List of Characters

 

Jets Side    

Tony - a teenager who has outgrown the Jets

Riff- the leader of the Jets

Action - member of the Jets

Snowboy - member of the Jets

 

Shark Side

Bernardo - the leader of the Sharks

Chino - shy, gentle young man who is the intended husband of Maria

Maria - beautiful, young Puerto Rican teenager

Anita - flashy, sharped-tongued Puerto Rican woman in her 20s 

 

Adults

Doc - middle-aged drug store owner

Officer Krupke - a not-too-bright street cop           

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

Act 1

 

The production opens with a danced Prologue indicating the bitter tensions between the Jets, a self-styled "American" street gang, and the Sharks, a group of young Puerto Ricans. The leader of the Jets, Riff, swears to drive the Sharks, led by Bernardo, from the streets. Riff determines to challenge Bernardo that night at a dance in the gym, and prevails upon his old friend and the co-founder of the Jets, Tony, to help him. Tony has been growing away from the gang, and feels the stirrings of other emotions but agrees.

 

Bernardo's sister, Maria, newly arrived from Puerto Rico to marry his friend Chino, attends the dance, and despite the obvious hatred between the gangs meets Tony, who at once falls in love with her. Later, after the dance, while the gangs begin to assemble at Doc's drugstore to choose a place and weapons for their gang fight, Tony visits Maria on the fire escape of her apartment, where they pledge their love and promise to meet the next afternoon at the bridal shop where Maria works. As he departs, the Sharks take their girls home and go off to the drugstore, while a playful argument develops between Anita and two homesick Puerto Rican girls over the relative merits of life back home and in Manhattan.

 

At the drugstore, the Jets are nervous about the approaching meeting with the Sharks, but Riff advises them to play it cool, and when the Sharks arrive an agreement is reached, at Tony's insistence, to have a fair, bare-handed fight between the two best fighters in each gang the next night under the highway. The next day Tony visits Maria at the shop, and among the clothing dummies they enact a touching wedding ceremony. Maria makes him promise to stop the fight between his gang and her brother's. In a split scene, Tony and Maria sing of their love, Anita makes plans for a big evening, and Bernardo and Riff and their gangs make their own plans for the gang fight.

 

In a deserted area under the highway the gangs meet for the fight. As it is about to get under way, Tony hurries in and begs them to stop, as he has promised Maria. Bernardo, enraged that Tony has been making advances to his sister, pushes him back furiously. Suddenly switch-blade knives appear, and Riff and Bernardo begin to fight. In the ensuing action Riff is knifed, and Tony, grabbing his weapon, in turn, knifes Bernardo. Frenzied, the gangs join battle until they are interrupted by a police whistle. They flee, leaving behind the bodies of Riff and Bernardo.

 

Act 2

 

In her room, Maria is gaily preparing for her meeting with Tony. She is unaware of what has happened until Chino bursts into her room and tells her that her brother has been killed by her lover. Seizing a gun, he rushes out in search of Tony. Tony, however, has climbed the fire escape to Maria's room and in spite of her grief, she is unable to send him away. Clinging together desperately they envision a place where they can be free from prejudice. In the streets and alleys the gangs flee the police, panic-stricken by the killings. Two of the Jets, Action and Snowboy have already been questioned, and they explain to the rest of them how to handle the adults.

 

The sorrowing Anita knocks at Maria's door and Tony leaves by the window, taking refuge in the basement of Doc's drugstore. Anita scolds Maria for allowing Tony to come near her, but Maria's answer carries its irrefutable force, and at length Anita agrees to go warn Tony that Chino is gunning for him. She goes to the drugstore, but is brutally taunted by the Jets for her nationality, and finally in hysteria spits out a different message for Tony: that Chino has killed Maria in revenge.

 

Doc tells Tony what Anita has said, and Tony leaves his hiding place, wandering numbly on the streets.  At midnight, he runs into Maria, who has been searching for him, but their moment is brief: Chino appears from behind a building and shoots Tony dead.  The stunned gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, appear from the shadows and, drawn together by the tragedy, lift up the body of Tony and carry it off.

