Unit 8 WWS research

Synopsis of West side story

The film is set in the West side New York in the late 1950s, originally was going to be musical play called east side story, the idea was first thought of in 1949 by Jerome Robbins and was discussed with Leonardo Bernstein, it was going to be about a love story between a Jewish girl and a catholic boy as there was a racial divide between the two cultures however no more was said on the idea. A few years later many Puerto Ricans had moved to New York creating a divide between Americans and Puerto Ricans this effected the young more than it did the old. Jerome Robbins and Leonardo Bernstein returned to idea and now had become west side story.

The film is about two gangs which are both introduced at the beginning of the film. The jets who are teenage gang of American boys and is led by riff and tony and the sharks who are teenage gang of Puerto Rican boys and is led by Barnardo and chino they are rival gangs who both want to run the streets of New York. The scene begins with the jets and sharks both playing pranks on each other like throwing paint on each other and throwing dirty food are each other during this scene a few racial comments are made which shows the ethnic divide between the two gangs. All the pranks resulted in a fight which clearly is a regular occurrence for the two gangs and the police are called to stop it. Both gangs hate each other however they hate the police more so during the ‘snowing the coppers’ scene the two gangs have to pretend to like each other and that they were just playing. Everybody exits and the next scene is the jet song in which the jets sing about being a jet and owning the streets and how tough and strong they are the song is initiated by riff (Russ Tamblyn) during the song we here about there being a dance at the gym hall and they are going to get there for 10 however tony is not there during this scene.

Tony is on the roof and riff and him are talking and riff managers to convince tony to come to the dance. Tony (Richard Beymer) is then left alone and sings somethings coming because he feels like something good is going to happen at the dance.  The next scene is when chino, Maria .Anita and Barnardo are introduced Maria is chino fiancé which was arranged by the family, Barnardo is Maria’s brother who is together with Anita they are all Puerto Ricans and support the sharks. They are getting ready because them to are getting for the dance. Dance at the gym is the next scene thee police officer Is present during this scene in order to ensure there is not fight, there is still a clear divide between sharks and jets there is a dance off where both sides dance at each other whilst this is happening tony and Maria lock eyes across the room and the rest of the room becomes a blur and the only thing in focus is Maria and tony as they do a little duet together and at the last minute kiss and fall in love. Then Barnardo gets involved and tell tony to stay away from his sister as he is a jet and is no good but Maria makes it clear she sees tony for himself not the gang he is a part of.

Bernardo is furious that one of the jets is in love with his sister so riff challenges the sharks to a fight and both gangs decide on the weapons that will be used at this big fight. However whilst that is happening tony is walking the streets singing about Maria and how much he loves her name. The next scene is an argument between Anita and Barnardo as the sharks sing America which is about how the women feel like moving to America was the best thing for them as their life is much better now and Barnardo feels as though America is racist towards them and is far more expensive and they were treated better before they moved to America. Tony and Maria meet on the roof which symbolises the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet and they sing ‘tonight’ together which is a song about how happy they are that they found each other. The next song that is sung is called ‘gee officer krupke’ which is a comic scene where the jets sing about have a tough childhood. Then the scene changes to both gangs sitting at docs talking about the fight and tony comes in and discourages them from using weapons and the fight should only be one man from each gang fists only. The meeting is interrupted by the police who asks the jets what is going on however the jets do not snitch.

Maria and her friends are working in the dress store and Maria sings ‘I feel pretty’ and dances around whilst her friends tease her. Everyone leaves and Maria is waiting for tony but Anita doesn’t leave she finds out about the relationship and agrees to keep the secret. Tony and Maria are left alone and they fantasize about their wedding, as they both sing one hand one heart. Maria then sends tony to the fight to stop it as it will not help their relationship. The song tonight is sung by an ensemble as both gangs are singing about the fight. During the actual fight scene Bernardo is killed by tony and riff is also killed. Meanwhile Maria is waiting on the roof for tony but instead of tony chino and comes and tells Maria what happened.

