West Side Story
| Musical dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | West Side Story |
| Original title: | West Side Story |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Leonard Bernstein |
| Book: | Arthur Laurents |
| Lyrics: | Stephen Sondheim |
| Literary source: | Romeo and Juliet |
| Premiere: | September 26, 1957 |
| Place of premiere: | Winter Garden Theater , New York City |
| Place and time of the action: | Manhattan , 1950s |
West Side Story is an American musical . The music is by Leonard Bernstein , the lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and the book by Arthur Laurents . The idea originally came from the choreographer Jerome Robbins . The original version was called East Side Story .
Emergence
The idea for the musical West Side Story came up in 1949. On January 6th and 7th, the choreographer and producer Jerome Robbins proposed a modern version of Romeo and Juliet to the already well-known composer Leonard Bernstein in New York bring to. Together they developed a concept for the "East Side Story". The idea was to write a musical that shouldn't come too close to the opera. Robbins suggested writer, director, and Broadway screenwriter Arthur Laurents as a text writer . In fact, after meeting in New York on January 10, Bernstein selected Laurents to write. In April he received the drafts for the first four scenes in Columbus (Ohio) . But then the project had to be postponed because the participants didn't have time.
When Bernstein took up the text again, he chose the ethnic conflicts between Puerto Ricans and Americans as the theme of the musical in June 1955, since the first idea of dealing with Judeo-Christian problems seemed too old-fashioned to him. He also renamed the piece from "East Side Story" to "West Side Story". The project started again from September to November and the first roles were even filled. But then the project had to be postponed for a year as Bernstein was working on another piece. He realized that it would be hard work getting the West Side Story finished and getting it through.
From February to July 1957 the project was finally tackled. Rehearsals were carried out, 40 young people were introduced to the play and drafts for the scenes and the costumes were completed. The preview took place on August 19th at the National Theater in Washington . The “West Side Story” was very well received by the audience and developed into a great success. In 1960 it was revived at the Winter Garden Theater and filmed the following year. The first German-language performance took place in 1968 in the Volksoper in Vienna.
action
The plot is a transfer of William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet to New York City in the 1950s. The love story takes place against the background of a gang war between rival ethnic youth gangs: the US Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks . The musical begins with the Jets and the Sharks meeting on the street and an argument ensuing. However, this is stopped in time by Officer Krupke (prologue).
Riff, the leader of the Jets, proposes a battle between them and the Sharks to his gang. For this fight he also wants to win his friend Tony, the former leader and co-founder of the Jets, who has left the gang (Jetsong) . And in fact he can finally convince Tony, who is looking for something big and existing, to come with him (Something's Coming) . That evening, Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks, is to be challenged with his gang to fight during a visit to the dance hall.
However, an incident occurs in the dance hall that exacerbates the conflict. Tony and Maria, Bernardo's sister, who recently arrived from Puerto Rico, instantly fall in love when they first meet. Tony senses that Maria is what he was looking for. Bernardo doesn't like it and he sends Maria home. Riff and Bernardo meet to hold a council of war at Doc's drugstore, where Tony works.
Tony follows Maria; they confess their mutual love (Tonight) on Maria's balcony and arrange to meet for the next day.
The jets are already in Doc's drugstore, waiting for the Sharks. Then the Sharks arrive and the fight for the next evening is set. Tony's proposal to fight a duel is accepted after some hesitation, and the next evening both gangs meet under the highway bridge to fight the duel (The Rumble) . But before that happens, Tony joins them upset. At Maria's request, he tries to prevent the fight. Bernardo misunderstands Tony's intention and challenges him to fight. Riff doesn't like that, and he knocks out Bernardo. Then pull out the two switchblades. Before Tony or any other member of the two gangs can intervene, Riff is stabbed by Bernardo. This starts a fierce battle in which Tony kills Bernardo with his friend Riff's knife. This fight can only be stopped when the police arrive.
