West Side Story |
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The Walt Disney Company trailer for Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg's new film adaptation of the musical West Side Story.
Film Will Open in Australian Cinemas on BOXING DAY - December 2021
Directed by Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tony Kushner, "West Side Story" tells the classic tale of fierce rivalries and young love in 1957 New York City.
This reimagining of the beloved musical stars Ansel Elgort (Tony); Rachel Zegler (MarÃa); Ariana DeBose (Anita); David Alvarez (Bernardo); Mike Faist (Riff); Josh Andr©s Rivera (Chino); Ana Isabelle (RosalÃa); Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank); Brian d'Arcy James (Officer Krupke); and Rita Moreno (as Valentina, who owns the corner store in which Tony works).
Moreno - one of only three artists to be honored with Academy , Emmy , GRAMMY , Tony and Peabody Awards - also serves as one of the film's executive producers.
Bringing together the best of both Broadway and Hollywood, the film's creative team includes Kushner, who also serves as an executive producer; Tony Award winner Justin Peck, who choreographed the musical numbers in the film; renowned Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor and GRAMMY Award winner Gustavo Dudamel, who helmed the recording of the iconic score; Academy Award -nominated composer and conductor David Newman ("Anastasia"), who arranged the score; Tony Award -winning composer Jeanine Tesori ("Fun Home," "Thoroughly Modern Millie"), who supervised the cast on vocals; and Grammy -nominated music supervisor Matt Sullivan ("Beauty and the Beast," "Chicago"), who served as executive music producer for the film.
The film is produced by Spielberg, Academy Award -nominated producer Kristie Macosko Krieger and Tony Award -winning producer Kevin McCollum.
"West Side Story" has been adapted for the screen from the original 1957 Broadway show, with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and concept, direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins.
West Side Story | Official Teaser | 20th Century Studios
New trailer October 2021
Review: West Side Story
Simply.. a beautiful film!
Through the brilliance of Steven Spielberg, we're taken on a wonderful journey back in time to 1950's America, mood, immigration, fashion, music, dancing and hard times. Stand out performances from every single performer. This is exceptional story telling of a classic, retold with respect and excellence.
Don't miss it!
A story that sings
Rating:
Always on the right side of its own history
A remake of West Side Story, one of the greatest movie musicals of all time? That does not sound like much of a good idea.
A remake of West Side Story, directed by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time? Now we're talking.
With a plotline famously lifted from Romeo and Juliet, the starcrossed lovers and warring gangs of West Side Story first took to the streets in 1957 as a Broadway stage extravaganza.
Then came the 1961 movie adaptation, an instant classic which won both 10 Oscars and a devoted following that has stayed true across the generations.
For all its many virtues, it is not unfair to say that the original West Side Story has dated badly in some departments. While the choreography still dazzles, the dodgy casting of white actors in Latino roles and the wonky dubbing of many singing voices just cannot cut it with a modern audience.
Therefore the decision by legendary director Steven Spielberg to tackle a new West Side Story as his first-ever movie musical is a telling and effective one.
In collaboration with awardwinning playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and ace choreographer Justin Peck, Spielberg has tactfully, yet emphatically crafted a different version that stands (and indeed dances) on its own two feet.
However, what remains crucial to the irresistible nature of the West Side Story effect - the glorious music score, the unique storytelling beauty of each individual song and the mid- 20th century urban setting - has not been tinkered with to any notable degree Almost all of the characters and the motivations that guide them feel more realistically drawn this time around. The racial and class-based differences that inflame the tensions between the rival gangs of the Jets and the Sharks are much better explained, and immediately understood in ways they were not before.
While the key lead roles of Tony (Ansel Elgort) and Maria (Rachel Zegler) do not quite command our full attention here, the adrenalised song-and-dance sequences - boosted by some truly superb camera work - never once fail to connect, entertain, and often, truly excite.
There is also a small gift for fans of the first West Side Story in the shape of the sustained presence of one of the original production's leading stars, Rita Moreno. There is one certain moment - and one certain song - that comes Moreno's way late in this movie that true West Siders will never, ever forget.
MOVIE REVIEW: LEIGH PAATSCH
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