Maria is distort and goes to pray and find herself with tony who explained what happened and Maria forgives him they both then sing ‘somewhere’ as they’re going to try and be together by running away. The jets are scared and Panic they regroup and the next leader of the jets sing ‘cool’ as he wants all of them to play cool as if nothing happened. Chino is hunting for tony with a gun so the jets get to him to keep him safe but he spent the night with Maria and Anita finds out and sings a boy like that as she said a boy like tony is no good for Maria as he is a killer Maria then sing I have a love and Anita gradually begins to accept the relationship. Maria is about to go to tony who is at docs with the jets until she is stopped by the police asking about her brother. Maria tells Anita to go to docs to deliver a message where Anita was assaulted and in anger tells everyone that chino shot Maria. Doc delivers the bad news to tony and tony who is devastated runs shouting for chino to shoot him too, doing this finds Maria they run to each other and chino shoots tony. The sing somewhere one last time and he dies in her arms. Maria threatens to kill herself in front of both gangs as she explains how she feels. Then a mix of both gangs pick up Tony’s body and chino is arrested.   

It was difficult for tony and Maria to be in love because of the ethnic divide and no one would accept of support the relationship. The differences between the groups that created problems was the

ethnic difference and the fact both gangs wanted power and they both saw each other as a threat. 

music choice

The choice of music me and my partner had decided on was two pieces of music one for the prologue and one for the jet song this was because in the film version they had an instrumental piece of music for the prologue which then went into the jet song. However I did not want to use the jet song so we picked formation by Beyoncé but instrumental  for the prologue and for the jet song 7/11 by Beyoncé but instrumental both the pieces fit well together because they are both by Beyoncé so the piece can look like one whole piece like the film version does also we chose instrumental because the lyrics have nothing to do with gangs so the instrumental builds nicely in order to create light and shade in the piece. We picked our music first because it gives us a nice guideline on the structure of the piece. 

article one

1957 new York there were 125 gangs, most young teens got involved in forming clubs and gangs and learning to gamble with violence very quickly. Activities that gangs got involved in was playing games and  gambling games such as stickball was popular amongst gangs which is a street version of baseball. popular names that were used were dragons, beacons and imperial knights. the murder story began when the Egyptian kings played stickball with the jesters and lost they refused to pay money that they had clearly bet with and started a fight with the jesters a few days later two boys Michael farmer who was 15 and roger mcshane who was 16 were walking through Manhattan park when they were jumped by 17 members of the Egyptian kings the two boys happened to be the first victims of the gangs attack and stabbed Michael farmer to death and left roger mcshane badly wounded on the ground. The police rounded up 40 suspects and came down to 17 member involved , nine of the gang 15-18 years old were held for murder and the other 8 remaining members were all under 15 and was charged with juvenile delinquency. Despite the chargers 73 hours after the first murder 18 year odd George Marshall was jumped by five boys and two girls and was stabbed to death , many mothers feared for the children's lives. the links between the article and West Side Story is that both American gangs gamble for fun and fight for fun also the fact that both gangs are incredible feared by the public which shows power and domination over the public. also knives were commonly used which was the weapon used in West Side Story.

article one and two  

article two gives more information on what happened after the murder, it tells us some of the gang members reasons and story's behind their actions is also gives the opinion of the fathers, article mirrors to me the officer krupke scene which is about the gang members singing about their awful childhood and their unforgivable parents and they are who they are because they haven't had a good upbringing  basically excuses such a "my fathers a drunk" and " i had no love a child should get" when reading the article and some of the boys excuses for their actions they sound very similar such as one boy had only seen his mum once a year , another boy blamed the fact he was drink off of cheap wine, another boy said he left school to help his mother and had not seen his father in 6 years. I feel this is to win over the publics sympathy and to justify their actions by saying it not their fault the way they are which is exactly what that scene is about. This article links to my piece specifically because the gangs in this article are from New  York both gangs are territorial gangs and the articles conveys a slightly racist reason behind the rivalry between the two gangs. Although the gangs in my scene I have chosen do no have a racist rivalry they  are territorial gangs and fight for popularity and territory. This article also links because the gangs in New York use violence to resolve their problems they seem to have a very intimidating manner to their ways similarly in my scene I decided to use an intimidating aspect to the dance in order to give off the same impression that they are gangs and they use violence nature in their everyday lives to prove themselves and to fight off other gangs.

