West Side Story Study Guide PDF

W  ST S I 

S i JY

The e Le Leon ona a rd   er n nstei ste i n Offi ® Th ffice ce Inc  Inc  

ase ased d on a Co Con ncep cepttion of JER JERO OME RO  ook  ook by  RTHU  RT HUR R L URE URENT NTS S

M usic by LEON LEONA ARD BERN ERNST STE EIN

INS INS

  yr i c s by STEPHE STE PHEN N SO ND NDH H EIM

Entire ntire O rigina irec c ted an d C horeo igi nall Pro Pr oduct du ction ion D ire or eogr grap aphe hed d by JER JEROM OME RO  E RO   I NS

Ly rics ©   95 9577 by Le Leo onar nard d Ber ern nstein stein and Ste teph phe en S on d h ei m   Copy ren pyri righ new ewe ghtt re ed Study tudy Guide Tex Te x t ©  99 9933 M TI Enterpr terprise isess Inc

The Th e

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Stud tudyy Gu ide for W est Side S tory

 O N T N TS  

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OUT WEST EST SI  E S T OR Y

THE CH

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R C  CTER TERS S IN WEST EST SI   E S TO R Y  

PLOT PLO T SYNO YNOPSI SIS S

 

THEM HE M ES   N   TOP ICS TO EX EXPL PLO ORE

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W es estt Si Sidd e S tory to ry and R om omee o an and d J u liet W e st Si Story Tr agedy Sidde Sto ry as Traged y

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Love and an d M ar arria riage ge Int In term arriag rria ge G ang angss  Peer P ress re ssur ure e an d Val alu ues

 

C ultur ultu ral Co nfron nf ronta tati tion on in W e st S id idee S to r y   C ultur ultu ral Iden Id entit tity y The Gen Ge nerati era tion on Gap

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W e st S ide S tor toryy as M usic usical al The hea atre Cre Create ate Yo u r Own M us usiical C ritical itical An Analysi alysiss

  P PEN DIX the e C reat reato ors Ab Abo o ut th The C reat rea tion of W e st S ide S tory in New Ne w Yo rk Crit Cr itic ical al Re Recep cepttion of W est S i de St o ry

RE RES SOU OUR RCES

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The

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S tudy   ui  ui  e [or We West st  ide   to y_

A b o u t W e st Side ide St Stor ory y W est S ide Sto St o ry whic wh ich h open opened Septem ed o n Se ptember ber 26  1957 57   is   land 26   19 andm mar ark k in Ameri merican can music sical al theat theatre histo istory ry D ire c ted and cho chorreog eo graph rap hed by Je Jerom rome e R ob bi bins ns th thee sho how w wa wass writt eon nard Ber ritte en b y com compo posser Leo ernst nstei ein n libre ibretttist Arth rthu ur Laure uren nts and lyri lyric cist Stephe ond heim. teph en Sondh eim. W est Side S tory to ry   a mus usic ical al adap ad apta tatio tion n of Shak akes espe pear are’ e’ss R om omeo eo A n d J u liet  liet  trans ansp plants lan ts the you overss to the vio young lover violen reets of New Y ork w here th lentt streets ar e doomed thee y are oom ed b y so ci al condition cond itionss the hey can not c on t r ol T he powerfu y cann pow erfull swiftl iftly y mov moving ing plot is drive riven n by turb turbulen ulence and tensi ce an d te nsion on.. T he musical sical cov over erss a pe perriod o f o n ly t w o da y s ; sc scen en es blend lend nother a s th e ine in into to one anoth inevitab vitable le pro prog gres events resssion o f ev ents un unfold foldss. The The tw amil ilie two o feudi iess of Shake euding Shakesspea ng fam peare re   th thee Mo Mon ntag tagu ues and th e Ca Capu pule lets ts   ha have ve beco com me tw o feu eudi ding neighbo ng nei ghborho rhoo od gangs: ngs: th e Je ts and t h e S h ar arkk s . T he Je nsider Jets ts consider Sharks ks a r e dark-skinn th thems emse elves lves “A “Am meric erican” an”:: white an and d o f Europ uropean ean or origi igin. n. The Shar rk-skinned ed Hi Hisspani panics som ome e black  lack  m ai ainl nly y o f Pue Puerrto R ica n anc ance estr stry y. Th e J ets a r e f iiee rc rcel el y l o yal prou pro ud o f wh o and w hat t he y a re re   and determ ete rmin ine ed to kee eep p th their eir turf  t he neigh eighborh borhood ood   . The The Shar Sharks ks ar e just as loy a l  pro roud ud and dete eterrmin mine ed to esta stabl blish ish thei their iden ide ntity b y st sta akin king g out their cl out thei claim aim to turf i n t h e neig eigh hborh bo rhoo ood d. Th e auth authorities— orities— p olice olice   so ci al work orkers ers pare parents— nts—do don n’t realiz real iz e the intensi ensity ty o f th thee feu d t h e depth ep th o f hosttility amon ong the hos g the these “k id ids.” They ar s.” The aree too to o willi illin ng to be fo fool ol ed b y sup uper erfic ficia ially lly ac acc cep epta eh avio table ble behav iorr on demand dem and.. B ut just a s t he s e tee teen nage agers rs a r e cap capa able o f lo lovi ving ng with a su surp rpris risin ingl gly y deep ten ende assi derr pas sion on   they are equal qua lly cap capa able of hating with with an uncon ncontroll trollabl able lcan e  volca nic pass assio ion n that that boils boil s ove verr an and d ex explo plod des es.. T he resul result is tr trag ag ed y .

T he world that that W e st Sid e Story St ory sti ll war br bru utall tally y for a pi ec e o f murder murder.. Lo v e still still str strugg ugglles to

plung lun ged i nt ntoo in th e 50’s is sti ll wit ith h us to todd ay . Ga Gan ngs neighbor eighborh hood tu rf Bigotr gotry an and d ra racis cis m st rigge ggerr stiill tri surviv rvive e in a viol iolen entt world. world.

riting ting Ro In wri Rom m eo A nd Jul iet Shake akespe spea are creat reate ed a tim imel eless ess ta tale le o f lov e destroye destroyed d by sens sensele hatre feudal eless red d in fe udal Ve rona fo r his Eliza ss hat lizab beth etha an au audien diences. ces. Je Jero ro m e R o bb in inss

Leona eonard Bernst ernstein rth ur Lau ein   A rthur Laurrents ents an and d Ste teph phe en Sondh ndhe eim tr tra ansfo nsforme rmed d that ta tale le in intto on ume a monu men ntal cla ssic wor ork k of America erican n mus musica icall th theatr eatre e wi with th a po powerf werful ul mes essa sage ge fo forr au aud dien ienc ces aro arou und t h e worl orld d.

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The Th e M l] Stud St udyy   ui e for for W est es t   id ide e   tory

C h a rac ra c te rs in W es Side de S tory estt Si to ry The  ets  The he lead leader er R IFE  T T ON Y

 Hi  Hiss frie frien nd

ACTI TIO ON

A  RA  RAW W BAB BABYJ YJO OHN SNOW NOWBOY BOY

B IG

D E  L

D IE S EL GE E T A R MO MOUT UTH HPI PIE ECE

T I GE R T he ir  i rls GRAZ RAZIE IEL LLA V EL M  

MINNIE INNIE

CL

R IC E

PA PAU ULIN LINE   N Y  O D Y S

The  ha rks BERNA RNARDO  T ade r  Thh e leader

CHINO INO  H friend  Hiis frie nd

P EF E TOR ORO O

INDIO INDIO

LU I S ANX ANXIO IOU US

NI B BL E S JUAN UANO O