• BROADWAY VERSION 1957

• FILM VERSION 1961

• DIRECTOR- ROBERT WISE, JEROME ROBBINS
• SCRIPTWRITER- JEROME ROBBINS, ARTHUR LAURENTS
• MUSIC- LEONARD BERNSTEIN
• SET IN THE WEST SIDE, NEW YORK CITY, 1950S
• LOOSELY BASED ON SHAKESPEARE’S ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’
“SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO AND JULIET IS TRANSPORTED TO MODERN-DAY NEW
YORK CITY, AS TWO YOUNG IDEALISTIC LOVERS FIND THEMSELVES CAUGHT
BETWEEN WARRING STREET GANGS, THE AMERICAN JETS AND THE PUERTO
RICAN SHARKS. THEIR STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE IN A WORLD OF HATE, VIOLENCE
AND PREJUDICE IS ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE, HEART-WRENCHING AND
RELEVANT MUSICAL DRAMAS OF OUR TIME.”
 • IT IS SET IN THE WEST SIDE OF NEW YORK, IN THE LATE 1950S.
• THERE ARE TWO GANGS: 1) THE JETS—A TEENAGE GANG OF AMERICAN BOYS LED BY RIFF
2) THE SHARKS—A TEENAGE GANG OF PUERTO RICANS LED BY BERNADO.
• ACT I:
THE JETS WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PUERTO RICAN BOYS DO NOT TAKE OVER THEIR PLACE. WHEN BOTH
PLOT ACT I
GANGS MEET THEY START AN ARGUMENT AND A FIGHT BREAKS OUT. THE POLICE COME ALONG AND TAKE THE
PUERTO RICANS AWAY. AT THIS STAGE RIFF SAYS THAT HE IS GONG TO CHALLENGE BERNADO TO A FIGHT AT THE
DANCE THAT EVENING.
RIFF WANT TONY TO HELP HIM. TONY HELPED SET UP THE GANG BUT IS NOW BEGINNING TO GROW AWAY FROM
THEM. HE WORKS AT A LOCAL CHEMIST AND HAS LESS TIME FOR THE GANG. TONY AGREES TO GO TO THE DANCE
AND HERE MEET MARIA, BERNADO’S SISTER. THEY FALL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. WHILE THE FIGHT IS GOING ON
TONY WALKS THROUGH THE STREETS THINKING ABOUT MARIA. HE LATER FINDS THE STREET WHERE SHE LIVE AND
CLIMBS UP THE FIRE ESCAPE TO SING TO HER. THEY SING OF THEIR LOVE (TONIGHT). ON THE ROOFTOP MARIA’S
FRIEND ANITA SING ABOUT THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PUERTO RICANS IN NEW YORK. (AMERICA) MEANWHILE THE
SHARKS AND THE JETS ARE ARRANGING TO MEET THE FOLLOWING DAY FOR A FIGHT.
AT THE BRIDAL SHOP, TONY MEETS MARIA AND MAKES A PROMISE TO STOP THE FIGHT. HERE THEY THINK OF THEIR
WEDDING THAT CAN NEVER BE. BUT THE FIGHT HAS STARTED AND WHEN TONY TRIES TO STOP IT AND OFFER HIS
FRIENDSHIP TO BERNADO, BERNADO INSULTS HIM AND PUSHES HIM AWAY. THE FIGHT THEN REALLY BEGINS! A
KNIFE APPEARS AND TONY KILLS BERNADO AS HE HAD STABBED HIS FRIEND RIFF. BERNADO IS KILLED. THE POLICE
COME ALONG LEAVING THE TWO DEAD LEADERS—RIFF AND BERNADO.
 IN THE SECOND HALF MARIA IS WAITING TONY. SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED. WHEN SHE DOES SHE
HITS TONY AND THEY BOTH SEE THAT IT IS GOING TO BE DIFFICULT TO STAY TOGETHER.
MEANWHILE THE JETS ARE TRYING TO FORGET WHAT HAS HAPPENED.
ANITA ARRIVES AT THE APARTMENT NEEDING TO TALK TO MARIA. SHE TELLS MARIA NOT TO LOVE TONY AND THAT
PLOT ACT II
HE IS NO GOOD BUT MARIA TRIES TO EXPLAIN THAT SHE LOVES HIM.
MARIA CONVINCES ANITA TO TAKE A MESSAGE TO TONY THAT SHE WILL MEET HIM. ANITA ARRIVES AT THE CHEMIST
WHERE HE WORKS TO DELIVER MARIA'S MESSAGE TO TONY. THE JETS ARE THERE AND ARE HORRIBLE TO ANITA. IN
ANGER, RATHER THAN DELIVER MARIA'S MESSAGE SHE TELLS THE JETS THAT CHINO HAS SHOT MARIA.
TONY RUSHES INTO THE STREETS, WANTING CHINO TO KILL HIM TOO. IN THE SCHOOLYARD, TONY SEES MARIA AND
THEY RUN TO EACH OTHER. AT THIS MOMENT CHINO STEPS OUT OF THE DARK AND SHOOTS TONY, WHO FALLS
INTO MARIA'S ARMS. IN TONY'S DYING MOMENT, MARIA TRIES TO HELP HIM
REMEMBER THEIR DREAM AS THE OTHER GANG MEMBERS ARRIVE. SHE TAKES CHINO'S GUN AND CURSES BOTH
GANGS FOR THEIR HATE, BUT FINDS SHE CANNOT HATE ENOUGH TO KILL.
THE JETS AND SHARKS COME TOGETHER TO LIFT UP TONY'S BODY AND CARRY HIM OFF IN A PROCESSION
AND MARIA, IN MOURNING BUT SOMEHOW PROUD AND TRIUMPHANT, FOLLOWS THEM OFF
PARALLEL BETWEEN ROMEO AND JULIET
ROMEO AND JULIET STARTS OUT WITH A STREET FIGHT BETWEEN THE MONTAGUES AND CAPULETS, AS THE JETS AND THE SHARKS DO