character profile

Sharks and jets are two London gangs that don't like each other because they both fight for territory they are close set gangs meaning they both live very close to each other and fight for popularity. Both gangs show their intimidation through dance this is shown in the prologue where both gangs are being introduced to the audience and they have a dance off and try to intimidate each other. In actual fact both gangs share similar interests and they are both very much the same hence the reason similar movements are used for both gangs. The two gangs are older teenage gangs and therefore unlike the film violence is not used and both the gangs initial intentions are just to embarrass/humiliate each other rather harm each other physically however this is changed at the end.

production

    

For lighting we decided that white light will look good as its quite a neutral colour as the main focus of the prologue and the jet song is the dancing other than the lights, the side lights are going to also be on so the stage can be more lit. Also for the dance off during the prologue there's going to be two spot lights for when each side is dancing the spot light will be on that gang. For costume we have decided as a class to present the two gangs by having two different colors of bandanna's which will separate who is a jet and who is a shark with just our normal performance blacks.

similarities and differences between film and stage version
film and stage version
film version

stage version

 

The prologue scene in the stage version has a lot more choreography and dancing involved however the dance moves are very similar to the film version. Also in the film version there is a lot more clicking whereas the stage version there is minimal clicking and it isn't obvious that clicking is the gangs trade mark. Both versions present the gangs rivalry between each other, during the jet song and the prologue in both versions intimidation is still presented. However in the stage version the fighting has a more dance feel to it rather than an actual fight. Both versions still show the aspect of playing tricks on each other which clearly portrays to the audience that the two gangs do not like each other. I feel my piece is going to have a combination of aspects from the film and stage version as in the stage I like the fact that the jets click to show their presence and I would like to include this in my piece however I changed the clicking to clapping to update this and since this is going to be a stage performance clapping will make more of a bolder statement than clicking. clapping to me comes across stronger which is how I wanted the gang to be viewed as in the article of New York , the stage version and film version of Westside Story all the gangs are seen as strong and confident and that's the impression I wanted to make on the audience so clapping is an example of how I went about this , also by including a series of movements with everyone facing all different directions emphasises how eyes are everywhere and everyone has got each others back, also it gives off the impression that the gang is looking over everyone which conveys the feeling of the gang having authority.

scene description

This gives information on the history and ideas behind west side story for example how it was originally going to be called eastside story and the rivals was going to be Catholics and Jews however was changed to show ethnic tension. This also gives information on the type of area Manhattan in new York originally was like as it was described as being gritty and depressed real estate, however now is a lot more developed. During the 1950s the social issues effecting new York was gang and murder crimes and rising tension between ethnic groups. This links to the scene I chose because the background of the prologue scene is a graphite wall with the gangs names sprayed on it , this idea came from the original story which was based in a gritty area , I wanted  to bring an element of this to the piece so by putting the background there I feel gave off the impression of being in a 'rough' area which reflects on the behaviour of the gangs and also symbolises how they were bought up which perhaps explains the reason behind their hate. 

recent gang related issues in London 

 article from the guardian

Six men have been killed in knife attacks in London in the past week

 

 

Last weekend three people including a 17-year-old boy were stabbed to death in London. Mohammed Hasan was chased down and fatally stabbed by a masked gang in Battersea, south London, in the early hours of Sunday morning. A 19-year-old was arrested at an address in nearby Wandsworth on suspicion of murder.

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On Saturday afternoon, Damien McLaughlin, 42, of Cheshunt, was stabbed to death in Enfield, north London. Omar Warner, 18, and a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons have been charged with murder.

Just after midnight on Monday another murder investigation was launched in Bow, east London, after a 60-year-old man was found dead with stab wounds and another man was injured. The victim has since been identified as Keith Sinclair.

On Tuesday a 24-year-old man was fatally stabbed. Police and paramedics found the victim, named as Abdullah Hammia, at 7pm on Tuesday in a residential street in Wandsworth, south-west London, after reports of a stabbing. A 30-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of murder several hours later but released with no further action.

Police-recorded crime figures released this week showed a 13-14% increase in gun and knife crime in 2016. Bill Skelly, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said on Thursday: “The trend, which had been declining for many years but has now begun to climb more sharply, is a key priority for the police service.”

