Review: Steven Spielberg's rousing 'West Side Story' revival
3 years ago

Review: Steven Spielberg's rousing 'West Side Story' revival

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Rachel Zegler s María, Ariana DeBose's Anita and David Alvarez's Bernardo are, to remarkable degree, what makes this “West Side Story” sing. This “West Side Story” comes out of a different cultural moment, one of tasteful renovation — three 20th century titans of the arts, like master remodeling craftsmen, shifting and rearranging the play's latticework of scaffolding, brick and fire escape. “West Side Story,” originally staged in 1957, was Sondheim's first musical. Corey Stoll's Lieutenant Schrank spells it out for them: A remade neighborhood is coming that won't have room for Puerto Ricans like the Sharks or “the last of the can't-make-it Caucasians.” It's narrative, context and authenticity that give Spielberg's “West Side Story” its own verve.

West America Musical Tony Spielberg Robbins Maria Sharks Zegler Bernardo West Side Story Sondheim Elgort  revival  maria  sharks  tony  west  spielberg  spielbergs  rousing  musical  original  america  review  sign  steven  robbins

History of this topic

First Take | While making West Side Story, Steven Spielberg should've taken cues from In The Heights, or even Saawariya
2 years, 8 months ago

First Take | While making West Side Story, Steven Spielberg should've taken cues from In The Heights, or even Saawariya

Firstpost  

What a relief to know that Steven Spielberg will not be making another musical in his lifetime. [Forgive us, one is enough!> West Side Story is a completely unnecessary remake of Robert Wise’s 1961 ebullient musical feature film. But because it brings a certain sting and sweep to the epic musical genre as we move from one well-written musical number …

How Steven Spielberg scared Tony Kushner into tackling ‘West Side Story’
2 years, 10 months ago

How Steven Spielberg scared Tony Kushner into tackling ‘West Side Story’

LA Times  

After scaring himself with the prospect of writing a new version of “West Side Story,” Tony Kushner says he “began to understand that my task was basically the same as that faced by every writer: to figure out the bare-bones structure of a world, to assemble the topography that rests upon it, and then to populate it.” Each time Steven …

Review: Masterful Spielberg, but largely the same West Side Story
3 years ago

Review: Masterful Spielberg, but largely the same West Side Story

Live Mint  

In his West Side Story, Steven Spielberg indulges the new cinematic fetish for teams assembling. West Side Story was already a classic of American stage and screen: a 1957 Broadway play, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a 1961 movie by Robert Wise and Robbins. It’s a wonder the film survives the lack of chemistry …

Spielberg ‘West Side Story’ debuts weakly with $10.5M
3 years ago

Spielberg ‘West Side Story’ debuts weakly with $10.5M

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Despite critical acclaim and two years-worth of anticipation, Steven Spielberg’s lavish “West Side Story” revival made little noise at the box office, debuting with $10.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday — a worrisome result for a movie industry struggling to recapture its finger-snapping rhythm. A dazzling widescreen adaptation and Spielberg’s first musical, “West …

West Side Story review: Spielberg’s version is far from a radical revisionist triumph
3 years ago

West Side Story review: Spielberg’s version is far from a radical revisionist triumph

The Independent  

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Cert 12A, 156 minutes There’s a tragic irony at the centre …

Spielberg opens doors to Latino artists with new West Side Story
3 years ago

Spielberg opens doors to Latino artists with new West Side Story

Live Mint  

Steven Spielberg marks a milestone in U.S. film history by insisting on an authentic Latin cast for his remake of the musical "West Side Story," opening worldwide this week. The creative team also included Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who Spielberg said led the orchestra with "such insight, heart and dynamism" for the new soundtrack. Alvarez said this "West Side Story," …

'I didn't consider West Side Story to be a remake': Steven Spielberg in conversation with Shoojit Sircar
3 years ago

'I didn't consider West Side Story to be a remake': Steven Spielberg in conversation with Shoojit Sircar

Firstpost  

In a 10-min video, shared by the YouTube page of 20th Century Studios India, the legendary filmmaker was engaged in a virtual conversation with Bollywood director Shoojit Sircar, who had performed the play in his theatre days. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he had to be fearless to be able to make West Side Story, a reimagining of the beloved Broadway …

Spielberg’s West Side Story Proves the Controversial Musical Shouldn’t Be Retired
54 years, 11 months ago

Spielberg’s West Side Story Proves the Controversial Musical Shouldn’t Be Retired

Slate  

If Stephen Sondheim had not died only a week before the theatrical release of Steven Spielberg’s dazzling remake of West Side Story, the movie’s reception might have felt different. But the loss of the songwriter who would go on to invent a new kind of musical theater, and the resulting conversations about the history of the form we’ve been having …

Review: Steven Spielberg’s rousing ‘West Side Story’ revival
3 years ago

Review: Steven Spielberg’s rousing ‘West Side Story’ revival

Associated Press  

We’re so rife with reboots and remakes today that it can take a moment to gauge just what Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is. Rachel Zegler’s María, Ariana DeBose’s Anita and David Alvarez’s Bernardo are, to remarkable degree, what makes this “West Side Story” sing. And, yet, as fully realized and impeccably crafted as this “West Side Story” is, I’m …

Review: ‘West Side Story’ is Steven Spielberg’s most exhilarating movie in years
3 years ago

Review: ‘West Side Story’ is Steven Spielberg’s most exhilarating movie in years

LA Times  

The Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic. And the obvious care taken by Spielberg and his screenwriter, Tony Kushner — here wringing an entirely new script from Arthur Laurents’ original book — speaks to the cultural firestorms that “West Side Story” seems to ignite with each new iteration. Rita Moreno in Steven Spielberg’s new …

Five stars for Spielberg's 'moving' West Side Story
3 years ago

Five stars for Spielberg's 'moving' West Side Story

BBC  

Five stars for Spielberg's 'moving' West Side Story Niko Tavernise/ Twentieth Century Fox Spielberg's version of the classic musical is "full of energy, passion and tragedy", says Caryn James. Eternal works of art can be endlessly transformed, much the way West Side Story itself turned Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, complete with balcony scene, into the story of Tony and Maria, …

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