The opening is a carefully choreographed, half-danced/half-mimed ballet of sorts. It shows the growing tensions between the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, and the Jets, a gang made up of "American" boys. An incident between the Jets and Shark leader, Bernardo, escalates into an all out fight between the two gangs. Officers Schrank and Krupke arrive to break up the fight.
Virtually every big musical that gets to Broadway must go through a rigorous development process first. West Side Story is no exception. On this page, we’ll take a look at how the show went from bright idea to big hit.
Westside story is the award winning adaptation of the classic romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliette. The feuding families become two warring New York City gangs- the white Jets led by Riff and the Puerto Rican Sharks, led by Bernardo. Their hatred escalates to a point where neither can coexist with any form of understanding. But when Riff's best friend (and former Jet) Tony and Bernardo's younger sister Maria meet at a dance, no one can do anything to stop their love. Maria and Tony begin meeting in secret, planning to run away. Then the Skarks and Jets plan a rumble under the highway - whoever wins gains control of the streets. Maria sends Tony to stop it, hoping it can end the violence. It goes terribly wrong, and before the lovers know what's happened, tragedy strikes and doesn't stop until the climactic and heartbreaking ending.
The Jerome Robbins Foundation & The Robbins Rights Trust
A look at Jerome Robbins' extraordinary body of work for New York City Ballet, bridging Broadway and ballet like no other choreographer before or since.
West Side Story | Robert LaFosse | Jerome Robbins | Steps on Broadway
JEROME ROBBINS (born 11 October 1918 in New York City) was the younger of two children of Harry Rabinowitz, who emigrated to America from Poland in 1904, and his wife Lena Rips.
JEROME ROBBINS RECEIVED WORLD RENOWN AS A CHOREOGRAPHER OF BALLETS CREATED FOR THE NEW YORK CITY BALLET, BALLETS U.S.A., AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE, AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES.
Do you miss the finger snap? The new “West Side Story” has retired it. But that generation-defining gesture isn’t just the stale move of a 1950s beatnik. In the original production, based on a conception by Jerome Robbins, it set more than the beat.