The Met said gun and knife crime rose 42% and 24% respectively in the past year and that recorded crime was up across virtually every category, in figures released two days after Cressida Dick took over as commissioner.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/28/man-found-fatally-stabbed-on-london-bus-Marylebone


This article relates to the project as it explains how even though Westside story is an old musical the problem between gangs and stabbing is still a current problem I feel its even worse nowadays  because of social media and an update in techknowledge and weapons, its much easier nowadays to be influenced by the internet and also to prod cast plans, ideas and beliefs which effectively results in gang violence and crimes around the world. In terms of my piece this article helped me because it gave me a better insight of current event of gang crime also when reading about something that happen so close to where I live tells me how it effects not just those involved in a gang but a whole community of people, it also tells me how many young people are involved in gang crime as many names are mentioned so I Included this idea by using  everyone in the jet song  to show the mass of people involved in gangs.      

Comparing and contrasting Romeo and Juliet with Westside story

Both plays begin with fight between rival gangs which initially show the divide between the two sides. Juliet and Maria both have arranged marriages however both are unhappy with this. Both main characters meet at a dance and set eyes on each other for the first time. Also both versions the main characters have to sneak around to see each other. Both versions the main characters are afraid to tell their family’s about their love. The death of Mercutio and Tybalt and the death of riff and Barnardo are both caused by the boyfriend and both deaths are related to the girlfriend however all is forgiven. In both version the boyfriend dies and in both versions at the end it show the two sides re united and putting their differences aside.

However despite how similar the two versions are there are many differences between them for example the time in which each piece was set is hundreds of years apart this means the way they dress, talk and act are completely different to each other. Westside story is a very popular musical with energy that is consistent throughout whereas Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story. The main difference between the two is Juliet kills herself because she cannot live without Romeo, and Maria in Westside story shows her heartbreak by announcing to both sides that everyone takes responsibility for the death of tony and in the end she brings both sides together as she makes the realise that both sides have lost the battle as both sides have lost people that they love.


In terms of my scene this links because in Romeo and Juliet  the prologue is spoken and there is no movement involved which expresses that there is more of an argument between the two families this then moves into a full blown argument between the two families in which the audience is informed of the problem between the two however in Westside story  there is no  speech used in the prologue and the story of rivalry is expressed through movement by playing tricks on each other however the main focus of the prologue is about turf and each gang expressing the power struggle of having authority and territory through movement, concerning my scene is related more to Westside story as it didn't include any dialog or argument just gestures and movement which expressed the rivalry between the two gangs we do this by squaring up to each other and making gestures of violence for example punches, kicks and slaps.   

 

Westside story was set in the upper west side neighbourhood in New York City in the mid-1950s in that area the majority of the public were blue collar workers which means manual labour jobs like working with your hands. Racial discrimination around this time was prevalent this leads to the divide between the two gangs as one gang is from New York and the other gang is from Puerto Ricans. Fashion during this time for men were suits and ties and for women was knee length dresses, the two gangs in west side story wear chinos and either a t shirt or a polo with some kind of Harrington jacket and baseball jackets , with trainers such as converse. West side story is a musical.

                    

 

Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story written by William Shakespeare, the play plausible set in 1595 and is about a power struggle between to households Capulet's and Montague's, their differences has nothing to do with a racial divide just a fight for power and popularity. Both plays demonstrate the love between two opposing sides and a tragic event that brings the two sides together. Fashion during this time includes long, big, floor length dresses for women and for men almost leggings/ tights with a bold peplum coat with a cape, both men and women wore ruffled collars.

 

                          

           

 

 

links used

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet


The costumes for my piece is going to be performance blacks with the different colour bandana used to differentiate the two gangs, this is purely because it is a stage performance and I want the focus to be drawn to the bandana so its clear from the very start there are two different gangs.  

costumes

additional role

In terms of my additional role mine was to warm up the class before any practical work this was to ensure the risk of injury was minimal. This helped me in terms of a future career in being a dance teacher/ performer as I'm aware of the importance of a proper warm up and therefore ensures that I can demonstrate one properly , this role would not only apply to a dance teacher or a performer but to anyone  involved in physical activity for example PE teacher , fitness instructor, personal trainer or a coach.