West Side Story Play Analysis

West Side Story is a romantic musical that is set in Manhattan, New York City during the 1950’s, where a large migration of Puerto Rican immigrants started to enter the United States. A White American gang, also known as the Jets, live in the city and have had a “turf” that they protected and ran for years. When the Puerto Ricans, known by the Sharks started looking for a “turf” for themselves, they interfere with the Jets and this causes multiple conflicts. There have been an abundance of different live productions for the musical West Side story, but some productions did not fully represent the theme of the original story. The first stage production I analyzed is an older stage production with star Debbie Allen. This production embodied the original scripted version of West Side Story. I was unable to find the clip of the Broadway version of the play, but I found a clip of Debbie Allan and other cast members performing on a
This production had three different clips that were put on by “The Production Company,” and was filmed by James Terry and Michael Wilson. The actors have fully committed to their character’s role in the play. I think they have spent a lot of time making sure there are different types of relationships with certain characters throughout the play by showing small or large gestures. For example, during ‘The Jet Song,’ the boys are constantly interacting with each other in a joyful way. Their interactions show that they are proud to be a Jet and make the audience also have a joyful feeling because of the great singing. This scene primarily focuses on the voice rather than dancing. This production did not follow the original storyline of West Side Story. Instead they give the story line the feeling of a more modernized version through, lighting, set design, costumes and interactions within the