Context on West Side Story

West Side Story
The stage version of West Side Story opened previews on August 20, 1957 in Washington D.C. The musical opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theater, September 26 1957. The film version was released on October 18, 1961.


West Side Story is based on a conception by Jerome Robbins.


Book by Arthur Laurents
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Entire Original Production Directed and Choreographed by Jerome Robbins
Orchestrations by Leonard Bernstein with Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal


Film Version:
Directed by: Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins
Screenplay: Ernest Lehman
Choreography: Jerome Robbins


These are the people that wrote West Side Story. Arthur Laurents produced a book on West Side Story and was published in 1955 and a year and a half later rehearsals began for the Broadway premiere of West Side Story.
West Side Story is set in the mid 1950s, when many Puerto Ricans moved to NYC which is where they got the idea from to create West Side Story. It takes place on the west side of Manhattan, NYC.
They ran 732 performances before going on tour.
West Side Story is performing at the Sadler's Wells Theatre which is London's Dance House.
Jerome Robbins picked West Side Story because he initially proposed a story of tensions between Jews and Catholics, but when Bernstein and the playwright Arthur Laurents became involved, it developed into a clash between white and Puerto Rican street gangs, the Jets and Sharks.

It all began in the early '50s, when an actor friend was preparing for the part of Romeo. Finding the character too passive, he asked Robbins if he had any clues about how to bring it alive. "I tried to imagine Shakespeare's story in terms of today," says Robbins.
The musical theme is street gangs and violence among modern youths.

Themes for West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet Themes:

• Love
• Time
• Opposites
• Destiny
• Conflict
• Death

West Side Story Themes:

• Love
• Time
• Opposites
• Destiny
• Conflict
• Death

Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story have the exact same themes because West Side Story is bascially a modern day version of Romeo and Juliet therefore the storylines is exactly the same. Love is the main theme within both storylines because the lovers are the ones that create conflict and death between the two famillies or the two gangs because the lovers don't care about the rivaly war that is happening they are just so deeply in love with each other and love is stronger than anything.

Romeo and Juliet Characters

 Juliet - Margot Fonteyn

 Romeo - Rudolf Nureyev

West Side Story Characters

Marie - Natalie Wood

Tony - Richard Beymer

Plot

I have found a review about West Side Story from the stage. It was published Friday 25 July 2008 at 12:00 by Mark Shenton. To have a look at the review this is the website: http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/21381/west-side-story
The review talks abouts what happens in West Side Story, what type of dance they use in the production and talks a bit about Jerome Robbins who was the choreographer. Also it tells you about the production information like all of the cast names who starred in the production, the directors etc.
This is a brief description of the plot of West Side Story.
West Side Story is a modern day version which is based on the 1950s Broadway stage play, from an idea inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The love story of Romeo and Juliet is a bit like Tony and Marie in West Side Story. The feud between the houses of the Capulets and the Montagues is a bit like the teenage gangs the Shark and the Jets in West Side Story West Side Story is set in New York. There is a lot of conflict between the two gangs and it gets out of control and two murders happen in one night. Tony'sbest friend and Jet leader Riff is killed by Maria's brother, Bernardo. In anger, Tony kills Bernardo. Tony realizes his mistake (killing his love's brother) and begs for forgiveness, which, of course, Maria forgives him. They decide they have to leave the city. Chino, the Shark Maria is supposed to marry, vows to kill Tony. Maria begs Anita, Bernardo's fiancé, to tell Tony she will be a little late meet him at Doc's Candy Store, but when Anita is mauled by the Jets, she angrily tells them that Maria is dead, murdered by Chino.

Jerome Robbins

·        Jerome Robbins his original surname Rabinowitz was one of the most popular and imaginative American choreographers of the 20th century. Robbins was first known for his skilful use of contemporary American themes in ballets and Broadway and Hollywood musicals. He won acclaim for highly innovative ballets structured within the traditional framework of classical dance movements.

·        He studied a range of dance styles including ballet, modern, Spanish, oriental and interpretive. Oriental meant it was a bit like belly dancing and interpretive which was a form of modern dance in which the dancer's movements depict an emotion or tell a story.

·        On July 29th, 1998, Jerome Robbins died of a stroke in his home in New York City.

·        As a child he studied the piano and violin as well as dance.

·        In 1942 he choreographed his first ballet, Fancy Free , which recounts the adventures of three young sailors on leave. His style combined more popular dance styles with classical ballet in a way that was new at the time.

·        Some of his shows that he has choreographed: On the Town, Peter Pan, The King and I, West Side Story, and Fiddler on the Roof.

·        Jerome Robbins helped change the face of modern dance with his breathtaking ballets and spectacular stage productions.

·        Jerome Robbins dropped out of college to study dance full-time, and he became a professional hoofer in 1937. After working three years in various Broadway chorus lines, Robbins joined the newly formed Ballet Theatre (later known as the American Ballet Theatre); at that time, he was strictly a background dancer and only occasionally obtained small roles in classical ballet. A hoofer is a professional dancer, especially a tap dancer.

West Side Story - Prologue

This video tells you about the two groups called the Sharks and the Jets hating eachother like enemies. Their type of dancing is very cheesy and expressionate. The type of music sounds like 1950s which is like a jazzy, jive, with all the clicking with the fingers to create the sounds to the music to give it a beat. The groups are having fun laughing and joking with everyone until they meet their enemies then the music changes suddenly with a signal beat like dum-dum in a lower pitch. Also the music is orchestral.