Summaries. Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy. Westside story is a modern musical representation of the classic story "Romeo and Juliet". The sharks and the jets are rival gangs fighting for the same territory.

West Side Story, theatre music by American composer Leonard Bernstein that premiered August 19, 1957, in Washington, D.C., before moving to Broadway for a second opening on September 26, 1957. The musical is a 20th-century American adaptation of the Shakespearean tale of Romeo and Juliet.

West Side Story (1961 film)

1961 West Side Story, American musical film, released in 1961, that was inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

The film soundtrack allowed people all over the world to imagine the streets of Manhattan. The musical style and the ability to repurpose the music as opera, symphony, and ballet propelled West Side Story to the status it holds today.

It was originally going to be an 'East Side Story' Looking through the news headlines of the day, one jumped out at them: the rise of teen gangs. So 'East Side Story' moved across town to become West Side Story - a story focused on clashes between gangs of white Americans and newly immigrated Puerto Ricans.

West Side Story is classical music, but it isn't opera by any means.

Arguably, its greatest influence was in the theatricality of its presentation - the seamlessness and cinematic flow of its staging - and the integration of script, song, dance, and set. In its original Broadway run, West Side Story ran for 732 performances - a success, but not a smash hit.

It is widely known that West Side Story (WSS) is based directly on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (R&J). Far less well known is the fact that Shakespeare based his play (1594) on other material, particularly a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke entitled The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562).

Manhattan, New York City West Side Story takes place on the west side of Manhattan, New York City.

The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, tragic love story, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in musical theatre. The original 1957 Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Robbins, marked Sondheim's Broadway debut.

In tune with its edgy subject matter, Stephen Sondheim intended for West Side Story to be the first ever Broadway production to use the f-word. However, on realizing that this would limit the distribution of the show's soundtrack, it was replaced with the slightly bizarre insult, “Krup you!”.

West Side Story is an important piece of film history not only because it is a musical classic with outstanding performances, but its cultural representation and use to display the issues going on during the 1960s.

Definitions of westside. adjective. of the western part of a city. Synonyms: west. situated in or facing or moving toward the west.

Arguably, its greatest influence was in the theatricality of its presentation - the seamlessness and cinematic flow of its staging - and the integration of script, song, dance, and set. In its original Broadway run, West Side Story ran for 732 performances - a success, but not a smash hit.

West Side Story functions as a cultural barometer for American storytelling and depictions of ethnicity. In the film, to make the Sharks visibly Puerto Rican, all of the actors (save celebrity Natalie Wood as Maria) were required to wear brown makeup.