History Theatre / WestSideStory

* DownerEnding: Sure, the fighting's over, but three people are dead and one person is almost certainly going to prison. But come on, this was based off of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', so it was hard not to see that one coming. At least the ''West Side'' ending can be considered LighterAndSofter than the ''Romeo'' ending, since [[spoiler: Maria survives.]]

Two gangs, one white American (Jets) and the other Puerto Rican (Sharks), are fighting over territory on Manhattan's West Side when Tony, former co-founder of the Jets, falls in love with Maria, the younger sister of the Sharks' leader Bernardo. Even worse, they fall in love on the very night the two gangs decide to end their feud in one final battle. Tony manages to persuade the two gangs to reduce it to a "fair fight" of one-on-one fisticuffs, but when Maria tells Tony to stop the fight altogether, his attempt to intervene results in the leader of the Jets, his best friend Riff, getting knifed to death by Bernardo. In a fit of rage, Tony then kills Bernardo in return.

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: Schrank's monologue which is pretty long by musical standards, where songs take up the space of such extended speeches.

'''Doc''': [[AdultFear I'll dig you an early grave!]]

Originally a 1957 Broadway [[TheMusical musical]] presented by Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince and directed by Jerome Robbins, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Music/LeonardBernstein and lyrics by Music/StephenSondheim. It is notable for boasting some of the most famous songs in musical theater, such as "Tonight," "America" and "I Feel Pretty". Two [[TheMovie film adaptations]] were made, [[Film/WestSideStory1961 one released in 1961]] and [[Film/WestSideStory2021 the other in 2021]].

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: "Gee, Officer Krupke" is the Jets' singing about this, parodying and mocking the courts and social services that they would be run in circles through if arrested: From Krupke to the Judge, from the Judge to the "Head Shrinker", from the Head Shrinker to the Social Worker, then the Social Worker back to Krupke, at each step essentially being given an excuse for someone someone "more qualified" to handle them without actually offering any effective solution to dealing with their delinquency. So, instead, they fully embrace their behavior and rebel against the system that they believe has failed them.

A [[https://www.broadway.com/buzz/201705/west-side-story-sequel-musical-maria-in-the-works/ sequel musical]] called ''Maria'' is currently in the works.

The year 2020 was set to be a landmark for the show, though it was marred by the onset of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. In February 2020, a Broadway revival was staged (the first in more than a decade) by avant-garde director Creator/IvoVanHove, who, for the first time, incorporated entirely original new and modern choreography into the show. It stars Isaac Powell as Tony, Shereen Pimentel as Maria, and Yesenia Ayala as Anita. However, performances of the show were postponed indefinitely less than a month into its run due to the pandemic and sadly cancelled altogether even when Broadway reopened.

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[[caption-width-right:350:The poster for the original 1957 Broadway production.]]

A SettingUpdate adaptation of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity in TheFifties. Originally a 1957 Broadway [[TheMusical musical]] presented by Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince and directed by Jerome Robbins, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music composed by Music/LeonardBernstein and lyrics written by Music/StephenSondheim. It is notable for boasting some of the most famous songs in musical theater, such as "Tonight," "America" and "I Feel Pretty". Two [[TheMovie film adaptations]] were made, [[Film/WestSideStory1961 one released in 1961]] and [[Film/WestSideStory2021 the other in 2021]].

It may seem OlderThanSteam, with more than a [[StarCrossedLovers few elements]] that you may recognize from [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet other works]]. It is also a great example of SeinfeldIsUnfunny, with many modern audiences not understanding why it was such a groundbreaking musical in its time. It is recognized as the leader in using [[NewerThanTheyThink dance to further the plot]], thanks to the choreography of Jerome Robbins, and is also recognized for portraying minority characters ([[FairForItsDay relatively]]) positively, using vulgar language and slang, and [[DarkerAndEdgier not being a particularly feel-good musical]].

* AnAesop: The only enemy worth fighting is Hate. Doesn't matter whose side you're on or what reasons you have, Hate kills Love and everything else that's good. So don't you go helping it along in this world

A SettingUpdate adaptation of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity in TheFifties. Originally a 1957 Broadway [[TheMusical musical]] presented by Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince and directed by Jerome Robbins, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music composed by Music/LeonardBernstein and lyrics written by Music/StephenSondheim. Two [[TheMovie film adaptations]] were made, [[Film/WestSideStory1961 one released in 1961]] and [[Film/WestSideStory2021 the other in 2021]].

