West side story

West Side Story, directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, is a musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set in New York City. Two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, are in a constant battle for respect and territory during the whole musical. When someone sings, it usually gives us a ‘heads up’ that either a character is undergoing development or that the plot is going to be advanced. There are a couple songs that serve as pure entertainment, but almost all songs have some significance. Interestingly enough, the actors that most people believe to sound the best don’t sing their own parts. On another note, the stereotypes that are evident in this movie are those that teenagers are usually identified with. Also, the Sharks symbolize what seems to be all Puerto Ricans in New York while the

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“Jet Song”, the first song in the production, shows character development as it describes to us who the Jets are. After Maria’s brother is murdered, Maria and Tony sing, envisioning a place where they can be free from prejudice (“Somewhere”). This forebodes to the audience that they might run away some day. Natalie Wood's singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon. Some people feel this number reinforces stereotypes about Latinos.

West Side Story is a typical musical due to the fact that the characters randomly burst into song and dance. " The Sharks always pronounce it properly. of the late fifties; and Bernstein, a life-long liberal, wanted to portray the issue in a determined fashion.

Consciousness of racism was very much on the rise in the U.

Several actors, including the lead actors, had dubbed lines in the movie. It comes complete with the stereotyping and random outbursts of song and dance that are guaranteed to entertain people of all ages. Rita Moreno's singing voice was dubbed by Betty Wand only for "A Boy Like That" since it was below her range. Moreno sang "America" and "Quintet" herself. Richard Beymer's singing voice was dubbed by Jimmy Bryant. "I Want to Live in America", for example, expresses the ambiguous feelings of the immigrants about their homeland while condemning American white racism.

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