How I Came to Love West Side Story:

[Skull Pilot]

Watched it once.

the idea of hoods doing ballet made it impossible to believe

I especially like the wicked tough finger snapping

 

[independent minded]

Watched it once.

the idea of hoods doing ballet made it impossible to believe

I especially like the wicked tough finger snapping

I like the finger-snapping and the Jet gang whistles, too. They're a very integral part of the story behind West Side Story, and a big part of why West Side Story is so special.

 

[independent minded]

I love the theme music from "Band of Brothers." It takes my breath away - I have the entire series on DVD.



I look at our soldiers ... and I thank them for their sacrifice ... I think of my Dad who was in the Army Corps of Engineers (and who also served in the Korean War ... I think of two of his younger brothers who were KIA in France after D-Day ... exactly one month apart, both buried in different American Cemeteries in France ... my uncle who was an Army medic and also survived D-Day - and the carnage he must have seen. I recently lost my uncle who died 6 months short of his 100th birthday. We owe all these people our thanks and respect.

But as to "Pretty Woman" - not my favorite - but still a great soundtrack. I also have Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma, Chicago, Mamma Mia and others.

I saw Westside Story on Broadway in June 1958 on my way to Germany. Great play and great movie. A couple years ago on a New England tour we overnighted in NYC and went to see Mama Mia. The movie was good but I thought the play was far better. It was 5 Star.

I'm generally not a huge fan of musicals on film. Most musicals are better on stage. West Side Story, however, is a rare exception, because it was successful on both stage and screen. One of the things that gave the original 1961 film version of West Side Story is that when it was transferred from stage to screen, it was preserved as a larger-than-lifesized piece of theatre.

Truly a good movie ... I have an old VCR version with Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, Russ Tamblyn and George Chakaris (if I haven't slaughtered the spelling).

I, too, have a VCR version of the original 1961 film version of West Side Story that a friend/former co-worker gave me as a present many years ago. Whenever I wanted to watch it on my little black and white TV, I rented a VCR from the now-defunct Hollywood Express store across the highway from where I've lived for over 30 years, and I live here still. When that little black and white TV that I'd received as a present 15 years before went, and I got a newer, bigger TV, which still works after 15 years, I could not watch the VCR version of the 1961 film version of West Side Story on it any longer, because VCR's became obsolete.

 

[g5000]

West Side Story, a wonderfully famous late-1950’s Broadway stage musical about two warring street gangs on NYC’s West Side, and a love that developed, and then went up in smoke amid the conflict between the Ethnic American Jets and the newly-arrived Puerto Rican Sharks, resulting in the deaths of three people, yet also presents hints of possible intergroup reconciliation, as difficult as it can be, has had a powerful grip on my imagination since the summer before I entered the sixth grade. My initial introduction to this musical was through the musical score to the original Broadway stage production of West Side Story, while attending day camp out west (Tucson, AZ, to be exact.).
One girl in the group I was with, who’d just received a copy of the LP Album of the soundtrack to the original Broadway stage production of West Side Story for her birthday, brought the album in and played it for the rest of the group. My love for the music to WSS and the story behind it took off instantly.

West Side Story-mania was in the air that summer, as kids frequently roamed the halls, snapping their fingers and singing the songs from WSS. It was quite cool. The songs from West Side Story regularly rang through the bus to and from day camp five days a week. (My sister and I were staying at our grandparents’ house that summer, as well.

When I got home from day camp, I’d play my parents’ copy of that same West Side Story soundtrack LP album that they had, on their Hi-Fi whenever I could. I also liked to bang around with some of the prominent songs from West Side Story on the piano, much to my parents’ dismay and chagrin.
Four years after its first rendez-vous on stage, West Side Story came out as a spectacular motion picture, in late October of 1961, winning well-earned ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, for that year. Due to my relative social isolation from other kids I grew up going to school with, and to the fact that my parents didn’t consider West Side Story a kids’ movie (I was still a pre-teen back in 1961, when this film first came out.), I did not get to see it until seven years after it was first released, at around Christmastime of 1968, as a high school Senior, during a national re-release of the film West Side Story, at a now-defunct cinema north of where my siblings and I grew up. Little did I or any of my family know that this was the start of a love affair with this film that is still going strong today, much to the amusement, resignation and chagrin of my family!

Since I was still a teenager in high school when I saw the film West Side Story for the first time, I identified with the Jets, the Sharks, and their girls, regarding kids being kids and so on, but when I got a little older and began seeing this film in repertory movie theatres in and around Boston, I still appreciated the story behind this classic film, but I also began to appreciate it as the true work of art that it really is.

