60 Fun Facts About West Side Story

West Side Story is inspired by which Shakespeare play?

Laurents' first draft followed the play closely, but the Rosaline character and the lovers' parents were dropped early on.

Which two teenage gangs fight for control of the neighbourhood in West Side Story?

One gang is white and the other is made up of recent Puerto Rican migrants, and the police spend the show trying to keep them apart.

Who composed the music for West Side Story?

He wrote it at the same time as Candide, and material moved between the two scores in both directions.

The original 1957 Broadway production marked the Broadway debut of which lyricist?

He initially resisted taking a lyrics-only job, and it took Oscar Hammerstein to persuade him the experience would be worth it.

Who wrote the book (the spoken script) of West Side Story?

He invented fake-sounding street slang such as 'cut the frabba-jabba' so the dialogue would not date before opening night.

Who conceived West Side Story and directed and choreographed the original production?

He demanded the 'Conceived by' credit and used it to push through changes without consulting his collaborators, who were not speaking to him by opening night.

Maria is the sister of the leader of the Sharks; what is his name?

He agrees to a fair fist fight but ends up in a switchblade duel that leaves both gang leaders dead before the first-act curtain.

Who is the leader of the Jets and Tony's best friend?

When the Sharks' leader shoves Tony at the rumble, it is the Jets' leader who throws the first punch in his friend's defence.

Robbins' original 1949 idea for the show set the feud between which two groups on the Lower East Side?

That draft, titled East Side Story, was shelved for nearly five years once the team realised it echoed the old play Abie's Irish Rose.

Which songwriting duo turned down the West Side Story lyrics job to work on Peter Pan instead?

Their refusal opened the door for Laurents to ask a young Sondheim, whom he had met at a party for an Ugo Betti play.

'One Hand, One Heart' was originally intended for which character in Bernstein's Candide?

The traffic ran both ways: the tune of 'Gee, Officer Krupke' was lifted from Candide's Venice scene.

Which song was written to replace 'One Hand, One Heart' in the fire-escape balcony scene?

Laurents thought the original choice too pristine for hot-blooded young lovers, and Hammerstein helped him win the argument.

Which song was cut in the Washington tryout for making the show ordinary musical comedy?

Laurents also thought 'America' and 'I Feel Pretty' were too witty for their characters, but was outvoted and both became favourites.

Which actor did Laurents originally want for the role of Tony, before the actor's death?

Sondheim eventually found the two performers who created Tony and Anita on Broadway.

Which producing partner of Robert E. Griffith took on the show others had called too dark?

His mentor George Abbott advised him to turn it down; Prince ignored him and later recalled singing along as Sondheim and Bernstein played the score.

Robbins agreed to choreograph only after getting a dance rehearsal period of how many weeks, double the norm?

There was to be more dancing than in any previous Broadway show, and Robbins was allowed to hire Peter Gennaro as his assistant.

The original Broadway production opened on September 26, 1957 at which Broadway house?

It ran for 732 performances, then returned to the same house in 1960 for another 249 after a national tour.

Which record label initially refused to record the original cast album, calling the score too depressing?

The same label later balked at Sondheim's original profane last line for 'Gee, Officer Krupke' over state obscenity laws.

Who created the role of Anita in the original 1957 Broadway cast?

She reprised the part in London in 1958 and went on to become the first Latina Kennedy Center honoree in 2002.

Who played Maria in the original Broadway West Side Story, and lost the film role for being 'too old' at 29?

Robbins pushed for her to repeat the role on screen, but the producers changed their minds after seeing her screen test.

How many performances did the original Broadway production run before closing in June 1959?

The London production actually ran longer, clocking up 1,039 performances at Her Majesty's Theatre.

Of six 1958 Tony nominations, the original production won two: choreography for Robbins and scenic design for whom?

His painted backdrops were praised, though Prince had refused to fund new sets when the built scenery looked shabby.

Sondheim's only musical contribution to West Side Story was developing the chorus of which song?

Rumours that Sondheim wrote more music while Bernstein was off fixing Candide have been rejected by theatre historian Steven Suskin.

Bernstein's 1960 orchestral suite drawn from the show is titled what?

It premiered at Carnegie Hall in February 1961 with the New York Philharmonic under Lukas Foss, not Bernstein himself.

Which two opera singers starred as Tony and Maria on Bernstein's 1985 studio recording of the score?

It was the composer's only recording of his own complete score, made with the New York Philharmonic.

The 2009 Broadway revival wove Spanish into the show using translations by which Tony winner?

'I Feel Pretty' became 'Me siento hermosa' and 'A Boy Like That' became 'Un hombre así', though the English returned midway through the run.

The 2020 Broadway revival, which cut 'I Feel Pretty', was directed by which avant-garde Belgian director?

It opened on February 20, 2020 and gave its last performance on March 11, when the pandemic shut Broadway down.

The 1961 West Side Story film was co-directed by Jerome Robbins and which Hollywood director?

Wise fired Robbins when the film fell 24 days behind schedule after 45 days of shooting, but still insisted he share directing credit.

How many Academy Awards did the 1961 film win from its 11 nominations?

It remains the record holder for the most Oscar wins by a musical, and Robbins also received a special award for his choreography.

The 1961 film was the first to share which Academy Award between two people?

Wise personally collected the statuettes for both Best Picture and Best Director that night.

