s reading of West Side Story interprets a strong undertow of racism against Latinx, particularly Puerto Rican, men and women within the musical – this can range from an ignorance to the fact that Puerto Ricans are actually Americans to the fight for space within a community (echoing in the current battle against gentrification in New York City) to the naming of the gangs – the Sharks (animals, cannibalistic, savage) and the Jets (technology, wealth, aerospace, “cool”). How does West Side Story depict Latinx characters? Think about Maria and Anita in comparison with Tony, for example, or Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, and Riff, leader of the Jets. Use examples (lyrics, lines, moments in the videos) to support your position. “The Dance at the Gym,” as choreographed by Jerome Robbins, is one of the most famous dances in Broadway history. How does it compare to “The Dream Ballet” from Oklahoma!? Does each dance evoke a similar emotion in you? Or very different emotions? How would you describe the dancing in this number in West Side Story? What story is this dance telling? Listen to “Un Hombre Así” and “Me Siento Hermosa” from the 2009 Broadway revival (YouTube link). Does the Spanish language lyric change your perception of the song(s)? Does it authenticate the lyric? Does the use of Spanish help negotiate what can be interpreted as racism against Latinx, particularly Puerto Rican, men and women? Finally, take a look at the currently running Broadway revival of West Side Story through the New York Times article by Sasha Weiss: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/magazine/west-side-story.html -- what possibilities lie in this kind of radical re-imagining (as with Oklahoma!)? Stephen Spielberg is also making a film version of the show for release this summer -- why do you think there's a sudden re-interest in West Side Story? Or has that interest never gone away?