THE BEGINNING FIGHT IS BROKEN UP BY KRUPKE AND SCHRANK, JUST AS PRINCE ESCALUS BREAKS UP THE MONTAGUE/CAPULET FIGHT

JULIET IS BETROTHED TO PARIS, AND MARIA HAS BEEN SET UP WITH CHINO (HOWEVER, THEIR CHARACTERS AREN’T VERY SIMILAR)

SOME MONTAGUE MEN CRASHED THE CAPULET PARTY IN WHICH ROMEO MEETS JULIET. IN WSS, MARIA AND TONY SEE EACH OTHER FROM
OPPOSITE OF THE DANCE AND ARE IMMEDIATELY ATTRACTED TO EACH OTHER

ROMEO SEARCHES FOR JULIET AND FINDS HER AT HER BALCONY. AFTER THE DANCE, TONY FINDS MARIA AND USES THE FIRE ESCAPE

IN ROMEO AND JULIET THEY GO TO THE FRIAR TO GET MARRIED, MARIA AND TONY SET UP A FAKE WEDDING IN A BRIDAL SHOP

IN THE BIG FIGHT SCENE, BERNARDO KILLS RIFF LIKE TYBALT KILLS MERCUTIO. TONY AVENGES RIFF’S DEATH BY KILLING BERNARDO, JUST
ROMEO KILLS TYBALT

BOTH STORIES FEATURE MARIA/JULIET’S FALSE DEATH. ANITA TELLS THE JETS THAT CHINO HAS KILLED MARIA. JULIET FAKES HER DEATH. TONY
SEEKS OUT CHINO IN MISERY, WISHING FOR HIM TO DIE ALSO. ROMEO WISHES TO VISIT JULIET’S GRAVE TO TAKE POISON AND DIE WITH HER

