Research Essay
Portfolio Task 5
Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”-1957 is a landmark composition in the development of the American musical and it took many years for the idea to be developed into a musical. They had the idea of writing a deep meaning musical which would show people what real life was all about. The original idea was for a Jewish girl and a Catholic boy to fall in love. This theme however changed when the Puerto Ricans moved into New York and the story line was altered to focus rather on an American-Puerto Rican love story. The two pieces “Maria” and “Tonight” are both spectacular works from “West Side Story”. “Maria” was the song that became the story’s focal point in the musical. It is the “I want song” as it shows the …show more content…
“West Side Story” originally opened on September 26 1957 at the Winter garden Theatre. The production ran for 732 performances. The audience is shown a variety of different styles of music and dance. “West Side Story” is a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Leonard Bernstein’s first idea was to call his play East Side Story but this did not happen, as it was not relevant to the socio-political scheme of things. It introduced the idea for a choreographer-director, this gave Robbins complete control over “West Side Story”, but under his supervision dance had more importance in the musical. He demanded that none of the cast members should be allowed to be established stars, he wanted “slum kids”, and actors should look like “slum kids” as the characters were “slum kids”. The original singers of “Maria” and “Tony” had opera trained voices. They used the basic Story of “Romeo and Juliet” and adapted, by making the topic real, applying it to what was happening at the time, in “West Side Story” which used the growing Puerto Rucan population. Compared to other musicals of its time, such as “Flower Drum Song” which was based on a novel. The story of “Flower Drum Song” has a similar story of a son who is torn between his Chinese roots and American culture. Wang Ta’s father had an arranged marriage for him. He had fallen in love with Linda, who he asks to marry. The general theme of the “wrong” relationships, well at least what …show more content…
This song is Episodic, meaning that the plot of the song jumps around. It starts with the citizens of OZ saying that she is dead; the person they are referring to is the “Wicked Witch” who the whole musical is about. Then the song tells us how she came into the world and that her skin colour is green. The citizens of OZ and Galinda sing it, it is the opening of the musical and gives the viewer some background information about the lead character. It is the “I am song” but is not the character singing who is describing herself but it is her from the point of view of the citizens of OZ and Galinda. “Fiyero” who is a prince mainly sings “Dancing Through Life”. it is the “I Want Song” where he explains what he wants and what he wants to do. This song transitions from the outside of the school to the OZ dust Ballroom. The songs move the story forward and keep the musical
Portfolio Task 5
Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”-1957 is a landmark composition in the development of the American musical and it took many years for the idea to be developed into a musical. They had the idea of writing a deep meaning musical which would show people what real life was all about. The original idea was for a Jewish girl and a Catholic boy to fall in love. This theme however changed when the Puerto Ricans moved into New York and the story line was altered to focus rather on an American-Puerto Rican love story. The two pieces “Maria” and “Tonight” are both spectacular works from “West Side Story”. “Maria” was the song that became the story’s focal point in the musical. It is the “I want song” as it shows the …show more content…
“West Side Story” originally opened on September 26 1957 at the Winter garden Theatre. The production ran for 732 performances. The audience is shown a variety of different styles of music and dance. “West Side Story” is a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Leonard Bernstein’s first idea was to call his play East Side Story but this did not happen, as it was not relevant to the socio-political scheme of things. It introduced the idea for a choreographer-director, this gave Robbins complete control over “West Side Story”, but under his supervision dance had more importance in the musical. He demanded that none of the cast members should be allowed to be established stars, he wanted “slum kids”, and actors should look like “slum kids” as the characters were “slum kids”. The original singers of “Maria” and “Tony” had opera trained voices. They used the basic Story of “Romeo and Juliet” and adapted, by making the topic real, applying it to what was happening at the time, in “West Side Story” which used the growing Puerto Rucan population. Compared to other musicals of its time, such as “Flower Drum Song” which was based on a novel. The story of “Flower Drum Song” has a similar story of a son who is torn between his Chinese roots and American culture. Wang Ta’s father had an arranged marriage for him. He had fallen in love with Linda, who he asks to marry. The general theme of the “wrong” relationships, well at least what …show more content…
This song is Episodic, meaning that the plot of the song jumps around. It starts with the citizens of OZ saying that she is dead; the person they are referring to is the “Wicked Witch” who the whole musical is about. Then the song tells us how she came into the world and that her skin colour is green. The citizens of OZ and Galinda sing it, it is the opening of the musical and gives the viewer some background information about the lead character. It is the “I am song” but is not the character singing who is describing herself but it is her from the point of view of the citizens of OZ and Galinda. “Fiyero” who is a prince mainly sings “Dancing Through Life”. it is the “I Want Song” where he explains what he wants and what he wants to do. This song transitions from the outside of the school to the OZ dust Ballroom. The songs move the story forward and keep the musical