West side story sparknotes. Synopsis — West Side Story 2022-10-09
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West Side Story is a classic musical that tells the story of two young lovers, Tony and Maria, who are caught in the middle of a gang war between the Jets and the Sharks. The Jets are a group of white, working-class boys, while the Sharks are a group of Puerto Rican immigrants.
The story begins with the Jets and Sharks preparing for a rumble, or gang fight, on the west side of Manhattan. Tony, a former member of the Jets, tries to stop the fight and instead meets Maria, the sister of the Sharks' leader, Bernardo. Tony and Maria fall in love at first sight and try to find a way to be together despite the hostility between their two groups.
As Tony and Maria's relationship blossoms, tensions between the Jets and Sharks escalate. The situation is further complicated when Riff, the leader of the Jets, is killed by Bernardo during the rumble. Tony is then forced to take over leadership of the Jets and lead them in a final, violent confrontation with the Sharks.
In the end, Tony and Maria's love is not enough to bridge the divide between the Jets and Sharks, and both Tony and Maria are tragically killed. The musical ends with the two groups coming together to mourn the loss of the young lovers and recognize the futility of their violent feud.
West Side Story is a powerful and timeless story that explores themes of love, violence, and the destructive nature of prejudice and intolerance. It is a poignant reminder of the human cost of hate and the importance of understanding and acceptance.
West Side Story Novel Sparknotes
Maria takes the gun from Chino and accuses everybody in sight of the deaths of Tony, Bernardo, and Riff. The fight, which is between Bernardo and Ice Blissfully unaware of what has happened, Maria is waiting for Tony on the tenement roof. There are tot a lot of adults in this musical. Tony attempts to intervene and explain himself to Bernardo to avoid violence, but Bernardo uses his boxing skills to lay some hits against Tony. Leonard Bernstein was an American composer and conductor who lived from 1918 to 1990 and who wrote in many styles and forms, including musicals, operas, ballets, symphonic, and orchestral works.
At a dance, Tony, former leader of the Jets and Riff's best friend, and Maria, Bernardo's little sister, see each other across the room and it's love at first sight. Those headlines turned the trick, triggering the imaginations of the collaborators. The curtain rises on a bleak scene representing a warehouse. A distraught Tony then mindlessly runs out into the street, taunting Chino to kill him as well. The scene shows the strained competition between two posses: the Sharks, who are Puerto Rican, and the Planes, who are US-conceived.
They go to a church where Tony tries speaking Spanish to Maria after getting pointers from Valentina. Belonging as they do to enemy camps, Tony and Maria must henceforth carry on their love idyll in great secrecy. A bitter argument ensues, in which it emerges that the girls love their life in America while the boys hate it "America". The Jets, recognizing her as Bernardo's girl and thinking that she is there to betray Tony to Chino, won't let her go down to the basement to talk to Doc. Do Just what you all do? To his surprise, Maria comes out running to him, but Chino comes out as well and shoots Tony twice in the back.
When Tony leaves Maria's apartment, they make plans to meet at Doc's drugstore and run away together. Tony and Maria meet for a date and take the train to the Cloisters. Tony is painting a store sign as a shock for his chief, Doc, at the drugstore where he works. In the promenade leading up to the dance, though, the girls and boys end up facing each other at random, Jet girls across from Shark boys and vice versa. The curtain comes down on a stage hich is empty except for the bodies of Riff and Bernardo.
When he finds him, he tells Chino to shoot him, and at that moment, Maria appears. Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story. Broadway, The Golden Years: Jerome Robbins and The Great Choreographer-Directors, 1940 to the Present. The New York Times. Maria finds herself in love with Tony as well. West Side Story: Background The 1957 musical West Side Story was a collaboration among composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, and choreographer Jerome Robbins.
Bernardo insists that they, like Maria, don't understand this country. Everyone gathers at the mixer, and even Tony shows up. At the police station, Krupke is questioning the Jets since the police found out about the rumble. Maria, the sister of the Shark leader, Bernardo, has only been in America a short time. Retrieved April 21, 2020. The show was nearly complete in the fall of 1956, but almost everyone on the creative team needed to fulfill other commitments first. Tensions rise as a shark girl named Maria and a Jet named Tony fall for eachother, but there's a problem they can never be allowed to be together.
West Side Story Summary and Analysis (like SparkNotes)
Tony knows that Doc will give him money, so he goes to the drugstore and tells Maria to meet him there. Back at the Sharks' tenement building, Anita defends Maria's right to dance with whom she pleases, as do the other girls, but Bernardo will not listen. Elsewhere in the city lives Bernardo's sister Maria and his girlfriend Anita. Schrank and Officer Krupke, Riff, the leader of the Jets. In the end, Tony is killed and Maria gives an impassioned speech about how both gangs are at fault for his death, thereby ending the battle.
Or will he run away from the impossible task? She is still in a gay mood, and dances around the roof, until another Shark, Chino Ice has taken over as leader of the Jets. West Side Story: EGOT Winner to Play the Role of Valentina in Steven Spielberg's Remake". Riff, the leader of the Jets, wants his friend Tony to commit to the fight, but the rest of the gang questions Tony's loyalty. New York: Schirmer Books, p. Tony enters and tries to break up the fight, but provokes Bernardo against him instead. He still leaves before Anita and Bernardo find them together, but he and Maria agree to meet the following day.
1957 Original Broadway Production — West Side Story
As Chino shoots Tony, Maria catches him as falls to his death. Action We are then introduced to Bernardo's sister, Maria In the midst of all the excitement, Tony and Maria see each other, and immediately fall in love. The music of " Candide. He repentantly explains the events to Maria and asks for her forgiveness, fully intending to surrender himself to the authorities. ACT ONE Detective Schrank, the senior cop on the beat, tries to get the Jets to tell him which Puerto Ricans are starting trouble in the neighborhood, as he claims he is on their side.
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