Sunday, September 28, 2008
West Side Story
I wanted to comment on Romeo and Juliet, before we moved on to West Side story but didn't get the chance. But I will Comment on West Side Story it being a play derived from Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. Having played the role of Tony is West side story I got to know the play up close and personal. I love this play not just because I got to play the leading male, but because the music helps tell their story; the dancing keeps it alive, and all three (acting, singing, and dancing) Kept the audiences attention. The ending was better only because the love birds didn't commit suicide. Although Tony was killed, Maria didn't kill herself. She very well could have with the gun firmly in her hands, but she didn't. That makes for a better ending. Not everybody has to die to make it a tear jerking love story. Ending still sad but not a total lost. When two people love each other as fast and as hard as they did there are bound to be some speed bumps; unexpected speedbumps. Their un-expected speedbump was the fact that Tony was killed. I guess thats a bit of a burnt bridge instead of speedbump.
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3 comments:
I saw a high school production of West Side Story when I was in middle school. I remember at the end after Maria gives her long speech about how now she "has hate" everyone walked off while she cried over Tony's body...then she held the gun up to her temple, lights went to a blackout and then BANG! They had a gunshot sound and a flash of light from the stage. I sat there, looked at my mom and said, "that's not how that's supposed to go" At the time, I didn't really think about it being based off of Romeo and Juliet, I just knew that in the movie she didn't kill herself.
I find it interesting how evenly divided it seems to be between peoples opinions on which play has the better ending. I guess that it depends on whether or not people want a more final ending (they are dead, nothing else can happen to them) or a more open ending (she is still alive, does she get back together with Chico? etc) And to be completely honest, I don't know if I have an opinion one way or the other on how I prefer it to end...I do know that it wasn't the same watching Maria kill herself on stage as it was to watch Romeo and Juliet.
I have actually never seen west side story ior read the play until now so i was coming into this play completely blind i just knew that it was suppose to be based off of Romeo and juliet, which i think prejudiced me agianst the play a little bit since, as mentioned before i've never really liked romeo and juliet's ending. I felt that it was a bit pointless sure the families managed to have peace at the end but what about the two lives that were ended so abruptly? They were only teenagers they shouldv'e lived a little longer, maybe. That's why i prefer the ending to west side story, in the play. I think that Maria is a stronger character than Juliet, she had the strength to go on and live her life instead of ending it because something happens to change everything from what you wanted. Also i think Maria knew that more death wouldn't really solve anything which is why she didn't actually shoot anyone else or herself.
Like Meredith, I also saw a high school production when I was younger. I was in 4th or 5th grade, maybe younger, but I don't remeber much from the experience. What I do remember is the music, dancing, and the set/costumes. The story was a little too much for me to follow at times but the spectacle of it all kept me interested in teh show. I didn't even remeber how the play ended until we read it in class, and truthfully I was surprised because I had thought it would be more like the movie ending.
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