THE NURSE IS PLAYED AROUND WITH AND DISGRACED BY MONTAGUES MEN. THE SAME WAS FOR ANITA BY THE JETS
BROADWAY

• OPENED 26/9/1957
• CLOSED 27/6/1959
• REVIVALS IN 1980 AND 2009
• THE 2009 REVIVAL INTERWEAVED SPANISH DIALOGUE
 FILM
• CHANGES IN CHARACTER PLOTS
EG. JETS WERE BEATEN UP BY THE SHARKS IN THE BEGINNING IS
DIFFERENT FROM THE STAGE SHOW TO THE FILM
EG. LYRIC CHANGES IN CERTAIN NUMBERS
EG. SOME NUMBERS ARE SUNG AT DIFFERENT POINTS OF THE
MUSICAL
 • Cast size: Large (over 20)

CAST
• Cast Type: Ethnic Roles, Showcases trained dancers, Showcases trained singers, Star Vehicle - Female, Star Vehicle - Male, Strong/Large Chorus, Teenage Roles

• Dance requirement: Heavy (Extensive Dance Sections/Solos)

• Casting notes: 4 Men, 2 Women, Large ethnically diverse ensemble.

Character Breakdown

• ANITA Maria's saucy older friend. Bernardo's girl. Mezzo-Soprano

• BERNARDO Maria's brother, leader of the Sharks.

• CHINO Maria's angry young suitor. Bernardo's friend.

• DETECTIVE SCHRANK DOC A weary old candy store owner

• GLAD HAND A fidgety chaperone

• MARIA Puerto Rican ingenue. Bernardo's sister. Soprano

• OFFICER KRUPKE A cop

• RIFF Quick-tempered leader of the Jets. Baritone

• THE JETS Action, A-Rab, Baby John, Snowboy, Big Deal, Diesel, Gee-Tar, Mouthpiece and Tiger

• THE JETS' GIRLS Graziella, Velma, Minnie, Clarice, Pauline, and Anybodys-a tagalong tomboy

• THE SHARKS Pepe, Indio, Luis, Anxious, Nibbles, Juano, Toro, Moose

• THE SHARKS' GIRLS Rosalia-Anita's foil in "America", Consuelo, Teresita, Francisca, Estella and Margarita

• TONY Former Jet leader gone straight. Tenor or Baritone

 • ORCHESTRA SIZE LARGE
• INSTRUMENTATION: DOUBLINGS:
• STRINGS- VIOLIN I, II, III, IV; CELLO I, II, III, IV, BASS
ORCHESTRA
• WOODWIND-
REED 1 ALTO SAXOPHONE, BASS CLARINET, CLARINET, FLUTE, PICCOLO
REED 2 BB CLARINET, BASS CLARINET, EB CLARINET
REED 3 BB CLARINET, BARITONE SAXOPHONE, BASS CLARINET, ENGLISH HORN, FLUTE, OBOE, PICCOLO, TENOR
SAXOPHONE
REED 4 BASS CLARINET, BASS SAXOPHONE, CLARINET, FLUTE, PICCOLO, SOPRANO SAX
REED 5 BASSOON
• BRASS:- TROMBONE 1 TROMBONE 2 TRUMPET 1 TRUMPET 2 TRUMPET 3 , HORN 1 & 2
• DRUMS TRAP SET
• GUITAR CLASSICAL GUITAR, ELECTRIC GUITAR
• KEYBOARD
• PERCUSSION 1 (MALLETS) CASTANETS, CHIMES, CLAVES, CONGA, FINGER CYMBALS, GLOCKENSPIEL, GOURD, GUIRO,
MARACAS, POLICE WHISTLE, RATCHET, SLIDE WHISTLE, SMALL MARACAS, SNARE DRUM, TAM-TAM, TAMBOURINES,
TEMPLE BLOCKS, TIMBALES, TRIANGLE, VIBRAPHONE, WOODBLOCK, XYLOPHONE, 2 SUSPENDED CYMBALS, 3 BONGOS, 3
COWBELLS, 4 PITCHED DRUMS
 SET
• URBAN
• NEED A RAISED PLATFORM FOR THE FIRE ESCAPE/BALCONY SCENE
• WILL FEATURE SOME TYPE OF SECOND STORY-THERE APPEARS TO BE
FLEXIBILITY ABOUT HOW ONE DESIGNS THIS SECOND STORY.
WHAT IS CONTEXT?
• CULTURAL
• SOCIAL
• HISTORICAL
• AESTHETIC/INDIVIDUAL
• GEOGRAPHICAL
 HISTORICAL
• WHEN WAS IT WRITTEN?
• WHAT HISTORICAL EVENT/S HAVE INFLUENCED THE
MUSIC?
• IS THERE A PARICULAR PERIOD THAT THE MUSIC
REPRESENTS?
• WHAT ARE THE EVIDENCE?
‘THAT'S THE 1950S FOR YOU. THERE WAS ALWAYS A LOT
GOING ON UNDER THE SURFACE.’
 CULTURAL
• WHAT CULTURAL IS REPRESENTED IN THE MUSIC?
• DOES THE MUSIC HAVE A CULTURAL FUNCTION OR
PURPOSE?
 SOCIAL