Notable for some of the most famous songs in musical theater, such as "Tonight," "America" and "I Feel Pretty", with music by Music/LeonardBernstein and lyrics by Music/StephenSondheim.

** Bernardo dislikes the Jets because they treat him and the other Puerto Ricans like outsiders despite the fact they too are Americans themselves. But he also clearly does not want his sister to be with any non-Puerto Rican, meaning he's not particularly more inclusive or open-minded than they are. It's very possible this comes from how he's discriminated against by non-Puerto Ricans, but it still stands.

In addition, Creator/StevenSpielberg directed a remake of the musical, with a screenplay by Creator/TonyKushner. Creator/AnselElgort was cast as Tony, while newcomer Creator/RachelZegler [[note]] who came to Spielberg’s attention after a video from her Website/YouTube channel of her singing “Shallow” from ''Film/AStarIsBorn2018'' went viral [[/note]] plays Maria. Due to conflicts caused by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, ''Film/WestSideStory2021'' was eventually scheduled to be released on December 10, 2021.

* WhiteGangBangers: Back when it was written, the Polish, Italian, and Irish were considered white but not enough to fully mix with the rest of Anglo-American society, partly due to anti-Catholic bias.

In addition, Creator/StevenSpielberg directed a remake of the musical, with a screenplay by Creator/TonyKushner. Creator/AnselElgort was cast as Tony, while newcomer Creator/RachelZegler [[note]] who came to Spielberg’s attention after a video from her Website/YouTube channel of her singing “Shallow” from ''Film/AStarIsBorn2018'' went viral [[/note]] plays Maria. Due to conflicts caused by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, the remake was eventually scheduled to be released on December 10, 2021.

In addition, Creator/StevenSpielberg directed a new film adaptation of the musical, with a screenplay by Creator/TonyKushner. Creator/AnselElgort was cast as Tony, while newcomer Creator/RachelZegler [[note]] who came to Spielberg’s attention after a video from her Website/YouTube channel of her singing “Shallow” from ''Film/AStarIsBorn2018'' went viral [[/note]] plays Maria. Due to conflicts caused by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, the remake was eventually scheduled to be released on December 10, 2021.

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In addition, Creator/StevenSpielberg directed a new film adaptation of the musical, with a screenplay by Creator/TonyKushner. Creator/AnselElgort was cast as Tony, while newcomer Creator/RachelZegler [[note]] who came to Spielberg’s attention after a video from her Website/YouTube channel of her singing “Shallow” from ''Film/AStarIsBorn2018'' went viral [[/note]] plays Maria. This remake aims at being more mindful towards ethnic accuracy and representation than the original, with all of the Hispanic roles being filled by actors of Latino descent. Music/DavidNewman reworked the Leonard Bernstein score for it. Production wrapped in September 2019, but the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic resulted in the film being delayed to December 10, 2021 - [[MeaningfulReleaseDate 60 years after the original film's release]] and just two weeks after the passing of Sondheim.

* RemakeCameo:
** Creator/RitaMoreno (Anita in the 1961 film) plays Valentina in the 2021 film.
** Three of the Jets from the 1961 film -- Harvey Evans (Mouthpiece), Bert Michaels (Snowboy), and David Bean (Tiger), appear as extras in the 2021 film.
** Andréa Burns, who played Maria in the 1992–1993 European Tour of the musical, appears as Fausta in the 2021 film.

A SettingUpdate adaptation of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity in TheFifties. Originally a 1957 Broadway [[TheMusical musical]] presented by Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince and directed by Jerome Robbins, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music composed by Music/LeonardBernstein and lyrics written by Music/StephenSondheim. Two [[TheMovie film adaptations]] were made, one released in 1961 and the other in 2021.

Notable for some of the most famous songs in musical theater, such as "Tonight," "America" and "I Feel Pretty", with music by Music/LeonardBernstein and lyrics by Music/StephenSondheim. The 1961 movie adaptation, directed by Creator/RobertWise and Jerome Robbins and starring Creator/NatalieWood as Maria, won a whopping 10 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, including Best Picture.

