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West Side Story in Taipei
滕以魯先生
文化大學英研所所長＼教授
West Side Story first opened on September 27, 1957 and was an immediate success. It was a high point of the jazz-oriented music stream. The story, music, song, dance, and lyric are well integrated together in this musical, instantly entertaining but also hauntingly meaningful.
The story is a contemporary version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The inspiration for the musical is drawn from current newspaper stories, therefore, the two feuding families of Montague and Capulet are replaced by two street gangs in New York: the Jets, the established group composed of youngsters from White working class families versus the Sharks, the newcoming group of teenagers from immigrant Puerto Rican Families. Tony, a former Jet, and Maria, sister of Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, fall in love with each other at first sight at a dance, just as Romeo and Juliet do in Shakespeare's play. They go through the conflicts between the two hostile gangs, persisting in their love. In one of their "rumbles" Bernardo stabs Riff, Tony's best friend, when Tony tries to stop the rumble. In the heat of the fight, Tony kills Bernardo, just as the ill-starred Romeo who kills Tybalt because Tybalt kills Romeo's best friend when Romeo tries to stop the fight between them. The tragedy takes its fatal course: When Tony and Maria finally join each other, Bernardo's deputy shoots Tony. The ending is different from that of Romeo and Juliet in that Maria does not die, but what pathetic life remains for the disillusion girl!
The music is by the celebrated composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, the lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the choreography by Jerome Robbins, the play by Arthur Laurents. One of the most striking aspects of the musical is the "breath-taking" choreography which presses the dramatic action forward, as forcibly as Bernstein's music. Tony and Maria's love at first sight as the dance is vigorously presented with music and dance, however, Tony's death and Maria's agony are expressed through the gradual weakening and finally the loss of their voices through the finale. West Side Story has successfully balanced the tragic and the comic (in the song "Gee, Officer Krupke" and episodes involving the police officer), current realistic setting and permanent artistic form. Its superb blending of drama, dance, instrumental music, vocal songs, and spoken dialogue has been matchless among musicals.
The students of the Department of English, Chinese Culture University will present in December of 2003, West Side Story in Taipei, an adapted version of the original musical. Miss Hui- wen Tsai, the student-director has herself done choreography for this presentation. For music, they have to use the sound tracks of the movie version of the musical, yet they do sing some of the songs. The two gangs are played by local boys and girls. Yet the conflicts and the sense of the tragic vision do come through. Entertainment and meaning are beautifully united. It is my honor and pleasure to be the advisor for this presentation. Throughout the rehearsals I have deeply felt their enthusiasm, and I admire their talent and inventive originality. I have really enjoyed working with them. I sincerely hope you will come on Tuesday, December 16, in the evening, to see the presentation.
With all the best wishes to you and especially the presentation.
"Romeo and Juliet" and "The West Side Story":
A Brief Perspective
楊萬運女士
文化大學外語學院院長＼教授"West Side Story" is a contemporary reworking of the familiar love theme portrayed in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."
In the well-known "Romeo and Juliet," two greatest families of Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets are involved in a bitter feud. Romeo, the son of Lord Montague, goes disguised to a feast hosted by the Capulets, where he falls in love with the beautiful Juliet Capulet. They have a love affair, which must be kept a secret, due to their families' enmity. Through a series of miscommunication, Romeo wrongly interprets the Friar's message to mean that Juliet has died, and then he commits suicide by swallowing poison beside her sleeping form in her family mausoleum. When Juliet awakens to find his corpse beside her, she joins him in suicide. In the shock of the tragedy, the feuding houses are reconciled.
As for the inspiration of Shakespeare's play, the similar stories can be found in history. Ephesiaca, a Greek romance written in the fifth century A.D is the earliest story about a woman, who took a sleeping potion, in order to escape a hated marriage about to be forced upon her. In about 1530, the famous Cardinal Bembo Luigi published a tragic romance in Venice. Set in Verona, the story's background is a feud between the two noble families of Montecchi and Capeli; and the lovers are called Romeo and Giulietta.
However, Shakespeare rewrote the story into a great five-act tragedy, which was performed in London in 1595. He not only has transformed the household of the Capulets into an Elizabethan household, but also re-interpreted and emphasized the interplay of human character and motive. Most of all, he enriched the play with a great deal of rhyme in couplets, quatrains, sestets, and even in sonnets.
In the mid-20th century, the Librettist Arthur Laurents, together with Composer Leonard Bernstein, and Lyricist Stephen Sondheim created "West Side Story" a great two-act Broadway Musical, using the love theme of "Romeo and Juliet." It was opened on September 26, 1957, and was extremely successful on Broadway with 732 performances in two years. In the early 1960s, it was then made into a highly acclaimed motion picture.
"West Side Story" is set in the 1950's slums of Manhattan, New York City. The "more established" Caucasian kids have formed a street gang called the "Jets." Their enemies are the "Sharks," a rival street gang composed primarily of immigrant Puerto Rican kids. Their mutual enemy is the Police. Feuds are frequent, and following an altercation during a dance, the gangs arrange a street "rumble." However, one Jet member, Tony, is deeply in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the Shark's chief. At Maria's pleading, Tony promises that he will stop the fight. Bernardo's girlfriend Anita tries to intervene, but after being taunted by the Jets, she lies to Tony that Chino, Tony's rival for Maria's affection, has murdered Maria. Tony goes to find Maria, only to be shot by Chino and he dies in Maria's arms. She kisses him lovingly and mournfully. As the music starts, the two Jets and two Sharks lift up Tony's body leading a reconciliatory procession across the stage.
This classic musical theatre piece has remained surprisingly up-to-date. In addition, the well-written dialogue and good characterizations allow this musical to maintain its popularity to this day. From a purely theatrical standpoint, the energetic, modern dances (e.g., The Prologue Dance, The Rumble Dance, and The Dance at the Gym) and many beautiful songs (e.g., "Something's Coming;" "Maria;" "Tonight;" "I Feel Pretty;" "Gee, Officer Krupke;" "America") in "West Side Story" continue to inspire and entertain.
"West Side Story" was written with a good understanding of the "mean streets" of New York. The young hoodlums portrayed in "West Side Story" can be symbolic of restless, urban youth anywhere in the modern world. Yet audiences often feel sympathetic toward these "wacky," young men and women, because they are victims of circumstance, and society can be blamed for their condition.
Take for example, in court, when Police Officer Krupke asks the boy Action to talk about his problems, Action beings to describe his abnormal family,
"My father is a bastard,
My ma's an S.O.B.
My grandpa's always plastered,
My grandma pushes tea,
My sister wears a mustache,
My brother wears a dress,
Goodness gracious, that's why I'm a mess!"
Subsequently, the Judge's verdict is that Action is "crazy and lazy," because he "drinks, and stinks."
It would have been so easy to create the characters, which are stereotypical caricatures of New York City street delinquents. However, Laurents' respect for them comes through. He allows these young men and women to have true "human attributes;" i.e., they experience true love; they are loyal to a cause (in this case, their gangs); and they take action in accordance with their heartfelt convictions and commitments.
These attributes make "West Side Story" all the more dramatic, compelling and moving.
P.S: 本頁背景圖案取樣自http://www.grafitti.org
