I’m not sure if anyone has heard or is familiar with the West Side Story musical but when I first heard about it; I was pretty much clueless and have I not done some reading up before the musical, I probably would not have appreciated it.
Described as ‘The No.1 Greatest Musical of all Time’ by The Times, UK; West Side Story is inspired by William Shakespeare’s tumultuous love story (Romeo and Juliet), and set amidst the vicious rivalry of teenage gangs in 1950s New York.
The Plot:
The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The members of the Sharks, from Puerto Rico, are taunted by the Jets, a white gang. The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang’s leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks.
In Short:
A boy. A girl. Two rival gangs. One fatal love affair.
The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and its focus on social problems changed the face of American musical theatre forever when it burst onto the Broadway stage in 1957.
To better appreciate West Side Story, I highly recommend that you do some prior reading so that you have some context about the musical; otherwise, you might pull a “sian” face like the many new “influencers” I saw during the intermission.
Personally, I enjoyed the performance very much and having travelled to both North and South America; I really like the authentic setting of the musical.
The West Side Story musical is now showing at the Grand Theatre, MasterCard Theatres at Marina Bay Sands till 30 September 2017.
Ticket prices start from SGD$55 and if you’re a student or NSF, you can get a ticket for just SGD$35 nett!
Get your tickets here now!
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