• WHAT OCCASION MIGHT THIS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN FOR?

 AESTHETIC/INDIVIDUAL
• IS THERE A PARTICULAR GROUP WHOSE TASTE IN MUSIC THIS WOULD
SUIT?
• WHAT MIGHT THIS MEAN TO OTHER GROUPS?
• HOW HAVE THE COMPOSER’S BACKGROUND AND CHARACTERISTICS
INFLUENCE THE WORK?
It was Robbins who dominated the production of West Side Story, which had been
written in the mid-'50s by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and a young Stephen
Sondheim.

"West Side Story is 1957; we were really just coming out of the McCarthy era," says
Gregg Lawrence, author of the Robbins biography Dance With Demons. "He was
one of those who was terrorized and named names, and it really shaped him for the
rest of his life.“

It had been Robbins who came up with the original idea of a modern, urban Romeo
and Juliet; Bernstein and Laurents added the idea of warring street gangs in place
of Shakespeare's feuding families. In the play, a Puerto Rican girl named Maria,
whose brother is in one gang, loves Tony, who's in the opposing "American" gang.
"That kind of bigotry and prejudice was very much in the air," writer and co-creator
Arthur Laurents says. "It's really, 'How can love survive in a violent world of
prejudice?' That's what it's about."
West Side Story brought that tension inside, even within the constraints of a more repressive time.

"There are no four-letter words in it. You couldn't use 'em in those days," Laurents says. "A scene
that I wrote ended with, 'Hey, Officer Krupke, krup you!' And they said 'brass ass.' Well, that was
considered shocking and daring. It must have been 20 years later before they used four-letter
words so freely.

"The idea was to do something good," he adds. "I think we were all in love with musical theater. I
don't think any of us thought of the commercial possibilities of the show. I thought it would last, if we
were lucky, three months.“

Consider this: It was ardently, feverishly heterosexual musical theater, created by four gay men at a
time when it was even less acceptable to be gay than it was to be Leftist. But Arthur Laurents says
that's beside the point.

