The film opens with aerial shots establishing the setting. There is no grand song that says new york city, such as new york, new york declaring that this is. Jun, 2016 its all around us, and theres no way to escape it. After owning their miserable little neighborhood for years, the jets, the fingersnapping street gang led by riff russ tamblyn, find themselves in a turf war with the upstart puerto rican sharks, led by bernardo george chakiris. They are getting ready for the party thats in a few hours. West side story by irving shulman, 1967, pocket books edition, in english west side story 1967 edition open library. West side story, theatre music by american composer leonard bernstein that premiered august 19, 1957, in washington, d. Need reed 1 book from west side story i dont have a copy of the book but ive played the show. To ask other readers questions about west side story, please sign up.
Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Every five years, for a new generation, we have to bring back west side story, says choplin, whose official title is chairman of the seine musicale programming committee. The movie is 152 minutes long, so youll likely need two to three class periods to finish the show. There are some nice solo lines for alto in the first book, lots of flute playing including some exposed passages in the third octave, and two fun spots. The show is their story, the story of coming to america, and the story of how love overcomes hate. It was inspired by william shakespeares play romeo and juliet. Should i just watch the movie, if so, where can i watch it. West side story 2009 broadway tickets, news, info, photos. Crimes really havent changed, only the faces attached to them have, and a lot of the social issues presented in west side story are definitely still relevant to todays society. With commodity prices in the doldrums, chronic power outages, and an upcoming election, ghana is enduring a slow year. Wood and beymer were in their 20s, and rita moreno anita was 30 and looked and acted it. On the other hand, in the rise and fall of the broadway musical, mark grant concentrates on the growth of the musical in light of changes in technology and music, and in writing the book and lyrics. The show ran for an initial 732 performances, followed by a successful national tour, another 249 performances in new york city and a two year run in london.
But with solid indicators elsewhere, including promising nonoil data, the west african nation remains upbeat. Guthrie theater taps west side story and broadways. Guthrie theater taps west side story and broadways indecent for next season. West side story musical by bernstein and sondheim and. West side story is set in the upper west side neighborhood in new york city in the mid 1950s, an ethnic, bluecollar neighborhood in the early 1960s, much of the neighborhood was cleared in an urban renewal project for the lincoln center, which changed the neighborhoods character. Crazy to think that what happens takes place in that time frame. The story is set in the upper west side neighborhood in new york city in the mid 1950s, a multiracial, bluecollar neighborhood. In my book club we took the comparison between this and the outsides. They wrote about what they knew, and what they knew were those working class neighborhoods full of kids with not a lot of hope. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was inspired by william shakespeares play romeo and juliet. He proposed that the plot focus on the conflict between an irish catholic family and a jewish family. Westside story is a modern musical representation of the classic story romeo and juliet. West side story is a musical with a book by arthur laurents, music by leonard bernstein and.
This area is full of west side story has been a play that i have been wanting to read for quite a long time. Why west side story is still relevant ive mentioned several times before how much i love living in lamostly because of the cool movie events which are held all year round. Very interesting to compare contrast on that side of the. I attended an event last year with nina bernstein and humphrey burton. Instead of fair verona, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean, its the mean streets of 1950s new york city, where young gangs rumble over the right to walk down the street. Interesting facts about the creation of west side story. West side story 1961 is an energetic, widelyacclaimed, melodramatic musical a modernday, loose retelling of shakespeares romeo and juliet tragedy of feuding families, although the setting is the upper west side of new york city in the late 1950s with conflict between rival street gangs rather than families. When it premiered on broadway in 1957, it showed how dancing, singing, acting, and design could merge into a single means of expression, a seamless unity. Anita is marias friend and, so far, has nothing to do with the plot. West side story 1957 was originally east side story. There is no grand song that says new york city, such as new york, new york declaring that this is a helluva town. After owning their miserable little neighborhood for years, the jets, the fingersnapping street gang led by riff. Musical masterpiece tackles race, with some violence.
Dec 03, 2012 west side story is a musical about of two lovers, maria and tony, growing up in the 50s and 60s in the upper west side of new york city. Irving shulman 191995 was a novelist and screenwriter, known for his depictions of urban life. The setting comes at least partially from the fact that everyone who created west side story was from new york. West side story is a fairly strict adaptation of one of shakespeares greatest works. The landmark musical west side story featuring a score by leonard bernstein and stephen sondheim, a book by arthur laurents and choreography by jerome robbins made its world premiere on august 19, 1957 at the national theatre. Murphy 7 december 2006 west side story chapter 3 in this chapter, anita is making the dress for maria. Goodreads members who liked west side story also liked. I know a few people who double, but not nearly to the extent of what the books call for. That year, however, moreno received critical acclaim as the fiery and cynical anita in.