Chino brings Maria the news of the death of her brother Bernardo. When Tony shows up at Maria's, she strongly reproaches him. However, he convinces her that Bernardo's death was not intended. The two hug each other and dream of a better future (Somewhere) .
When Anita shows up, Tony flees, but forgets his jacket. Anita notices this immediately and advises Maria to let go of him because he is bad for her (A Boy like That) . However, Maria convinces her of her love for Tony (I Have a Love) . She sends Anita to Doc's Drugstore to bring Tony the news of a meeting that evening when Lieutenant Closet walks in to question Maria about the previous night's murders.
In the drugstore, Anita wants to deliver the news from Maria to Tony. However, the Jets do not trust her and attempt to rape her (Taunting) . She then claims that Chino shot Maria out of jealousy. When Doc, the owner of Doc's Drugstore, brings this news to Tony, the latter begins to run desperately through the streets of the West Side to find Chino to shoot him too. He meets Maria and walks towards her. But then Chino appears and shoots Tony in Maria's arms.
Finally, the gangs understand that it is not worth sacrificing human life because of their conflicts and they carry Tony's body away together (Somewhere Reprise) .
music
Bernstein combined various musical elements with one another: various jazz currents, classical opera and Latin American dance music. Through the use of certain musical means, he characterizes the rival groups Jets and Sharks.
Characterization of the jets
The Jets are a group of young native New Yorkers who grew up in the more socially disadvantaged parts of the city. In order to express the jets' attitude towards life, Bernstein draws on the most modern, “progressive” music of the 1950s, progressive jazz . This style is a combination of jazz and European art music. Elements of progressive jazz can be seen especially in the songs "Cool" and "Jet-Song".
Musical means to characterize the jets in "Cool"
- driving hectic rhythm
- ostinate accompanying figures
- many “dissonant” tones foreign to the scale
- numerous large sound jumps
- strong syncopations
- "Broken" melody
- an instrumentation and tone given by the jazz bands
Characterization of the Sharks
The Sharks are a group of immigrant Puerto Ricans. These meet the jets in the slums of New York, which repeatedly leads to conflicts between the two ethnic groups. Bernstein succeeded in bringing these tensions into the music. Musically, the Sharks are characterized by Latin American dance music.
Musical means to characterize the Sharks in "America"
- lively dance rhythm
- no syncope, but hemiolar rhythm (change between 6/8 and 3/4). This rhythm is often found in Latin American dances and is called "Huapango".
- large entertainment orchestra with a special emphasis on Latin American percussion instruments
- soft tone (vocal and instrumental)
- Alternation between staccato and portato
Connection of music styles
The love affair between Maria and Tony combines the different cultures of the Jets and the Sharks and thus also the different styles of music. Bernstein implements this by combining musical elements of the jets (such as the tritone) with characterizing elements of the Sharks (Huapango rhythm) in “Maria”.
Musical numbers
first act
- Prologue (dance) - Jets and Sharks
- Jet Song - Reef and the Jets
- Something's Coming - Tony
- The Dance at the Gym - Jets and Sharks
- Maria - Tony
- Tonight - Tony and Maria
- America - Anita, Rosalia and the Shark Girls
- Cool - reef and the jets
- One Hand, One Heart - Tony and Maria
- Tonight (Quintet and Chorus) - Anita, Tony, Maria, Jets and Sharks
- The Rumble (dance) - Jets and Sharks
Second act
- I Feel Pretty - Maria, Consuelo, Rosalia, Teresita and Francisca
- Somewhere - Somewhere Girl and Company
- Gee, Officer Krupke - Action, A-rab, Diesel, Snowboy and the Jets
- A Boy Like That / I Have A Love - Anita and Maria
- Taunting - Anita and the Jets
- Finale - Tony and Maria
Symphonic dances
In 1960 Bernstein arranged some numbers of the musical as a suite for orchestra under the title Symphonic Dances from West Side Story : The world premiere took place in 1961 by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Lukas Foss at a gala in honor of Bernstein.