"It's four Jews," Laurents says. "There's a big difference. It's true. I think being part of a minority... I
know gays were a minority, but gays didn't figure much in the '50s. Jews figured then, now and
always. But I think that was more what we had in common, what drove it — drove the feeling of
injustice, at any rate."
 GEOGRAPHICAL
• WHERE WAS IT WRITTEN?
• WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MUSIC FROM THIS PART OF THE WORLD?
• WHAT PARTICULAR INFLUENCES DOES THE LOCATION BRING TO THE MUSIC?
• HOW MIGHT THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AFFECT THE MUSIC?
• COULD THE SAME WORK HAVE BEEN CREATED AT ANOTHER TIME IN THE SAME PLACE,
OR AT THE DIFFERENCE PLACE AND AT DIFFERENT TIME IN HISTORY?
THE NAME ‘WEST SIDE STORY’
• IN THE 1950S MANY PUERTO RICANS MOVED TO NEW YORK, CREATING
TENSION BETWEEN NATIVE NEW YORKERS AND THE IMMIGRANTS. THIS
HOSTILITY THAT AFFECTED THE YOUNG EVEN MORE THAN IT DID THE OLD.
PUERTO RICANS SETTLED FOR THE MOST PART, ON THE EXTREME WEST SIDE
OF NEW YORK, HENCE THE NAME ‘WEST SIDE STORY’.
• WITHIN THE MUSICAL, FEATURES OF SOUTH AMERICAN MUSIC- DANCE, SWING
AND SYNCOPATION WERE USED EXTENSIVELY IN THE SONGS AND AS
BACKGROUND MUSIC. THIS IS GROUND BREAKING COMPARING TO THE MORE
‘TRADITIONAL’ WESTERN SOUNDS OF LOCAL AMERICAN THEATRE WRITING.
AESTHETIC REPRESENTATION
ROMEO AND JULIET HAS BEEN A POPULAR SUBJECT FOR COMPOSERS SINCE SHAKESPEARE PENNED THE STORY
THE MOST POPULAR HAS BEEN TCHAIKOVSKY’S ROMEO AND JULIET FANTASY OVERTURE
THE CHARACTER REPRESENTATION (USING MUSICAL MOTIF AND THEMES) AND ITS CHANGES IS HEARD
THROUGHOUT THE PIECE AS THE PLOT PROGRESS
THE SAME GOES FOR WSS. THE DISSONANCE IN HARMONY REPRESENTING TENSION, ESPECIALLY MENTAL
AGGREVATION. THE FIGHTS ARE PERCUSSIVE AND YOUTHFUL IN RHYTHM.
THE USE OF TRITONE TO REPRESENT THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN WSS IS EVIDENT IN MANY OF THE SONGS.
THE USE OF SYNCOPATION, CROSS RHYTHM IN THE LATINO NUMBERS IN WSS TO REPRESENT THE PUERTO RICAN
SHARKS
SOCIAL ISSUES AFFECTING WSS
RACISM
PREJUDICE
WELFARE
CRIME
IMMIGRATION OF SOUTH AMERICANS
IN 1949 WHEN THE IDEA WAS FIRST DRAFTED, IT WAS FRONTED WITH JEW (WHO LIVED IN THE EAST
SIDE) WITH THE CATHOLIC WITH RELIGION CONFRONTATION AS THE CENTRAL ISSUE. IT WAS LATER
CHANGED WHEN THE FINAL SETTINGS WERE DECIDED- PUERTO RICANS AND AMERICANS. GANG
WELFARE DURING THE PRODUCTION PERIOD KEPT THE SHOW’S PLOT TIMELY.
PERSONAL ISSUES AFFECTING WSS
BOTH BERNSTEIN AND SONDHEIM ARE JEWISH, HENCE, THEY UNDERSTAND THE
MINIORITY AND DISCRIMINATION AND WANTED TO VOICE WHAT THEY HAVE SEEN
AND HEARD AROUND THEM IN A REALISTIC MANNER IN WSS
IN 1949 WHEN THE IDEA OF WSS FIRST CAME INTO MIND, IT WAS SET FOR THE
EAST SIDE WITH JEW V.S. CATHOLIC AND
BERNSTEIN WAS CLASSICALLY TRAINED, AND THEREFORE, THE SYMPHONIC
APPROACH IN COMPOSING WSS IS UNDERSTANDABLE
THE LYRICS FOR ‘SOMEWHERE’ IS YEARNING FOR A MORE ACCEPTING WORLD
STRUCTURAL AND COMMUNICATIVE
STRUCTURAL AND COMMUNICATIVE
• WHAT ASPECTS OF THE PERFORMANCE ARE IMPORTANT?
• WHAT IS THE USUAL WAY THIS MUSIC IS PERFORMED?
• ARE THERE ANY SPECIAL TECHNIQUES NEEDED TO PERFORM IT?
• MIGHT THERE BE DIFFERENCES IN INTERPRETATION OF THE PERFORMANCE?
How did a 1957 audience greet the spectacle of West Side Story?