I graduated from a large suburban public high school roughly 20 miles due northwest of Boston, back in the spring of 1969, before I sort of put West Side Story on the back burner and saw other films that I liked a great deal.

Three years after I graduated from high school, the movie West Side Story came on TV for the first time, in two separate parts. Someone in my evening Jewelry-making class that I was then taking at the Museum of Fine Arts School here in Boston had brought in a small black-and-white TV, and we all gathered around to watch it, enjoying ourselves and having fun.

That summer, when I went on a six-week trip to Europe, someone in the group had brought a cassette tape of the soundtrack to the film version of West Side Story, which was played almost every evening, during free hours. It was then that my love for this classic film was re-awakened. Shortly after arriving home from Europe, I had a short conversation with my dad over dinner about my wish for West Side Story to come back again. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey! I wish the film West Side Story would come back.
Dad: You never forgot it, did you?
Me: No.

That fall, two days before Thanksgiving, I got my wish. West Side Story came on TV, so I cut my evening Jewelry-making class to stay home and watch it, on our little black-and-white TV. Need I tell everybody that I”ve been hooked on this classic film since? Now, every time it comes to one of the independent, non-profit repertory movie theatres in my area, or at least within reasonable driving distance of me (I’ve even made special road trips to neighboring states to view screenings of the film West Side Story!), I go.

As a devout fan of this Classic film, I’ve seen the film West Side Story more times than I can count, as well as several very good stage productions of the original Broadway stage production of WSS that I’ve liked a great deal. ( The more up-to-date Broadway stage revival of this musical...hmmmm..not so much!)’

Much to the chagrin, amusement and resignation of my family and friends, I love this film still, and see it every time it comes around, especially to a movie theatre. Imho, regardless of what anybody says or thinks about how wonderful these elaborate home theatre systems may be, absolutely nothing beats seeing the classic film West Side Story on a great big, wide screen, in a real movie theatre, with the lights down low, and sharing the whole experience with a bunch of other people, whether one knows them or not.

There are only two musicals I like. West Side Story and The Blues Brothers.

West Side Story is a retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, by the way.

ETA: I see someone already pointed out the Romeo and Juliet connection.

 

[independent minded]

Ive never seen it.

Through the courtesy of fathomevents.com and Turner classic movies, the original 1961 film version of West Side Story will be having a 60th Anniversary screening for two days in late fall of this year: Sunday, November, 28th, and Wednesday, December 1st, at select movie theatres, nationwide, throughout the United States. Tickets are presently on sale, after they went on sale on May 7th of this year, courtesy of fathomevents.com, online. When you go on the fathomevents.com website, all one needs to do is to follow their directions on how to buy tickets at a movie theatre near you.

Since the old, original 1961 film version of West Side Story is my all time favorite movie, hands down, I've already bought tickets for myself and some friends of mine for both evening screenings. They will be screened at both 3:00 p. m. and 7:00 p. m., on both dates. Hope I've been of some help here.

 

[Oddball]

 

[Flopper]

West Side Story, a wonderfully famous late-1950’s Broadway stage musical about two warring street gangs on NYC’s West Side, and a love that developed, and then went up in smoke amid the conflict between the Ethnic American Jets and the newly-arrived Puerto Rican Sharks, resulting in the deaths of three people, yet also presents hints of possible intergroup reconciliation, as difficult as it can be, has had a powerful grip on my imagination since the summer before I entered the sixth grade. My initial introduction to this musical was through the musical score to the original Broadway stage production of West Side Story, while attending day camp out west (Tucson, AZ, to be exact.).
One girl in the group I was with, who’d just received a copy of the LP Album of the soundtrack to the original Broadway stage production of West Side Story for her birthday, brought the album in and played it for the rest of the group. My love for the music to WSS and the story behind it took off instantly.

West Side Story-mania was in the air that summer, as kids frequently roamed the halls, snapping their fingers and singing the songs from WSS. It was quite cool. The songs from West Side Story regularly rang through the bus to and from day camp five days a week. (My sister and I were staying at our grandparents’ house that summer, as well.

When I got home from day camp, I’d play my parents’ copy of that same West Side Story soundtrack LP album that they had, on their Hi-Fi whenever I could. I also liked to bang around with some of the prominent songs from West Side Story on the piano, much to my parents’ dismay and chagrin.
Four years after its first rendez-vous on stage, West Side Story came out as a spectacular motion picture, in late October of 1961, winning well-earned ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, for that year. Due to my relative social isolation from other kids I grew up going to school with, and to the fact that my parents didn’t consider West Side Story a kids’ movie (I was still a pre-teen back in 1961, when this film first came out.), I did not get to see it until seven years after it was first released, at around Christmastime of 1968, as a high school Senior, during a national re-release of the film West Side Story, at a now-defunct cinema north of where my siblings and I grew up. Little did I or any of my family know that this was the start of a love affair with this film that is still going strong today, much to the amusement, resignation and chagrin of my family!

