West Side Story

[cinty]

Has anyone seen the play or movie of this superb musical? I watched the movie last night. I am now very eager to see it on stage. I was truly blown away by the beauty of it. I have not been moved so much by a movie since Phantom. The music is marvellous. I was crying deeply by the end. I thought the acting and singing was really, really wonderful. I was so impressed.
Anyone else HUGE fans as I have just become?

[IamErik771]

I am a huge WSS fan. I first saw the movie when I was in 8th grade, and instantly fell in love with it. I guess a big part of it is how much I love Shakespeare. I thought it was a far more effective way of "modernizing" Romeo & Juliet than the 1996 film with Leo DiCaprio. I have never seen WSS on stage, though.

[The Phantom]

I was going to be in a Percussion Ensemble to play this two years ago but the group lost interest and we never went through with it. I've seen bits and pieces of the performance so I generally know what it's about. ;)

[Luciana]

I loved the move! havent seen anything else, but the movie was great. One of my favorites

[cinty]

Oh that is nice we have a few fans of it on here. I really thought it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever watched. Really marvelllous and beautiful. The romance rang both true and touching. A work of art.
I love the Jets singing "Gee Officer krupke".. that was hilarious! :)

[IamErik771]

Yes, I love that song! I remember I once saw a video called "Blast," which was a very unusual band concert in which the musicians would perform stunts, dances, and all sorts of other things while playing onstage. One of the numbers they performed was "Officer Krupke," and it looked extremely cool. The trombonist was riding a unicycle while playing!

[cinty]

Originally posted by IamErik771
Yes, I love that song! I remember I once saw a video called "Blast," which was a very unusual band concert in which the musicians would perform stunts, dances, and all sorts of other things while playing onstage. One of the numbers they performed was "Officer Krupke," and it looked extremely cool. The trombonist was riding a unicycle while playing!
Wow! that sounds really awesome! I wish I could have seen it! :D That song is so funny in the movie, and really well performed. I would love to see it performed on stage some day. It's so clever the way it is done, where each boy pretends to be a certina person and imitates them. I liked one of the boys pretending to be the female social worker. lol! that was hilarious!!!

[wolfwynd]

WSS is fantastic - I adore the film and I would love to see it on the stage :D

[Baily Weasley]

oh my gosh this used to be one of my favortie plays untill i started to listen to the origional brodway cast of phantom of the opera but yes i saw it at a highschool but it was still extreamly good!

[Reza Khan]

I guess I'm rather lucky to have seen it on stage already. It was the first musical I ever saw on stage, and that is probably why I love musicals so much now.

The whole thing was fantastic. The dancing, the singing, the story. It's probably one of my favorites of all time, and that's saying a lot.

Elizabeth

[YoungGiry]

I absolutly love WSS. It's one of my favorite musicals. Well, there are some others...but I love it. It was one of the first musicals I saw, actually.

[IamErik771]

Yesterday, I came across the sheet music for "Gee, Officer Krupke" and bought it. Now, I'm teaching myself to play it on the piano. :D

[cinty]

Originally posted by IamErik771
Yesterday, I came across the sheet music for "Gee, Officer Krupke" and bought it. Now, I'm teaching myself to play it on the piano. :D
Yay! go you! How's it going? I love that song so much! It's hilarious!!:D
I realy want to buy the dvd of this movie....

[IamErik771]

I bought the DVD last fall (only $10!) and I watch it every now and then. It's awesome! :D

As for the sheet music... I've kinda had to give it a rest since school started, but whenever I have spare time (usually on weekends), I continue trying to learn it. :)

[blackmage1989]

West Side Story's also a good musical. However, I've never got a chance to watch the stage version nor watch the movie. But I sang a WSS medley with my school choir before and I think the music's wonderful.

[phantomphreak]

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the play, but I have seen the movie. I know that the play is coming to a dinner theater around where I live soon and perhaps my mom will bring us.

Anyway, the movie was superb! I loved all of the music and it is another of my favorite musicals (of course nothing can beat POTO though). I like to sing some of the music and usually when people first meet me or a friends mom or dad will start to sing "Maria" because it's my name.

Last year, we played a dew of the songs at a Field Show for marching band. If you don't know, a field show is a band marching during half time at a football (American) game. We make shapes on the field while everyone moves to different places.

[Point of No Return]

I recently saw it on stage in Lincoln (in England) which was really good! I loved every minute of it. :) the music was really good and so was the choreography. Plus I couldn't help but to love all the characters too! Sadly I've never seen the movie before.. Oddly though, when I saw I want to live in the america being performed I sort of had a flashback from years ago, so I'm thinking now that maybe I saw it on stage when I was younger? lol

[Isabella Delancy]

I adore West Side Story...it's so beautiful! Possibly cause I'm a massive Natalie Wood fan, ever since I watched Gypsy, where she was awesome!

I love the songs, and the choreography...wow. There's no better choreographed production that I can think of. Even though it was based on Romeo and Juliet, it didn't prevent it from taking on another form of beauty...

There was a production a friend of mine was in where she played, Maria, and though I wanted to watch her perform, I was unable to for reasons undisclosed. Which was sad, though I was told she was awesome in the role, so yeah. ^^

[Oiseau de Chanson]

I got the movie for Christmas last year, and fell in love with it! The music is beautiful, and the choreography is great, too! I loved "America" and "Tonight" and.....well, all of them! I also loved the dance sequence at the school dance (Mambo!). That was really cool. I cried so hard at the end of the movie!

I would love so much to see it on stage!

[ForbiddenRomance]

I LOVE the movie... I wish I could of seen it on broadway!