"I think the innovation was having death, attempted rape, murder in a musical, in musical theater," Laurents
says. "The subject matter — bigotry and violence and prejudice — and [the idea] that people would pay
money to see that with an orchestra.“

"The opening night in Washington, D.C.," Carol Lawrence says, "when the curtain went up for our curtain calls,
and they had just seen Tony's body taken over and the strain of 'Somewhere' and just a bell tolling -– still
breaks me up — we ran to our spaces and faced the audience holding hands. And the curtain went up and we
looked at the audience, and they looked at us, and we looked at them, and I thought, 'Oh, dear Lord, it's a
bomb!' “

"We thought the thing was going down the drain," Laurents adds. "Oh, it was awful."
"And then, as if Jerry had choreographed it," Lawrence says, "they jumped to their feet. I never saw people
stamping and yelling, and by that time, Lenny had worked his way backstage, and he came at the final curtain
and walked to me, put his arms around me, and we wept."
Walter Kerr of the Herald Tribune opened his review with the classic and much-repeated line, "The radioactive
fallout from West Side Story must still be descending on Broadway this morning."
There's that '50s imagery, though neither on stage nor in life did West Side Story have a '50s-style Ozzie and
Harriet ending.
EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES
EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES
• DESCRIBE THE MUSIC FEATURES IN WEST SIDE STORY THAT MADE IT UNIQUE IN THE MUSICAL
REPERTOIRE
PROLOGUE
• INTRODUCTION: BARS 1 - 3
• SECTION A: BARS 4 - 39
• SECTION B: BARS 40 - 105
• SECTION B1: BARS 106 - 140
• SECTION A1: BARS 141 - 157
• OUTRO: BAR 158 - FADES OUT
 CROSS RIFFS
Short riffs,
RHYTHMS:
lots of ideas
different
rhythms
xworking
against each
other

SHORT
PHRASES AND
SUSTAINED
NOTES
 PUSH
RHYTHMS
Syncopated
rhythms
anticipating the
beat

TRITONE:
Augmented 4th
interval – 3
whole tones
 JAZZ
HARMONY
Blues notes/
Blues scale

TRITONE:
Augmented 4th
interval – 3
whole tones
• WORD PAINTING IS WHERE THE MUSIC IS COMPOSED TO ‘SOUND
LIKE’ THE WORD.
• E.G. THE WORD ‘FALLING’ MIGHT HAVE A DESCENDING NOTE PATTERN. THERE
ARE MANY EXAMPLES OF WORD PAINTING IN THIS PIECE.

• CANN-ON-BALL-ING (CANNONBALLING) – BAR 22 – A POUNDING,

REPEATED QUAVER PATTERN ON ONE NOTE.
• THE AIR IS HUMMING – BAR 136 – HIGH PITCHED, LONG
SUSTAINED NOTES GIVE A LIGHT, AIRY FEEL.
• WHISTLING DOWN THE RIVER – BAR 82-88 – FULL OF LONG NOTES
SUNG RELATIVELY LEGATO WITH A TRIPLET TO GIVE THE FEEL OF
MOVING WATER.
Jazz-based harmony Bar 48

