What did Spielberg keep and what did he update when reviving the West Side Story?

Subtle changes in song order and important changes in singing roles

The story basically follows the original, but the order of the songs in the musical has been slightly changed this time as well. I say "this time" because the order has already been changed from the Broadway premiere to the 1961 film. If we take the " duel " between the Puerto Rican Sharks and the Polish Jets, which is the axis of the story, as the turning point, in the stage version, " Cool " before the duel and " Officer Krapke " after the duel were swapped in the 1961 film. In the Spielberg version, " Krapke " remains in the position before the duel, and " Cool " has been returned to the position before the duel. In addition, the flow of the stage version, which is Tony singing " Maria " thinking of Maria, Tony and Maria singing " Tonight " on the back stairs of the apartment, and the next morning, the Sharks' friends and their girlfriends singing and dancing enthusiastically to " America ", has been faithfully reproduced this time. In the 1961 version, the positions of " Tonight " and " America " ​​were swapped.

“West Side Story” (C) 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Other than the order of each number, the most unusual song production is " Somewhere. "The number that represents the overall theme of this work is a classical ballet that is performed on a blank stage with all equipment removed in the stage version. What appeared to be a single scene was changed in the 1961 version to a duet with Tony in Maria's small room, making it more like a feature film. And this time, a newly created character named Valentina will sing. She came to New York from Puerto Rico, married a white man, and ran a store selling food and daily necessities. Rita Moreno, who also appeared in the 1961 version, sings this song earnestly, playing an important role in which she scolds young people who are separated by race and fight each other, even though her husband has passed away.

Moreno won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita (the love interest of Sharks leader Bernardo) in the 1961 version, but many of the singing parts for the role were dubbed. This time, I was able to preserve my own singing voice. Valentina, played by Moreno, has a scene with Anita towards the end of the film, and when you look back on the history of movies, this point of contact is very moving. Rita Moreno is 90 years old as of February 2022. Similarly, the main cast members of the 1961 version, Tony's Richard Beymer (83 years old), Bernardo's George Chakiris (87 years old), and Riff (Jets leader) Russ Tamblyn (87 years old) are still alive.

Of the creators who have been involved since the Broadway premiere, only Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the lyrics, was still alive during the current production period, and he also participated in the recording of the songs and gave advice. However, he passed away in November 2021 at the age of 91. It's a shame that I couldn't see it until it was released in theaters.

In America, there are no subtitles for Spanish lines.