West side story is a 1961 american musical romantic drama film directed by robert wise and jerome robbins. The music was composed by leonard bernstein, and the. Ive ordered it, but it will arrive too late and i need to do a book project on it. West side story based on a conception of jerome robbins book by music by lyrics by arthur leonard stephen laurents bernstein sondheim choreography by jerome robbins rehearsal script as of october 21, 2008. The story of the broadway musical and film west side story is detailed on the official website see below.
West side story chapter 3 big trouble in this chapter maria. The setting is moved from verona to manhattan in the 1950s, and the rival street gangs the jets and the sharks replace the feuding families of montague and capulet. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. West side story actually started out as east side story in jerome robbins original pitch to bernstein in 1947. Show the 1961 movie version of west side story to your class. When robbins opted to drop out, the three men went their separate ways, and the piece was shelved for almost five years. I need to read the book by friday, saturday at the latest and i cant find it anywhere. And they are hard for me to accept as high schoolers. A genius is something he was commonly described as by the numerous dancers and codirectors he worked with during his prosperous career.
Why west side story is still relevant the girl who knew. Subsequently the crew and cast members of west side story ended up hiring out an actual street gang for security and protection while they were filming the movie. I honestly liked this book because it was a quick read with a good plot. The producers of west side story announced today that tony award winner karen olivo will be out of the broadway musical as she sustained a broken foot at the 2 p. The hoodlums in west side story appear a bit quaint to my 21st century eyes with their leaveittobeaverish and greaser looks. Books similar to west side story goodreads share book. The latest broadway revival also tried out at the national in 2008. Swain spend an entire chapter on the analysis of west side story. West side story plot summary, character breakdowns, context and analysis, and performance video clips. West side story, american musical film, released in 1961, that was inspired by. West side story simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Apr 17, 2017 guthrie theater taps west side story and broadways indecent for next season.
The undergraduate theater club at the university i go to is considering putting on west side story and im trying to figure out how to give out the reed parts. Fall of that year brought the smash, west side story, for which he created the score, to the national theatre. West side story is a tragic love story set in new york city in the mid1950s on the west side of the city. He is the author of ten books, including the novels the amboy dukes, cry tough, and the square trap, which were all adapted into movies. This is the place for you if youve ever been involved in, or infatuated with, west side story as an actor, singer, dancer, musician, producer, director, designer, crew or just as important as a fan. Screenwriter ernest lehman adapted the film west side story from the hit play of the same name, which opened on broadway in 1957 and ran there for 732 performances. West side story is a musical about of two lovers, maria and tony, growing up in the 50s and 60s in the upper west side of new york city. The sharks and the jets are rival gangs fighting for the same territory. More differences another difference that i noticed was what they were fighting for in the outsiders, the two groups are fighting just to pretty much fight while in west side story, they fight for territory and girls some differences both of the stories include gangs, but in the. The music was composed by leonard bernstein, and the lyrics were written by stephen sondheim. West side story is a musical with a book by arthur laurents, music by leonard bernstein and lyrics by stephen sondheim. The musical is a 20thcentury american adaptation of the shakespearean tale of romeo and juliet. It set the irish catholic jets against the jewish emeralds, which was in keeping with the ethnic makeup of the lower east side area of manhattan. Need reed 1 book from west side story sax on the web forum.
West side story tells a story of how tony a polish america who used to lead the local gang, the jets and maria a puerto rican teen part of the rivaling gang find love despite their backgrounds and public opinions. It stars natalie wood, richard beymer, russ tamblyn, rita moreno, and george chakiris, and was photographed. West side story suite is a ballet made by new york city ballet balletmaster jerome robbins to the 1957 music by leonard bernstein and lyrics of stephen sondheim and extracted from the eponymous musical which he had choreographed, with scenery by oliver smith, costumes by irene sharaff and lighting by jennifer tipton. On monday, july 18th, the academy of motion picture arts and sciences screened a 70mm print of the 1961 movie musical west side story. West side story by irving shulman goodreads share book. Jerome robbins was best known for his revolutionized method of directing, choreographing and producing. Luckily for us, they found an entirely new way to tell the story of romeo and juliet. With a screenplay by ernest lehman, the film is an adaptation of the 1957 broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was inspired by william shakespeares play romeo and juliet. Choreographer robbins was hired to direct the dance scenes, with the remaining scenes to be directed by robert wise. Social issues in west side story the odyssey online. However, robbins insisted on so many takes of his scenes that he was fired before the movie was completed. West side story was directed and choreographed by the innovative jerome robbins, who stated in an added feature presentation in the 2003 dvd release that he had been interested in creating. During the filming of west side story, the crew and cast members alike were regularly harassed by street toughs, who showered rocks, bottles, etc.
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