West Side Story

It’s the favorite musical of Rachel Berry, the character in the new hit show Glee. Rachel is played by Lea Michele (who is Jewish), and she says she has to sing all the songs the her glee club does from West Side Story because, “I’m Jewish, like Natalie Wood!” As it happens, Natalie-- who starred in the movie version of the West Side Story as Maria-- was not Jewish. (So don’t go trusting sitcoms for your information on Jewish celebs! Stick with us experts.)

Anyway, West Side Story is not only Rachel's favorite musical, but millions of other people's, too. It won 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, but also Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Director, Best Editing… plus costumes, sets, cinematography, and sound. The last one of which was key-- because it also won Best Score! 

None of the main people on screen were Jewish. But we’re telling you about the musical because all the main people behind the scenes were, and they are some of the most important people in showbiz! Basically, this musical put some of the best creative people alive together on one project, so of course it was a huge hit!

The movie— the sensation, really— was based William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (which was, in turn, based on the Roman myth of Pyramus and Thisbe! So let's not be too hard on Hollywood; there were no original ideas way back then, either!). The basic idea? Two young people in love, who can never be together because their families are fighting.

That didn’t translate well to New York in the 1950s, when West Side Story is set. So instead, the two families became two street gangs. Riff is the leader of the Jets, a white gang, and Bernardo leads the Sharks, who are Hispanic. Tony, one of the Jets, falls in love with Maria, Bernardo’s sister, but since their gangs are at war, they have to keep their love a secret. And their timing could not be worse... because the gangs are getting ready for the fight that will decide whether the Jets or Sharks will reign supreme in the streets!

The movie was directed by two people, who shared the Best Director prize for the first time ever. One was Robert Wise.

The other was Jewish choreographer Jerome Robbins, who we mentioned in the Bonus here. Jerome won two Tonys for Fiddler on the Roof, another one of our Movies of the Month! Then he won an Oscar for directing this movie, which he also choreographed, plus a Tony for the stage version! He also created the dances for The King and I (by Jewish Broadway song team Rogers and Hammerstein, see this Bonus)… Peter Pan (with additional music by Jewish composer Jule Styne and additional lyrics by Jewish Singin' in the Rain team Comden and Green)… Gypsy ... and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (these last two had lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, who we’ll get to in a minute). Jerome didn’t win Tonys for those, but he did for a revue (sort of like “greatest hits”) of dances ifrom all his musicals in a show called Jerome Robbins’ Broadway.

So Jerome came up with the dances. But what did they dance to? Music by Leonard Bernstein (see this Bonus). Leonard is probably the greatest classical conductor ever, but he was also talented in other musical areas, too. He could play piano extremely well, and even conduct the orchestra while playing, by moving his head! And Leonard could compose, and not just in classical style. He wrote settings the Psalms, which are from Jewish tradition, but also a Catholic Mass! And he could write jazz, which is what he did for this musical.

Yes, you say, but a musical doesn’t just have music… it has songs, and songs have words! Now we get to Stephen Sondheim. As a kid, he knew Oscar Hammerstein II, who we just mentioned above. Oscar taught him how to write the words to musicals, and Stephen learned extremely well. We wrote more about Stephen in this Bonus, but for now we’re just going to list his major musicals, for which he wrote all the words and the music, too!

He wrote so many, we’ll break them down for you, when we put something in (parentheses), that means we’re letting you know what that musical won a Tony for! West Side Story was his first major hit, even if he only wrote the words. Gypsy, as we said, had its music done by a great Jewish composer, Jule Styne. Then came A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Best Musical), a comedy set in ancient Rome. Zero Mostel starred in the movie version, along with Phil Silvers (see this Bonus).

In the 1970s, Stephen had a string of hits, for which he wrote the words and the music. Company (Best Score and Lyrics) was about single guy turning 35. Follies (Best Score) is based on the great vaudeville shows called the Ziegfield Follies. A Little Night Music (Best Score) is completely made up of waltzes, and gave us the song “Send in the Clowns.” Pacific Overtures is about Western culture coming to Japan. And the murder story Sweeny Todd (Best Score), which came out in 1979, was just made into a movie in 2007 with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter.

In the 1980s, Stephen gave us Sunday in the Park with George, about Impressionist painter George Seurat painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, which you can see for yourself because it’s at the Art Institute in downtown Chicago! You’ll also like Into the Woods (Best Score), which was based on fairy tales and nursery rhymes way before Shrek. His last major hit was called Assassins, and it profiles the killers of presidents and other famous people.

Stephen won a special lifetime achievement Tony in 2008, too!

If you have to study Romeo and Juliet and are having a hard time with it, or if you just want a great, timeless musical that is a classic in its own right, you have to watch West Side Story. Then you’ll see why a musical from 1957 is the favorite of a character in Glee, a show from 2009!