Which singer secretly dubbed Natalie Wood's vocals as Maria in the 1961 film?

Wood recorded her own tracks and was led to believe they would be used; her voice survives only in the brief 'Somewhere' reprise as Tony dies.

The singer who ghosted Maria's vocals also dubbed Audrey Hepburn in which 1964 film musical?

Time magazine nicknamed her 'The Ghostess with the Mostest' for her uncredited dubbing work.

Which rock star was approached to play Tony in the 1961 film, only for his manager to turn it down?

Colonel Tom Parker said no; Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Marlon Brando and Robert Redford were among the others considered.

Who played Tony in the 1961 film despite having no history of singing or dancing?

His songs were dubbed by Jimmy Bryant, and the producers found their Maria after watching Wood in a Splendor in the Grass clip meant to showcase Beatty.

Which actor played the Jets' leader in the 1961 film after impressing Wise while auditioning for Tony?

Tucker Smith supplied his singing voice on 'Jet Song', one of several hidden dubs in the film.

George Chakiris won an Oscar as the Sharks' leader on film, but which role had he played on the London stage?

He switched gangs for the screen; fellow stage veteran Tony Mordente moved from A-Rab to Action.

Rita Moreno's Oscar for Anita made her the first woman of which background to win an Academy Award?

She later completed the EGOT and, frustrated by stereotyped offers, did not make another film for seven years after her win.

Rita Moreno was born in 1931 in which Puerto Rican town?

Born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano, she was the daughter of a seamstress and a farmer.

Who designed the 1961 film's title and end-credit sequences?

He was credited as visual consultant for the opening sequence that plays over the overture, working with Elaine Makatura Bass.

The 1961 film was the highest-grossing musical ever until which 1965 film overtook it?

It was also the top-grossing film of 1961 outright, though profit sharing left United Artists with only $2.5 million.

For the 1961 film, 'Gee, Officer Krupke' was moved to the first half and swapped places with which song?

Sondheim disliked watching a street gang perform a comedy number right after both gang leaders had been killed at the rumble.

The main theme of the song 'Maria' is famous for its use of which unsettling melodic interval?

Bernstein recalled being told nobody would be able to sing augmented fourths; Johnny Mathis and Roger Williams both charted with the song anyway.

Which dance rhythm, heard on holiday in Puerto Rico, gave Bernstein the idea for 'America'?

Years later a friend found the tune in an unproduced Bernstein ballet called Conch Town, so the story may be more romantic than accurate.

Critics note that the melody of 'Somewhere' strongly resembles the slow movement of which Beethoven work?

Other borrowings spotted include Richard Strauss's Burleske and the main theme of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

Which synth-pop duo released 'Somewhere' in 1997 to promote a Savoy Theatre residency?

Their version also samples dialogue from Menace II Society and folds in bits of 'One Hand, One Heart' and 'I Feel Pretty'.

Who wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's 2021 West Side Story?

He had worked with Spielberg on Munich and Lincoln, and it was his argument that saved 'I Feel Pretty' from being cut.

Rachel Zegler was picked from roughly how many applicants to play María in the 2021 film?

She went on to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, and later played Juliet on Broadway.

In the 2021 film Rita Moreno plays Valentina, the owner of what?

Her character is Doc's widow, and Moreno also served as an executive producer, consulting on choreography on set.

Spielberg cast Mike Faist as the Jets' leader after seeing him in which Broadway show in 2016?

Spielberg personally invited him to audition; Ariana DeBose, meanwhile, had come from the original Hamilton ensemble.

Ariana DeBose's Oscar for Anita made her the first person of which heritage to win Best Supporting Actress?

Her dance shoes melted repeatedly during the hot 'America' shoot across Harlem, Queens and Paterson, New Jersey.

Spielberg chose not to subtitle the Spanish dialogue in the 2021 film for what stated reason?

He said subtitling would be 'doubling down on the English', and he hired an entirely Latinx cast to play the Sharks.

The 2021 film grossed only about three-quarters of its production budget worldwide; what was that budget?

It still earned seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture and won three Golden Globes including Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.

The 2021 film premiered on November 29, three days after the death of which original creative team member?

The premiere was at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the complex whose construction is cited in the film as the reason the gangs' neighbourhood is being demolished.

Which tomboy character desperately wants to join the Jets and eventually is accepted by Action?

She warns Tony to flee after the rumble, takes the knives, and later spies on the Sharks to learn Chino has a gun.

The dance where Tony and Maria first meet takes place where?

A challenge dance is called and the couple, not taking part, spot each other across the room and forget the tension around them.

The original 1958 London production ran for how many performances at Her Majesty's Theatre?

It had transferred from the Manchester Opera House and outran the original Broadway production by more than 300 performances.

Who created the role of Tony in the original 1957 Broadway cast?

Sondheim found both Kert and Chita Rivera, who originated Anita, during the casting process.

Which future TV star played Anita in the 1980 Broadway revival at the Minskoff Theatre?

She and Josie de Guzman, the revival's Maria, were both nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Who won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress as Anita in the 2009 Broadway revival?

The revival's cast recording also took the Grammy for Best Musical Show Album, and the run sold more than a million tickets.

In the musical, Maria arrives from Puerto Rico for an arranged marriage to which character?

She confesses to Anita she does not love him; he later fires the shot that kills Tony in the finale.