Westside Story Review

Writing Assignment

• Please use your own paper.

• Assignment is due by the end of class today.

• IF Westside Story did not end with a fade to black followed by the words THE END, but faded in on an additional scene, What would that scene be?

• Describe the situation or scene.

• Write an example of dialogue between characters.

• Would there be a song during this scene?

• What type or style of song would it be?

• What is the name of the song?

• What happens in this scene that helps complete the story?

• Use your time wisely. This will be graded for imagination as well as quality. (100 pts)

•Your You’re

•There Their

• 1. In what city is 'West Side Story' set?

• New York

• Los Angeles

• Chicago

• Miami

• 2. What were the names of the two main gangs?

• Blades and Tigers

• Emeralds and Diamonds

• Jets and Sharks

• Devils and Disciples

• 3. Who wrote the lyrics of this musical?

• Anthony Newley

• Tim Rice

• Stephen Sondheim

• Sammy Cahn

Stephen Sondheim

• Stephen Joshua Sondheim (born March 22, 1930) is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards (eight, more than any other composer) including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre,1 multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. Described by Frank Rich of the New York Times as "the greatest, and perhaps best-known artist working in musical theatre"

• 4. Who played the part of Anita?

• Natalie Wood

• Rita Moreno

• Shirley Maclaine

• Liza Minnelli

Rita Moreno

• 5. In the song 'America' how many to a room are mentioned in the lyric ' Industry boom in America, ________ in a room in America'?

• 9

• 10

• 12

• 8

6. What was the name of the 'tomboy' that always wanted to be part of Riff's gang?

• Anybody's

• Nobody's

• Everybody's

• Somebody's

7. Which member of the Puerto Rican gang killed Tony?

• Bernardo

• Chino

• Alfonso

• Dino

8. After the 'rumble' the gang assemble at an underground car park. They are then led into a song and dance routine to 'Cool'. What is the name of the 'cool dude' who sings the song?

• Ice• Frosty• Chill• Freeze

• 9. Tony feels that 'Something's Comin'' and he sings about it being 'Only just out of reach, down the block, on a beach, ___________'. What are the missing three words?

• Over A Hill• Under A Moon• Under A Tree• Over A Sea

• 10. Who was the composer of this masterpiece?

• Leonard Bernstein

• Burt Bacharach

• Richard Rodgers

• Andrew Lloyd-Webber

Leonard Bernstein

• Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim. According to The New York Times, he was “One of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history."

• 1. What was the name of the Puerto Rican gang?

• Jets

• Sharks

• Hawks

• Emeralds

• 2. Who was originally supposed to fight Bernardo hand-to-hand?

• Action

• Riff

• Ice

• Tiger

• 3. What was the name of the host of the dance at the gym?

• Krupke

• Doc

• Schrank

• Glad Hand

• 4. Who told Maria of Bernardo's death?

• Chino

• her mother

• Tony

• No one, she saw it happen

Chino

• 5. What, according to Tony, is 'the most beautiful sound I ever heard'?

• I Love You

• Violins

• Laughter

• Maria

• 7. What did Baby John paint on the wall underneath the word 'SHARKS'?

• 'STINK'

• 'GO HOME'

• 'ARE COWARDS'

• A picture of a shark with a harpoon in it

Baby John

• 8. Where did the big rumble take place?

• Sweeney's Lot

• under the highway

• the river

• the playground

• 10. For what item did Maria pretend to send Anita to the store, to fool Lt. Schrank?

• newspaper

• aspirin

• candy

• cough medicine

• 11. Why did Anita lie to the Jets and tell them that Chino killed Maria?

• She always hated Maria

• The Jets assaulted her

• She was secretly in love with Tony

• Chino threatened to kill her if she didn't

• 13. What is Maria's father's pet name for her?

• Maritza

• Queso

• Dolce

• Maruca

• 14. Who plays the headshrinker in the musical number 'Officer Krupke'?

• Tony

• Baby John

• Action

• Riff

• 1. Tony was of what ethnicity?

• Swedish

• Puerto Rican

• Polish

• German

• 3. 'West Side Story' was a modern day production of what Shakespeare play?

• The Taming of the Shrew

• Romeo and Juliet

• Othello

• A Midsummer Night's Dream

• 4. Bernardo was whose older brother?

• Riff

• Anita

• Maria

• Consuelo

• 4. Who was Tony's best friend?

• Tommy

• Bernado

• Riff

• Snowboy

Riff

• Russell Irving "Russ" Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934) is an American film and television actor, who is arguably best known for his performance in the 1961 movie musical West Side Story as Riff, the leader of the Jets gang.

• 8. Who sings 'A Boy Like That'?

• Anita and Tony

• Maria and Bernado

• Maria and Anita

• Tony and Maria

• 5. Riff and Bernardo's deaths are based on the deaths of which original "Romeo and Juliet" characters?

• Claudius and Polonius

• Tybalt and Mercutio

• Horatio and Hortensio

• Christopher Sly and Puck

• 9. Who is Riff's girlfriend?

• Graziella

• Anita

• Velma

• Maria

• 1. Which character fills the part of Paris ("Romeo and Juliet") in "West Side Story"?

• Bernardo

• Riff

• Tony

• Chino

• 4. Which character in "West Side Story" fills the part of Mercutio from "Romeo and Juliet"?

• Nobody

• Riff

• Action

• George

Who plays Maria?

• Marnie Nixon

• Natalie Wood

• Rita Moreno

Natalie Wood

• Natalie Wood (born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko (Russian) July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress.

• Wood began acting in movies at the age of four and became a successful child actor in such films as Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

In Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Natalie Wood

What song does Tony sing solo?

• Tonight

• Somewhere

• Something’s Coming

• Look at each song in West Side Story. Discuss the manner in which each contributed to the plot, mood, and character development in the play. Were any of the songs influenced by passages or events in Romeo And Juliet?

• Can you think about another place in the show where a song might have been included?

• What would a title for this song be? What would it be about? What kind of music would it have?

• Dance is very effectively integrated in

West Side Story. How is dance used to

express emotion? Where is dance used

in situations where it would occur in

reality? Why is dance more powerful at

certain moments than words might be?

• At the very end of the show, as the two gangs appear to be cooperating for the first time (to carry Tony’s body), a peaceful-sounding high chord alternates with a dissonant-sounding low note. Yet this dissonance never resolves to a satisfying-sounding bass note. By ending the musical without resolving this low note, what comment do you think Bernstein is making about the future of the Jets and the Sharks?