The original musical, although inspired by the rise in juvenile delinquency in American cities in the late 1950s, carried timeless themes of racial hatred and young-adult angst. When Tony (Ansel Elgort), Riff’s best friend, and Maria (Rachel Zegler), Bernardo’s sister, fall in love, all hell breaks loose. David Alvarez plays Bernardo, the Sharks’ leader. In the new Spielberg film, Riff, the leader of the Jets is played by Mike Faist. Set in working-class New York, the story, inspired by Romeo and Juliet, follows the rivalry between the street gangs Jets, comprising white teenagers, and the Sharks, a Puerto-Rican group. The stage musical written by Arthur Laurents and directed by Jerome Robbins, featuring lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Leonard Bernstein was considered a game-changer among musicals for its innovative choreography and dark themes that audiences were unaccustomed to seeing in musical theatre at the time. Unlike the acclaimed 1961 film adaptation, the Puerto Rican characters in Spielberg’s film are played by Latinx actors, keeping in mind the demand for race-appropriate casting today.īut despite these cosmetic changes, the new West Side Story is light on social and political depth, much like the original 1957 Broadway production and the 1961 film. To that effect, screenwriter Tony Kushner slightly updates some of the dialogue to highlight contemporary discourse about ethnic conflict, economic precarity, and police violence in the United States. Prior to the India release of the new West Side Story, its director Steven Spielberg said that his take on the classic musical is in “direct conversation” with young people of the world right now.
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