- Prologue ( Allegro moderato ): increasing tension between the gangs
- Somewhere ( Adagio ): in a dream, gangs unite in friendship
- Scherzo ( Vivace leggiero ): the teenagers leave the city limits and find themselves in a friendly world
- Mambo ( Meno presto ): back to the violent reality
- Cha-Cha ( Andantino con grazia ): Tony and Maria dance together for the first time
- Meeting Scene ( Meno mosso ): first exchange of words between lovers
- Cool , Fugue ( Allegretto ): the hostility of the jets is exploding
- Rumble ( Molto allegro ): climax of the hostility in which the two gang leaders are killed
- Finale ( Adagio ): Tony dies in Maria's arms, the dream of "Somewhere" returns
Record recordings
The West Side Story was recorded several times for record or CD. Here are a few examples:
- 1957: Recorded with the original Broadway cast: Carol Lawrence as Maria, Larry Kert as Tony and Chita Rivera as Anita.
- 1959: A jazz album by pianist André Previn with eight songs from the musical.
- 1961: Soundtrack album for filming with Marni Nixon as Maria, Jim Bryant as Tony and Rita Moreno (in a singing number Betty Wand ) as Anita. In the film adaptation, the main actors did not sing themselves except for Moreno in the song America .
- 1962: Oscar Peterson and his trio recorded a jazz version of the musical.
- 1985: Leonard Bernstein personally recorded a studio version of his musical for the first time as a conductor. Maria was sung by Kiri Te Kanawa , Tony by José Carreras and Anita by Tatiana Troyanos . Marilyn Horne also sang the song Somewhere . The production was documented in the film Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story / Alternative title: The Making of "West Side Story" (BBC, Unitel 1985).
filming
The musical was filmed in 1961. With Natalie Wood as Maria (vocals: Marni Nixon ), Richard Beymer as Tony (vocals: Jim Bryant ) and Rita Moreno as Anita.
Steven Spielberg announced in 2014 that he was planning a remake of the musical that would stick more closely to the original than the 1961 film. The roles should be cast according to the ethnicities of the characters.
Film documentaries
- Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story / Alternative title: The Making of "West Side Story" (BBC, Unitel 1985). Almost 90-minute film documentary about Leonard Bernstein's first own recording of West Side Story. With Kiri Te Kanawa as Maria, José Carreras as Tony and Tatiana Troyanos as Anita.
- West Side Story - Bernstein's Broadway Hit (Germany 2018). Documentation by Axel Fuhrmann for NDR and Arte about the creation of the musical "West Side Story".
literature
- Kurt Pahlen (Ed.): West Side Story. Text book English / German. Introduction and commentary. Atlantis Music Book, Mainz 2005, ISBN 978-3-89472-386-6 .
- Klaus Schulz (Ed.): Program booklet for the new staging. West Side Story. Premiere March 23, 1997. Munich 1997.
- Mary E. Williams (Ed.): Readings on West Side Story. Greenhaves Press, San Diego 2001.
- Elizabeth A. Wells: West Side Story: Cultural Perspectives on an American Musical. Roman & Littlefield, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8108-7666-8 .
Web links
- www.westsidestory.de
- West Side Story at the Internet Broadway Database (English)
- Lyrics at impresario.ch
- westsidestory.com (English)
- West Side Story: Birth of a Classic , Library of Congress (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rolf Weigelt (ed.): Music contacts: teaching work for music lessons. Teacher's manual. Cornelsen, Berlin 1998, p. 50.
- ^ Edward Downes: Guide to Symphonic Music . Walker and Company, New York 1981, ISBN 0-8027-7177-7
- ^ Symphonic Dances from the musical "West Side Story". In: tonkuenstler.at. Retrieved June 25, 2020 .
- ↑ Bory's Kit: Steven Spielberg Looks for Spanish-Speaking Actors for His 'West Side Story' Remake. In: The Hollywood Reporter. January 26, 2018, accessed December 11, 2018 .