 

 

 

Where Did This Musical Come From?

 

The music for West Side Story was written in 1956 by Leonard Bernstein, a composer during the Modern Period.  He based his musical on William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet.  By the time Bernstein began work on West Side Story, the play Romeo and Juliet had been set to 27 operas and 6 ballets.  While the play had been set to different art forms, for the most part the composers kept the characters, setting, plot, and time period the same.  Bernstein's West Side Story, however, was a reinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet; thus, the character names, plot, time period/setting, costumes etc. were 'modernized'.  Here are some of the characters that are similar between West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet.

 

Romeo & Juliet                              West Side Story

   Montagues                                     Jets

   Capulets                                         Sharks

   Romeo                                            Tony

   Juliet                                               Maria

   Tybalt                                             Bernardo

   Nurse                                             Anita

   Mercutio                                         Riff

   Friar Lawrence                               Doc

   Paris                                               Chino

   Prince Escalus                               Krupke

 

 Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story also possess many similarities between the characters' back stories and scene settings, such as

 

- Juliet and Maria have to marry someone they have no feelings for (and are in love with someone they cannot be in love with)

 

- Romeo and Tony are in love with someone they cannot be with

 

- Romeo and Tony have killed someone

 

- Romeo and Tony die during the story

 

- Romeo/Juliet and Tony/Maria meet at a dance party and instantly fall in love

 

- The opening scene is a fight scene between two enemies: Montagues/Capulets and Jets/Sharks

 

- There is a 'balcony' scene in each

 

 

West Side Story, with its gritty story and volatile dance sequences, was the antithesis of traditional American musicals up to that time. When it opened in 1957, West Side Story received a mixed critical response.  Debuting one day after the forced integration of Central High School in Little Rock, the musical’s story of racial conflict was discomfiting to some.  In fact, West Side Story won just two Tony Awards, for choreography and set design, but made an impressive maiden run of 732 performances.

 

In 1961, a film version starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer was an enormous hit, and took home 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The stage version of West Side Story was soon revived, and the musical is still performed today.

 

 

 

 

 

Activity 1 - Compare/Contrast

 

There are several scenes that are similiar between West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet.  We are going to watch a few of these scene, then I want you to write down all the ways the scenes/music/acting are the same as well as how these are different on your Compare and Contrast Worksheet.  Note:  While I have included youtube clips of several scenes, I would strongly suggest renting or buying the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet and the 1961 version of West Side Story, as both are excellent.  There are 2 versions of the Compare and Contrast Worksheets, depending on student ability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first scene we are going to watch is the opening, which starts with a fight between the two groups of enemies in the story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next scene we are going to watch is the dance party where Romeo/Juliet and Tony/Maria meet and instantly fall in love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this scene we are going to watch the 'balcony' scene, where Romeo/Juliet and Tony/Maria meet after the dance party and declare their love for each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last scene we are going to watch the death of Romeo/Tony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activity 2 - Evaluation Questions

 

If you watch the whole musical, then the following questions could be used. Note: These questions came from http://www.tuts.com/Images/SeasonShowDocs/WSS_study.pdf.  There are many other good activities that are appropriate for middle and high schoolers within the pdf.

 

 

1. Which characters were your favorite and least favorite? Explain why you chose both. 

 

2. Out of all the main characters, determine which one you could say is most like yourself. Why can you say this? Do you see yourself doing

    the same things as the character you picked when presented with simi- lar situations? Explain why or why not.

 

3. Why do the Sharks and Jets hate each other? Do they still hate each other at the end of the show? Explain why or why not.

 

4. Which character(s) could be considered the vil- lain(s) of the story? Are there any heroes? Explain your answers. 

 

5. How is Doc led to believe that Maria is dead when she is not?

 

6. When Tony and Maria fall in love, what reason does Bernardo have for telling his sister to stay away from Tony?

 

7. Would you consider Lt. Schrank and Officer Krupke partly responsible for the deaths in West Side Story? Explain why or why not.

 

8. Explain why Tony tells the Sharks and Jets they need to have a "fair" rumble. What is their definition of "fair"?  Why does this not work out

    in the end?