WEST SIDE STORY

Director: Steven Spielberg

2021, 156, PG-13

Screenwriter: Tony Kushner. Music: Leonard Bernstein. Choreography: Justin Peck. Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim.

Cast: Rachel Zegler, Ansel Elgort, Ariana De Bose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Rita Moreno.

 

Sixty years after the original film thrilled audiences with its incredible dancing, (Jerome Robbins) music (Leonard Bernstein) & lyrics (Stephen Sondheim), Steven Spielberg’s new version, written by Tony Kushner and choreographed by New York City Ballet’s Justin Peck, is a major triumph! While keeping Bernstein and Sondheim’s genius work, Spielberg added an ethnically accurate cast, with a deeper political understanding of Manhattan’s war between commerce and residents, contributed by Tony Kushner. The story, first imagined by William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, sets two infatuated teens against the distrust and bigotry of their communities: in this case, mostly Puerto Rican immigrants and working-class whites. The dynamic and talented cast makes this universal story roar back to life, with Ansel Elgort as Tony, Rachel Zegler as a luminous Maria, and a stunning Ariana De Bose as Valentina (originally played by Rita Moreno). The 89-year-old Moreno makes a poignant return, singing “Somewhere” with all her of pain and hope exposed.

“West Side Story’s urge to heal extends not just to two lovers but to our entire fractured world.” Ty Burr, Boston Globe.