Since I was still a teenager in high school when I saw the film West Side Story for the first time, I identified with the Jets, the Sharks, and their girls, regarding kids being kids and so on, but when I got a little older and began seeing this film in repertory movie theatres in and around Boston, I still appreciated the story behind this classic film, but I also began to appreciate it as the true work of art that it really is.

I graduated from a large suburban public high school roughly 20 miles due northwest of Boston, back in the spring of 1969, before I sort of put West Side Story on the back burner and saw other films that I liked a great deal.

Three years after I graduated from high school, the movie West Side Story came on TV for the first time, in two separate parts. Someone in my evening Jewelry-making class that I was then taking at the Museum of Fine Arts School here in Boston had brought in a small black-and-white TV, and we all gathered around to watch it, enjoying ourselves and having fun.

That summer, when I went on a six-week trip to Europe, someone in the group had brought a cassette tape of the soundtrack to the film version of West Side Story, which was played almost every evening, during free hours. It was then that my love for this classic film was re-awakened. Shortly after arriving home from Europe, I had a short conversation with my dad over dinner about my wish for West Side Story to come back again. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey! I wish the film West Side Story would come back.
Dad: You never forgot it, did you?
Me: No.

That fall, two days before Thanksgiving, I got my wish. West Side Story came on TV, so I cut my evening Jewelry-making class to stay home and watch it, on our little black-and-white TV. Need I tell everybody that I”ve been hooked on this classic film since? Now, every time it comes to one of the independent, non-profit repertory movie theatres in my area, or at least within reasonable driving distance of me (I’ve even made special road trips to neighboring states to view screenings of the film West Side Story!), I go.

As a devout fan of this Classic film, I’ve seen the film West Side Story more times than I can count, as well as several very good stage productions of the original Broadway stage production of WSS that I’ve liked a great deal. ( The more up-to-date Broadway stage revival of this musical...hmmmm..not so much!)’

Much to the chagrin, amusement and resignation of my family and friends, I love this film still, and see it every time it comes around, especially to a movie theatre. Imho, regardless of what anybody says or thinks about how wonderful these elaborate home theatre systems may be, absolutely nothing beats seeing the classic film West Side Story on a great big, wide screen, in a real movie theatre, with the lights down low, and sharing the whole experience with a bunch of other people, whether one knows them or not.

People that love musicals always have one that is their favorite. For me, it's My Fair Lady. I saw West Side Story on Broadway and loved it and saw the movie and thought it was just as good. I prefer musical comedies because I leave the theater with a smile on my face. However, the two dramatic musicals that I really liked was Phantom of the Opera and the other is West Side Story. Les Miserables and Carousel were great musical but a bit to sad for me.

 

[Flopper]

While I never saw the late-1950's original Broadway stage production of West Side Story with Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert in it, I have, in addition to being a devout fan of the movie WSS, seen several stage production of the original Broadway stage production of West Side Story that I've liked a great deal. West Side Story, to me, is one of the very few musicals that have been really successful on both stage and screen. Most musicals, however are far better on stage than on screen.

I also saw the more up to date Broadway stage revival of West Side Story five years ago, and well, I didn't like it nearly as much.

As I pointed out, there's something about the 1961 film version of West Side Story that beckons me to see it, whether it's on a great big, wide movie theatre screen, or on TV.

What I really like about the movie version was Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris. I honesty don't remember who was in the Broadway production.

 

[Flopper]

Has anyone seen "Stop the World. I Want to Get Off." It was twice on Broadway, the London stage and was made into a movie. You hardly every hear it mentioned even thou there were a couple very well know songs from this musical such as "What Kind of Fool am I."

It's a musical, comedy, drama, the story of Littlechap from the moment of his birth until his death. Each time something unsatisfactory happens, he calls out 'Stop the world!' and addresses the audience with song and verse. It's a different kind of musical but seems to have been very popular when it first played on Broadway. My wife and I have seen it on stage and would like see it again but haven't found it.

 

[whitehall]

The principal character "Daniel" (Albert Brooks) from the movie "Defending your life" is listening to a West Side Story song by Barbara Streisand just before he runs into a bus and dies. Harmless trivia.

 

[Flopper]

In general, I don't like musical dramas, preferring lighter stuff like My Fair Lady, The Music Man, etc but the music, choreography, and the story is so damn good, it's hard not to like it.