West Side Story (2021 film)

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http://www.playbill.com/article/get-a-first-look-at-tony-maria-and-the-sharks-and-jets-from-the-new-west-side-story-movie

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Diplomatic exchange(?) among the two Latinx-themed movie musicals currently filming in NYC: Mr. Sondheim and Mr. Miranda each recently stopped by the West Side Story set, while both Mr. Kushner and Ms. Tesori were seen visiting that of In The Heights.  (Not seen by me personally, I should add; I heard these tidbits the old-fashioned way, from such exclusive insider-y sources as BroadwayWorld and LMM's public Twitter feed).

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https://okmagazine.com/photos/west-side-story-remake-filming-harlem-steven-spielberg-photos/

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I only grokked this just now, but several weeks ago it was announced that the release date for Spielberg's West Side Story remake has been pushed off to December 10, 2021:

https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/west-side-story-remake-release-delayed-by-a-full-y_91460.html

In the months since In The Heights bumped its own release forward a year (from June 2020 to June 2021), I've been curious whether WSS would end up doing the same -- so while this is disappointing for the short term, it isn't too surprising.

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The gentle, pointedly unclassical voice lullaby-ing bits of "Somewhere" in this trailer belongs to Rita Moreno (at least, if the closed captions are to be believed; they identify the offscreen singer as "Valentina," the new gender-flipped Doc character played by Moreno).

She's actually meant to be his widow, according to Vanity Fair among other sources; hence, presumably, the literal inheritor of Doc's eponymous neutral-ground corner store.  But there must surely be more to it than a chance to shoehorn Moreno into the cast as more than a fleeting fan-service cameo.  If Valentina's was a cross-cultural marriage (which I'm guessing, on no particular evidence), does it offer a hopeful example -- or conversely, a cautionary one -- to Tony and Maria?  What was the older couple's life together like?  When and how did Doc die -- and how have his widow, and their store, been faring since then?

Obviously I'm itching with curiosity about what Tony Kushner's screenplay has in store for us.  As dream teams for this movie go, Spielberg/Kushner/Tesori still completely blows my mind.  (Tesori's credit, per IMDb, is "supervising vocal producer," and her presence gives me much more faith than usual that the singing is being handled intelligently).

And those gorgeous images...

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Spielberg on Sondheim before last night's WSS premiere

Reactions to the premiere: "top-tier Spielberg"

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So far, despite near-universal shrugs for Ansel Elgort's Tony, the reviews are glowing (97% on Rotten Tomatoes, 85 on Metacritic) -- none more so than Justin Chang's for the Los Angeles Times.

Also, the soundtrack is available to stream now on Apple Music and Amazon and YouTube Music, a week ahead of its CD/vinyl release (and the film's opening) on December 10.

I'm excited to see the film next week!

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(Audio only, 80min) 1985 symposium on WSS with Robbins, Bernstein, Sondheim and Laurents, moderated by Terrence McNally:

(Video, 84min) 1998 interview with Sondheim alone, for the PBS American Masters doc on Bernstein:

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In case anyone hadn't heard: as of yesterday, West Side Story (2021) is available to stream on HBO Max and Disney+.

Also, Cinerama has this WSS playlist on their YouTube channel, featuring the two trailers and a baker's dozen behind-the-scenes extras organized chronologically (most focusing on specific songs or sequences) with commentary by Spielberg, Kushner, Sondheim, Peck, Tesori, Stockhausen, Tazewell, the cast and producers and many more:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcyjozlX_xdCotIEhv9xVAWNKF5m3grr2

These are included as extras, under the umbrella title "The Stories of West Side Story", with the film's digital release and, presumably, its upcoming Blu Ray/DVD release.

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Someone recently posted "The Stories of West Side Story" in its entirety as a single hour-and-a-half long video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_I-NcSCrFA

The movie itself is also available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and YouTube, among others.  Options vary by platform as to rental or purchase, with or without extras.
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And here's an appreciation of the film that's also a sobering take on the state of cinema in general (as in, movies seen in a theater, not at home or on a mobile device) and movie musicals in particular:

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/west-side-story-brilliance-tragedy-disney-release/
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Finally, while watching it on HBO Max the other night, the final frame of the end credits struck me as it hadn't before:

"The making and authorized distribution of this film supported over 15,000 jobs and involved hundreds of thousands of work hours."

While duly impressed, I don't actually have any idea how those figures compare to, say, those of the latest Marvel release.  Nor am I clear what the takeaway is supposed to be, apart from, I guess, vague movie-industry boosterism?  I don't recall seeing similar claims made in other film credits (though it's possible they're there sometimes and I'm just not as conscientious about watching all the way through to the very end as I used to be).  Should we assume that Spider Man: No Way Home, with twice WSS's budget, likewise involved twice as many jobs and work hours?  (And likewise, did In The Heights, with half of WSS's budget, employ only half as many people and take only half as many hours?).  I wouldn't mind if citing such statistics were to become more common; it's an interesting metric, in some ways much more so than budgets and box-office receipts.