Why I’m thrilled Steven Spielberg is remaking West Side Story: It soundtracked my own coming of age

Being cast in a local production as a teenager started a love affair with Leonard Bernstein’s creation that has stood the test of time
Sabrina Russello26 November 2021

The sound of a whistle, that’s all it took to put a stupid smile on my face.

“Nothing’s even happened yet,” my baffled friend said as we watched the teaser trailer for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. But I knew what was coming.

On December 10 the world rediscovered - or was possibly introduced to - what I believe is one of the greatest musicals of all time.

When I first heard that a remake of the West Side Story was in the works, I panicked. They’re going to ruin it, I thought. Why? It goes without saying that some productions should go untouched, never to be remade. West Side Story is one of them. Others, in my opinion, include Titanic, Grease, The Wizard of Oz. Should I go on?

I felt protective over the musical turned Oscar-winning film. And for good reason, it’s a classic, and it means a lot to me.

I can pinpoint the moment West Side Story fastened itself into my heart. I was 16 and had just been cast in a local production of the show. I landed a role as one of the Puerto Rican girls, an appropriate fit for someone with dark hair, dark eyes and a natural ability to give sass at the drop of a hat. Up to this point, I’d only had minor roles in productions -  a few minutes at most on stage. But West Side Story would become my life, my coming of age story, as I transformed from stranger to lover of Leonard Bernstein’s creation.

The musical, originally written by Arthur Laurents, takes the trope of Romeo and Juliet and drops it in 1950’s New York City. Rival gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, are vying for the same piece of turf while two of their own, Tony (Richard Beymer) and Maria (Natalie Wood), fall head over heels for one another after a long gaze across a gymnasium room floor one night at a school dance. Both the Sharks and the Jets do what they can to keep the two apart.

My first real introduction to the show was the music. Very few do it better than Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. Even those who’ve never seen the musical on stage or screen can recite lyrics from at least one song, most likely ‘’I Feel Pretty’’ (yes, this is where that song comes from). I, on the other hand, could sing the musical from front to back, any of the parts. Even a reminder of it and my day turns into a one-woman show of the soundtrack. Apologies to my colleagues, my flatmate and any innocent Tube bystanders caught in my musical crossfire.

Film: West Side Story (1961) with Natalie Wood as Maria and Richard Beymer as Tony
Handout

My fondest memory of being in the show is getting to perform its best and most exciting ensemble number, America. The nearly five-minute song, led by Shark girl Anita (played in the original film adaptation by Rita Moreno, who reappears in Spielberg’s version as Valentina, an expanded character based on Doc, the proprietor of the store in which Tony works), is filled with cheeky lines and high energy. There were only six of us in the stage performance as it doesn’t include our Shark counterparts like it does in the film. Sorry, boys. So everything we did had to be over the top. Big steps, the highest high kicks, spins that floated across the stage from left to right. I can feel my heart beat faster even now as I think about it. The girls and I formed unbreakable bonds, spending most of our waking hours together. How could we not? And it showed when we performed. It was one big party every night and the most fun I’ve had on stage.

At its core, West Side Story is about friendship, young love and wanting to belong. I could relate to that. I think most people can. When I watch the film, as I do from time to time, I can’t help but reflect on all those moments on stage as a young woman finding herself through the trials and tribulations of teenage drama with Bernstein’s soundtrack playing in the background, and feeling hopeful for her place in the future.

Perhaps the new adaptation will be this generation’s coming of age story.

Spielberg hasn’t directed in a few years, and oddly enough, I find comfort in that. I assume he didn’t make the decision to return to the helm lightly. But it is his first ever musical - it had to be. In a behind-the-scenes clip, he said he first listened to the soundtrack when he was just 10 years old. He made a promise then to make the musical into a film one day, and he’s held true to his word.

WEST SIDE STORY
Ilda Mason as Luz, Ariana DeBose as Anita, and Ana Isabelle as Rosalia in Spielberg’s new version
20th Century Studios

In September, I got my first glimpse of the new movie. The 2021 teaser trailer is a carbon copy of the original. Watch them side by side and you’ll find few differences. The cinematography is stunning. There are no lines, just the song Somewhere playing in the background, creating excitement and heartbreak simultaneously, just as it does in the 1961 classic. From what I can tell, Spielberg’s version is going to be a beautiful homage to the original.

Sometimes I wonder if West Side Story is actually that great (though ten Oscar wins would argue it absolutely is) or if I just feel sentimental about it. But maybe that’s the point. It’s a story that makes you feel something. It’s familiar and nostalgic. And its messages - good and bad - are as relevant now as they were then.

Is it perfect? No, but nothing is. I could do without the song Something’s Coming - a bit of a snooze fest even if it is foreshadowing - and there’s one particular scene I’d scrap altogether (no spoilers here, if you’ve somehow managed never to see it). But flaws and all, it wouldn’t be what it is without those - a damn good musical that’s withstood the test of time. Here’s hoping the 2021 remake does the same.

Te adoro, West Side Story.

West Side Story is released on December 10

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