friendoffilm — 9 years ago(January 07, 2017 03:06 PM)

Hi there, folks:
I realize that were all just reeling from, and trying to get over a weird, crazy and trying year, especially with President Donald Trumps election, but I thought Id inject another
West Side Story
diary just for the heck of it. from
West Side Story
, as Ive pointed out, is extremely special as a musical, both on stage and on screen, not just simply because of other reasons that Ive written about, but its also due, at least in part, to something else: Unlike other musicals such as
Oklahoma
, and even
The Sound of Music
, to name afew,
West Side Story
is
not
a musical whose songs that Rogers and Hammerstein were involved in writing/publishing.
Like
The Sound of Music
and
South Pacific
,
West Side Story
is a musical that revolves around and deals with very strong subject matters. While
The Sound of Music
is about the Von Trapps of Austria, whose father is a patriotic, jingoistic and nationalistic individual who runs a very tight ship and disciplines his children rather severely, who, after working for the Nazis, realizes what theyre up to, what they stand for and what theyre doing, and ultimately takes himself and his family over the mountains to Switzerland,
South Pacific
is all about love, romance life in the South Pacific, fun, and deals with the problems of racism, as well.
West Side Story
, on the other hand, while its about love and romance that develops between two people of different ethnic gangs (i. e. the White European American Jets vs. the newly-arrived Puerto Rican Sharks), dealing with racism and racial/ethnic prejudices, love/romance that eventually goes up in smoke, as well as urban gang warfare and conflict with the law.
West Side Story
, however is different from many, if not most other musicals, including the other ones that Ive mentioned above, however, because its a much more rounded-out, wholesome, and more intense, interesting story, with equally intense cinematography, a great cast and costumes, and a brilliant Leonard Bernstein musical score to back it up and intensify the story behind
West Side Story
even more. The fact that Arthur Laurents' cool boo, and real geniuses like the late Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, as well as the late Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise were behind West Side Story, as well as some good dance assistance, is really what gives
West Side Story
its unusual and hauntingly beautiful flavor, as well. The fact that Arthur Laurents wrote the original script for the original Broadway stage production of
West Side Story
also gave
West Side Story
, both on stage and on screen, its unusual flavor, and put it in a special class by itself. We must also remember that the splendidly-choreographed dancing in
West Side Story
, by the late Jerome Robbins (which there is a lot of.) also helps make this movie/musical the dynamic package that it really and truly is.
Musicals such as
West Side Story
,
The Sound of Music
and
South Pacific
, however also have other similarities. All three of these musicals deal with love and romance, as well as racism and prejudice, and the deleterious consequences of such attitudes, actions and emotions. Yet, theyre all dealt with in different ways.
West Side Story
deals with a love and romance that develops between two young people from different urban street gangs and racial/ethnic groups. Unlike in the
Sound of Music
, or
South Pacific
, however, the love between
West Side Story
s Tony and Maria ultimately goes up in smoke due to the unremitting hatred and hostilities between the European-American Jets and the newly-arrived Puerto Rican Sharks
The Sound of Music
has a somewhat more treacly, sweeter quality to it than
West Side Story.
The love that grows between Maria, whos been hired as a new governess for the Von Trapp children since Captain Von Trapps wife died, and Captain Von Trapp is a love that endures (They end up getting married.), despite all that happens in the end. The oldest daughter, Lisl, falls in love with Ralph, whos slightly older than she is, but turns out to be working for the Nazis, at a very young age yet, and thereby betrays Lisl Von Trapp and her family, and Captain Von Trapp takes his family over the mountains to Switzerland to escape the Nazis regime.
Ive never seen either the stage play or the movie version of
South Pacific
, so I dont have a great deal to compare this musical with, but I really do think that both
West Side Story
and the
Sound of Music
, although enjoyable on TV, really do cry out to be shown on a great big, wide movie screen, in a
real
movie theatre, with the lights down, and the experiences are to be shared with a whole bunch of other people, whether one knows them or not.
Unlike
South Pacific
,
Oklahoma
and, to an extent,
The Sound of Music
, which are all quite suave and smooth by comparison, however,
West Side Story
also has a harder, harsher quality to it overall, which separates it from most musicals, due to the very story behind it, thereby giving