Part Two: West Side Story

     The West Side Story portrays the lives of two different gangs living in America, as well as their beliefs and examples of living a good life. The expectations of what people consider the good life to be may vary on a person’s morals and their dreams of what life is truly about. In this movie, whether or not these characters were good people, lived a good life, or lived in a good society is a very controversial topic.

West Side Story came out in 1961 as a melodramatic musical that took place in New York. It takes the same theme as Shakespeare's, Romeo and Juliet, in that it is about two lovers whose relationship is not accepted by others because of conflicting backgrounds.

American culture in the 1950s was based on nuclear family. It was set of a perfect family for example, men go to work and support the family when women stayed home to raise a family. The people in the 1950s who raise their families had morals to have a value of having an ideal family. The women in the nuclear family had a commitment of taking care of their children and staying at home as being a

In New York City in the 1950s, Tony, a former member of the Jets gang finds love with Maria, the younger sister of the powerful Bernardo who leads the Puerto Rican Sharks gang. Before they realized it, they had found themselves in a mess that leads to a massive fight between the rival gangs and ultimately ends with the death of Tony. The police arrive to arrest the killer and the gangs decide to make peace with each other (www.britannica.com). Sound familiar? The musical described is better known as West Side Story, one of the many adaptations that were based on one of Shakespeare 's legendary plays: Romeo and Juliet. Themes such as love, commitment, hatred, and much more can be seen in both plays. Shakespeare’s greatest works have been

West Side Story was based on the classic story of Romeo and Juliet. This story was originally written in the 3rd Century and then re-written by William Shakespeare in 1594. Shakespeare’s version was based on a poem written by Arthur Brooks in 1562.

People are always rewriting other people’s stories - consciously or unconsciously - cutting and trimming, pasting, rearranging, and adjusting to new times and circumstances, sometimes adding truly creative elements and occasionally actually improving on the original. The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet which was a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke is considered to be William Shakespeare's base source for his famous play Romeo and Juliet (Mabillard). West Side Story (1961) is a widely-acclaimed, melodramatic musical - a modern-day, loose re-telling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tragedy of feuding families. They both involve two young people from opposite families that fall in love, but are kept apart by

In both stories Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story there is many similarities. Both sides of the lovers families are feuding. In Romeo and Juliet the Montagues and the Capulets are from Verona. In Westside Story there are also two groups. The New York gang is the Jets, and a gang of Puerto Rican immigrants called the Sharks. The two are battling for dominations of the streets of New York.

Many would argue that Shakespeare's works are not relevant to modern society, with the belief that his themes and ideas are unrealistic and outdated. For example the play Romeo and Juliet follows the story of two opposing families, where forbidden love occurs as Romeo from the house Montague and Juliet from house Capulet fall in love, with the story tragically ending with the deaths of both Romeo and Juliet. Although this seems far-fetched and improbable in a modern society the ideas are still relevant today. The ideas presented in his play have been reworked into different productions, one being the 1961 film West Side Story, this incorperates many of the story and theme aspects Shakespeare used in the original play. The creators of West Side Story have altered the story to portray a more modern representation of shakespeare's themes of forbidden

West side story is an updated version of Romeo and Juliet. The Capulet and Montague families are revamped into two gangs whose members live in the urban ghettos. The Jets are led

America has in a short time been established as a nation that symbolizes acceptance and change. It has progressed into a country of equality that finds its foundation in its personal freedoms and the progressive movement of technology, politics, economics, social views, ethics and so forth since the American Revolution. It has been changing rapidly since the influx of immigrants that came here before the Revolution. The 1950s were a happy time. I Love Lucy and Leave It To Beaver were on television. The Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley were popular acts in music. The youth movement of the 1960s was necessary in order for America to progress in social, political, economic, and technological ways that could further America from the 1950s into a new era of personal identity and freedom of expression.

“West Side Story” is essentially Romeo & Juliet set in New York City. The film follows Maria (Natalie Woods) and Tony (Richard Beymer), two teenagers who meet at a neighborhood dance one night. It’s love at first sight. The problem? Maria is a Puerto Rican immigrant and Tony a native New Yorker. Maria is

West Side Story is undoubtedly one of the most famous American musicals. It premiered in September of 1957 in New York and was made into a movie in the 1960s. The musical is based off of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and this is one of the better known facts about the musical. What many people do not consider however is the racism present throughout the play, and how people received the play as racist.

The musical, the west side story, is by Arthur Laurents. This musical was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Some of the songs in this musical are Jet Song, Something's coming, and A Dance at the Gym. This story is set in an Upper West Side neighborhood in New York city. It was also set in the mid 1950s. This musical is about two teenage gangs. One of the gangs is a white American gang, the jets, led by Riff and the other gang is a Puerto Rican gang, the sharks, led by Bernardo. These two gangs often get in fights and do not like each other. The jets planned a fight at a dance with the sharks. They ask Tony, the co-founder of the gang, friend of Riff, and previous gang member, to come. At first Tony did not want to go,

Irvine Valley College’s production of the play West Side Story is a well performed play that people should see. It possess qualities of a musical, thriller, crime, drama, and romance to create a captivating performance. The theater at times was filled with laughter and sadness to create an interesting emotional roller coaster. In this critique, I will be reviewing aspects of scenography, costumes, music, and many other pieces of the successful production.

The sixties was the decade in which the civil rights movement began to hit it’s peak. Key figures such as Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X would be central in the debate for African American equality within America. African Americans especially across the south were no longer going stand by their unfair treatment and unresponsive nature of the government towards civil rights. People fighting against the oppressors such as Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr, and Malcolm X would die assassinated leaving behind legacies in which they fought against segregation. Segregation of communities were not the only front of the fight but also the fight for Interracial Marriages. During this time and interracial couple could face jail time and was banned in many state across the country. The civil rights movement would mark a change in the segregation of African Americans on each front of the fight different perspectives would emerge.