* AdaptationalContextChange:
** The lyrics to "America" are almost completely rewritten from the musical to film adaptation. The original had been criticised for mocking Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans. The film focuses instead on the discrimination the Puerto Ricans had suffered in America. The song is also changed from an all-female number revolving around an argument between Anita and another girl to a male-and-female number with Anita vs. Bernardo; the latter was Sondheim's original intent, only rewritten because Jerome Robbins wanted an all-female dance number in the show.
** In the film, "I Feel Pretty" and "Gee, Officer Krupke" happen much earlier than they do in the stage version. In the stage version, they're meant to act as a tension break after the deaths in the first act. In the film, there are now no light moments after the rumble with the songs happening earlier. In the former's case, this required changing the line "bright," rhyming with "tonight," to "gay," rhyming with "today." Similarly, "Cool" happens after Bernardo and Riff's deaths. This was all because producer and co-director Robert Wise wanted the film to have a single rising line of tension, with no lighthearted moments after the rumble.

* ArtisticTitle:
** For the film. A set of abstract graphics, created by Saul Bass, eventually fade into a shot of the Lower Manhattan skyline, followed by a series of overhead aerial shots of NYC streets and buildings.
** There's also a five-minute-long CreativeClosingCredits sequence, also by Saul Bass, depicting the credits on wall graffiti and street signs.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: This trope mostly appears in the movie version, as the infamous Hays Code was still in effect, though slightly less so in 1961.
** Anita's lines in "Tonight" are changed from "He'll walk in hot and tired, so what / No matter if he's tired, as long as he's hot" to "He'll walk in hot and tired, poor dear / No matter if he's tired, as long as he's here."
** And in "Gee, Officer Krupke", the line "My father is a bastard / My ma's an SOB / My grandpa's always plastered / My grandma pushes tea" is changed to "My daddy beats my mommy / My mommy clobbers me / [[DirtyCommunist My grandpa is a Commie]] / My grandma pushes tea."
** And in the "Jet Song" the lines "When you're a Jet / And the spit hits the fan / You got brothers around / You're a family man" are changed to "When you're a Jet / Let them do what they can / You got brothers around / You're a family man." Particularly funny given that "spit" in the original was probably changed from...well, you know.
** In the line, "Trusting with our hearts open! With our arms open!" - "You came with your legs open!", legs was replaced with "mouth."
** Furthermore, Stephen Sondheim originally wanted to end the song "Gee, Officer Krupke, fuck you!" but it was changed to "Krup you!" (In his book of the lyrics, he comments that he thought the "Krup" change was [[RuleOfFunny for the better]].)
** In the show, Maria complains that Anita won't make her dress more revealing, insisting that "it's now to be used for dancing, not kneeling in front of an altar!", implying that it was once her church dress. Anita responds, "With those boys, you could start out dancing and ''end up'' kneeling", insinuating either "having" to get married because of sexual activity and pregnancy, or the sexual activity itself. In the movie, this is changed to "dress for praying" and "start out dancing and ''end up'' praying", making the implications less obvious.
** Schrank's taunting of Action changes from "How's the action on your mother's mattress?" to "How's the action on your mother's side of the street?" Not much better but enough to go over the head of some younger viewers.
** In "I Feel Pretty", the lines "I feel pretty and witty and bright! / And I pity / Any girl who isn't me tonight!" are changed to "I feel pretty and witty and gay! / And I pity / Any girl who isn't me today!", [[HaveAGayOldTime which kind of had the reverse effect in the long run]].
** The exchange between Riff and Tony as "Womb to tomb, sperm to worm" is changed in the film to "Womb to tomb, birth to earth", but in the Quintet, for some reason, it's just "One two three, one two three!" which is a rather odd filler.

* BriefAccentImitation: In the film adaptation, one of the Jets acts as [[HerrDoktor a doctor with a German accent]] during "Gee, Officer Krupke".
* BrownFace: They really broke out the shoe polish for this one. Almost all of the Sharks were played by non-Hispanic white actors. Maria was played by the Russian-American Creator/NatalieWood, and Bernardo by the Greek-American George Chakiris. In a shocking casting coup, Anita was played by the actually Puerto Rican Rita Moreno (seriously, she was born there and everything!) but even she is slathered in brownface and forced to put on an over-the-top accent.