Push Rhythms (Syncopated rhythms) Bar 4

Tritone (devil in music) interval. G sharp to D Bar 17

Extensive use of short riffs Bars 13 - 14

Cross rhythms Bars 81 - 88

Layered textures of independent parts In the orchestration

Combination of snappy short phrases and long sustained Bars 13 - 14

notes
COMPLETE THE SENTENCES

• FRAGMENTS OF 4 SENTENCES ARE LISTED BELOW. MATCH THE FRAGMENTS TOGETHER AND
REWRITE IN FULL:
• “SOMETHING’S COMING” HAS JAZZ-INSPIRED HARMONY, AS IT USES…
• “SOMETHING’S COMING” HAS AN UNSETTLED FEEL, PARTLY BECAUSE IT HAS…
…cross-rhythms and repeated
THE SONG HITS AT THE TRAGEDY TO COME, AS IT USES…
modulations
• THE MELODY LINE IS MADE UP OF… …extensive use of the tritone in the
melody line
…notes from the blues scale
…a mixture of short snappy phrases
and long held notes
The music written for ‘West Side Story’ was cutting edge
up to this time:
The dark theme rooted in violence and tragedy
The use of long, extended dance scenes to convey the drama
The sophisticated synthesis of jazz and classical musical idioms
The focus on social problems and tensions of contemporary America
ANALYSIS – TONIGHT & MARIA
• MELODY – MELODIC RANGE, USE OF TRITON AND INTERESTING INTERVALS
• RHYTHM – RIFFS, SYNCOPATION, CROSS RHYTHM, OSTINATO, METRE CHANGES
• HARMONY – JAZZ CHORDS, MODULATION
• STRUCTURE
• TIMBRE
• TEXTURE
• WORD-PAINTING
PERFORMANCE PRACTICE
‘THE MECHANICS OF A PERFORMANCE THAT DEFINES ITS STYLE’
• THE FILM VERSION OF MARIA AND TONIGHT IS SUNG LESS ’OPERATICALLY’, WITHOUT
VIBRATO, KEEPING THE POPULAR APPEAL OF MUSICAL FILM AND MUSICAL THEATRE. THIS
WOULD HAVE BEEN SIMILAR WITH THE ACTUAL LIVE MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE,
WHERE CAST WOULD HAVE TO MOVE/ACT/DANCE, SO THE SINGING WOULD BE CONSIDERED
LESS IMPORTANT IN COMPARISON WITH THE ACTING/EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES OF THE VOCAL.
• IN THE RECORDING CONDUCTED BY BERNSTEIN, CLASSICALLY TRAINED MUSICAINS WERE
EMPLOYED TO SING THE LEAD ROLES, THUS THE SINGING WERE MORE OPERATIC, AND THE
BACKGROUND ACCOMPANIMENT WERE MORE ROBUST WITH THE SYMPHONIC QUALITY.
SINGERS SUCH AS KIRI TE KANAWA AND JOSE CARRERAS EMPLOYED VARIOUS VIBRATO
TECHNIQUES FOR THE SONG. BERNSTEIN PROBABLY WANTED OR PREFERRED THE MORE
OPERATIC PERFORMANCE, SINCE BOTH SONGS ARE VOCALLY CHALLENGING TO SING
MATERIAL
AND
MECHANICAL PRODUCTION
MATERIAL
AND
MECHANICAL PRODUCTION
• WHAT TECHNOLOGIES (INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENTS)
ARE USED TO PERFORM THE MUSIC?
ACOUSTICAL CONTEXTS
 ACOUSTICAL CONTEXTS
• WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT USED TO PRODUCE AND CREATE WEST SIDE STORY?
• WHAT INSTRUMENTAL OR VOCAL QUALITIES AFFECT THE MUSIC?
CONCEPTION OF WEST SIDE STORY
INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS SOURCES