[Silverstream]

I've watched WSS on Movie, but I rally want to see it on stage!
There would be more chance in my mother taing me than taking me to see POTO, but if I say WSS is based on Romeo and Juliet, she'd probably go mad.

*Sings* Maria, Maria, I've just met a girl called Maria... One Hand, One heart (or something like that...)

(If this were based on any book to do with Charles Dickens, my mom would take me :D)

[ForbiddenRomance]

I love WSS - the movie. I never saw it on stage. I love ALL the songs especially "Tonight" WSS is one of my favorite musicals.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I saw it on stage a looong time ago. I was like, seven.

But I remember being enthralled by the costumes, the music, and everything about it.

The first time I watched the movie, I was five. And one of my best memories is of being in McDonalds for lunch with my aunt, and there was honestly NO ONE there, so we sang "America" at the top of our lungs in the middle of the restaurant. Good times, man.

And I remember putting on the movie, putting on my "twirliest" dress, and trying to dance like Anita in the "America" sequence.

The first song I learned was "Tonight." ;)

[eriks_protege]

The first song I learned was I Feel Pretty.

Never seen it on stage, but I've seen the movie three times.

[theatresavvypirate]

I LOVE WSS! Ahhh! This is my show! :)

I was so fortunate to be in a production of WSS when I was in high school. I played Doc (but for gender purposes they renamed the character "Mrs. B") - it was basically the same character.

I loved being in the show because it gave me more of an insight. It's such an amazing production and the music is great. Our director was so great as well and he added a lot of symbolism to it. One of the things we did was to have everyone come out and join Tony and Maria in singing "Somewhere". Sharks joined with Jets and did a little dance routine, at the end they pulled away and went back to their opposite sides. However, standing facing each other were Bernardo and Riff, with an erie light coming down on them, almost as if they were spirits. It was really chilling but added alot to the song, overall.

[MystMoonstruck]

I saw the film when it was re-released in the mid-'60s and went to several more showings--six tines in all., remarkable for a time when few people went to see a movie more than once. Since then, I have seen it 100 or more times via VHS and movie channels.

I saw a production in the mid-'60s at The Muny in St. Louis, as well as a production by students from a Chicago high school who were touring the state in the early '70s.

I think I must have this musical committed to memory--dialogue and all. It was changed drastically between the time it was on Broadway and when they filmed it. Numbers were shuffled around a great deal, and the language was toned down a lot. Remember: We were much more sheltered then. People didn't say "bad words" on TV or in movies.

I dearly love the film and the musical. Marni Nixon should be credited for her vocal work for Natalie Wood. She also provided Audrey Hepburn's singing in "My Fair Lady" and Deborah Kerr's in "The King and I". Face it, this lady deserved a Special Oscar! She did an amazing job each time she was called upon to dub-- without credit. Forgive me for not recalling who sang for Richard Beymer; the name escapes me at the moment.

I've heard the original cast recording but prefer the film for many reasons.

One of my favorite numbers is "Cool". The tall blonde singer/dancer is Tucker Smith. Also in the cast is future director Gus Trikonis, who, I believe, plays Action.

Then, there's Amber Tamblyn's talented daddy, Russ (aka Rusty). You HAVE to check out his dancing in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "tom thumb", especially the former.

My favorite cast member is George Chakiris--tall, lean and soooo sexy! AND he won an Oscar!

I used to play double keyboard organ (with all those pedals), and the songs were a favorite of mine. Now that I play the bowed psaltery, my choices are narrowed a bit. "Maria" is especially beautiful on this instrument.


Lastly, it's true: "West Side Story" is based on "Romeo & Juliet" though Maria survives at the end. Really, wouldn't it have been much more powerful if she had died, too?

I even have a small paperback from a very long time ago that has the musical and the play in one volume for easier comparison. COOL!

[Hidden Away]

I saw the film and I enjoyed it. I watched this and was completely unaware of the Romeo and Juliet spin on it and I felt really dumb if you ask me. Personally I think Romeo and Juliet can get corny when you think about it (except the Leo version!) but this is something else that is completely different. I once wrote a personal response about this movie for an absence at school in Acting. Now the musical is going to be choreographed by one of the original Sharks--I believe..it's what I've heard from a dance article. I wish to see it soon!

[Eriklover]

I have been a huge fan of West Side Story ever since i was 8. the movie made me obsessed. I adore the movie. Then I saw the revival cast last tuesday the 22nd. I loved it. The dancing is amazing. And who can say no to Karen Olivio as Anita? She is amazing! I will definatly go back a 2nd time. Its pure entertainment. The movie is wonderful and the stage version is wonderful aswell.

[masquerading rose]

My performing arts school did this as their opening play. Being on the tech team, I got rather acquainted with the show.

I wasn't a huge fan of it when our teachers said "We're doing WSS as our opening play," I'll admit. But as I got into the audition process (made callbacks, got sick, missed callbacks *cries*), I began to warm up to the play. But I'm actually quite thankful for the cold I got before callbacks. I would've been in the play and missed the magic backstage, which I must say is even more wonderous than the magic on stage (which is saying quite a bit, isn't it?).

Just saying, now that I can judge the show honestly now. ;)

[HedgesPictures]

I saw a touring production of WSS in New Orleans in 1997 (where I would actually see POTO a year later), and it changed my life. Something about the emotion of the music and the use of it in the music and the story affected something in me. It was the final star that aligned that made me a writer. After seeing that show I just had to start writing. Now I'm a filmmaker :-)

I've since discovered many other shows, but WSS still has a sentimental place for me.

[masquerading rose]

This show is beautiful (it's coming to my town and no ones taking me... sadness)!! But I must add that I hate the movie. The songs are out of order, the affects are crap (even for back then). But the show's really good. I think they should make it again.