* CallAndResponseSong: "America." In the stage version, Rosalia sings about how great Puerto Rico was and the other women sing about how America is better. In the film, the women sing about America's positive qualities and the men sing about its xenophobia.
* {{Camp}}: Every character type is exaggerated in the movie to match a theatrical style. For one, most gangs in an inner city wouldn't go around dancing to song numbers... That aside, [[MilkingTheGiantCow the wide movements, showy expressions, and witty dialogue]] all combine to achieve this effect.

* CycleOfVengeance: As best as can be determined from each side's self-serving account, the conflict began when the Jets attacked Bernardo the day he moved to the West Side (though the Jets would say [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence Bernardo began it by moving there]].) Bernardo created the Sharks to oppose them, but by the time the movie begins, both sides have become virtually indistinguishable, and each is concerned only with vengeance on the other for whatever the other's last act of vengeance on ''them'' was. In the "Tonight Quintet," each side sings the line "They began it." They also sing the exact same ''music'' on that line, suggesting that the genesis of each gang's hatred is basically identical.

* DeusExitMachina: In the film, Ice leaves Doc's to go outside and see if any of the Sharks are around right before Anita comes in. Without him around to keep everyone's heads cool, the Jets taunt and assault her.

* DigitalDestruction: To put it bluntly, ''every'' 21st-century physical release of the film has at least one flaw. Most infamously, the single-disc 2003 DVD is in PanAndScan, the Special Edition DVD plays "Tonight" out of sync, and the 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray has the screen turn black during a few seconds of the overture.

* HaveAGayOldTime:
** "I feel pretty and witty and gay" - only in the movie. This was near the end of the time when one could use "gay" in its original sense.
** There's also the line in 'Cool' about "if you've got a rocket in your pocket", which meant HotBlooded in the [=1960s=], but [[RagingStiffie not anymore]].
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: Tony at the end is shot to death, and Maria laments how hatred killed him.]]

* LatinoIsBrown: The movie differentiates the Puerto Ricans from the Italians by making all the Puerto Ricans dark skinned.
* LimitedWardrobe: Even at the dance, Anybodys wears the same outfit throughout the movie: a yellow t-shirt with blue sleeves and a pair of jeans.
%% * LipstickAndLoadMontage: In the reprise of "Tonight" in TheMovie, Anita has a L&LM song while the gangs prepare for the rumble.

* LoveAtFirstSight: Just in case you didn't get it, the filmmakers made the rest of the dancers hazy, making sure that only Tony and Maria were in focus.

** The movie has a little bit of mood whiplash after the rumble. It cuts from Riff and Bernardo lying dead, to Maria dancing wistfully on a rooftop. Since this dance only lasts a minute at most, until Chino appears to deliver some tragic news, the amount of mood whiplash still feels significantly smaller than it did in the play.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** The gang war sees Bernardo killing Riff with a stab to the gut using a switchblade knife. In the film, Bernardo briefly registers horror at what he has just done.
** Immediately following this, Tony, enraged, takes Riff's knife and kills Bernardo with it. This leads to a ton of guilt on both sides, as Tony not only has to tell Maria that her brother is dead, but that he killed him.
** After Tony dies, Maria chews out everyone present for letting the violence get as far as it did. The Jets, the Sharks, and the adults around it all can only watch in StunnedSilence as Maria cries over Tony's body.

* PragmaticAdaptation: TheMovie is a largely intact adaptation of the stage show, but song placement is shuffled around, to excellent effect. "Gee, Officer Krupke" and "I Feel Pretty" were both moved to Act I, which is lighter and more fun in tone. "Cool," an edgy and angry song, was moved into the similarly tense and dark Act II, averting the show's MoodWhiplash.

* {{Tagline}}s: For the movie version, the original poster boasted, "The screen achieves one of the great entertainments in the history of motion pictures", while re-release trailers proclaimed, "Unlike other classics, ''West Side Story'' grows younger."

* BigRottenApple:

* CrapsackWorld:
-->'''Doc:''' When do you kids stop?! You make this world lousy!\\
'''Action:''' We didn't make it, Doc.