• OPERA
• JAZZ
• AMERICAN STAGE MUSICAL
OPERATIC INFLUENCE

• USE OF ORCHESTRA AND ITS SYMPHONIC SOUNDS

• LEAD CHARACTERS REQUIRE TO SING MORE DIFFICULT MATERIALS THAT NORMALLY APPEAR IN OPERAS
RATHER THAN MUSICALS
• ARIA, DUET, HYMN STYLES INCORPORATED IN THE SONGS
• USE OF MUSICAL MOTIF TO LINK THE MUSIC AND SCORES TOGETHER
OPERATIC INFLUENCE EXAMPLES
• MARIA – BALLAD, ARIA-LIKE SONG REQUIRED FOR ADVANCED VOCAL ABILITY. THE EXTENSIVE USE OF
ORCHESTRA AS ACCOMPANIMENT GIVES ITS OPERATIC FEEL
• ONE HAND, ONE HEART- HYMN-LIKE QUALITY, SLOW, GRAND GESTURES WITH ITS SYMPHONIC BACKING
• SOMEWHERE- ‘DEEP’ MESSAGE FOR YEARNING UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE. WIDER VOCAL RANGE REQUIRE
SINGERS WITH MORE TRAINING FOR THE PART
IN GENERAL, THE LOVE THEMED SONGS HAVE STRONG OPERATIC CHARACTERISTICS, MEANING THE LEADS
ARE REQUIRED TO POSSESS BETTER VOCAL/OPERATIC TRAINING WITH THE DIFFICULTY OF THE MATERIAL
DANCES

• I FEEL PRETTY- THE WALTZ-STYLED DANCE SONG ARE TYPICAL OF THE OPERA/OPERATTA FROM THE EARLY
20TH CENTURY
MUSICAL MOTIF
• MUSICAL MOTIF ARE USED EXTENSIVELY IN WSS.
• THE INTERVAL OF 4TH ARE USED IN MANY OF THE SONGS
EG, TONIGHT (4TH), AMERICA (4TH)
EG THE TRITON (AUGMENTED 4TH) IS USED IN ‘SOMETHING’S COMING’ AND ‘MARIA’
THESE ARE FEATURES FROM THE OPERATIC WRITING STYLE
CINEMATIC INFLUENCES

• MUSIC IS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE ACTION AND EMOTION HAPPENINGS ON STAGE

EG, ‘PROLOGUE’- THE DRUM BEATS AND PERCUSSION BUILDS UP THE TENSION
AS BOTH THE RHYTHMIC AND TEXTURAL ELEMENT INTENSIFY. HARMONICALLY,
THE USE OF DISSONANT CHORDS AIDS TO THE TENSION.
THEATRICAL INFLUENCES
• BIG CHORUS SONGS, USE OF DANCE/ACTION SONGS, THE POP/CONTEMPORARY VOCAL
STYLE REQUIRED FROM THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS ADDS MANY INTERESTING LAYERS
AND SIDE STORYLINES TO WSS, THUS DE-INTENSIFY THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE FORBIDDEN
LOVE THEME BETWEEN THE OPERATIC SONGS FROM MARIA AND TONY.
• ‘JET SONG’ ‘AMERICA’ ‘GEE OFFICER KRUPKE’ INCORPORATED LARGE NUMBERS OF CAST
AND CHORUS SINGING, WITH ITS SPEECH-LIKE SINGING BORROWED FROM THE AMERICAN
MUSICAL STYLE.
• IN ‘AMERICA’, THE CHOREOGRAPHED DANCE ALONG WITH CALL AND RESPONSE MUSICAL
STYLE THAT ARE UPBEAT AND ENGAGING, REFLECTING THE THEATRICAL INFLUENCE.
JAZZ INFLUENCE
• THE LARGE NUMBER OF WOODWIND AND BRASS INSTRUMENTS, AS WELL AS
PERCUSSIONIST PERFORMS MANY NUMBERS WHERE CAST IS ENGAGED IN
DANCE OR CHOREOGRAPHED ACTIONS, EG ‘THE DANCE AT THE GYM’, WHERE
MUSICAL STYLES BEGINS IN BLUES. THEM INTO PROMENADE SQUARE DANCE,
THEN INTO MAMBO (OFFBEAT AND SYNCOPATED), WHICH REFLECTS THE REAL
LIFE MUSICAL/CULTURAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SHARKS AND THE JETS.
THE TENSION IS THEN DIFFUSED WHEN THE CHA CHA TAKES OVER, WITH
INTIMATE FLUTE AND UPPER WOODWIND PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND