West Side Story Family Review

Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.West Side Story is the award-winning adaptation of the classic romantic tragedy "Romeo and Juliet". The feuding families become two warring New York City gangs--the white Jets led by Riff and the Latino Sharks, led by Bernardo. Their hatred escalates to a point where neither can coexist with any form of understanding. But when Riff's best friend (and former Jet) Tony and Bernardo's younger sister Maria meet at a dance, no one can do anything to stop their love. Maria and Tony begin meeting in secret, planning to run away. Then the Sharks and Jets plan a rumble under the highway--whoever wins gains control of the streets. Maria sends Tony to stop it, hoping it can end the violence. It goes terribly wrong, and before the lovers know what's happened, tragedy strikes and doesn't stop until the climactic and heartbreaking ending.—AnonymousOn the west side of New York City, the Jets and the Sharks are Polish and Puerto Rican gangs respectively who hate each other and who battle each other for territory in their neighborhood. Their feud makes a small connection when at a gymnasium dance, Tony, one of the founders of the Jets but who is now inactive in the gang, and Maria, the recently arrived sister of the Sharks' leader Bernardo, spot each other across the crowded room and fall in love at first sight. For many of the male gang members, that connection is the last straw in their feud that leads to the decision to have a rumble to determine territory once and for all. Conversely, Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend, supports Maria's decision to romance whomever she wants, even a Jet. However, even Anita may be able to endure so much in her stance to support true love. As Maria and Tony try to meet each other clandestinely at any opportunity, Maria makes a request of him to foster peace between the Jets and Sharks, which inadvertently leads to a series of tragic events not only for the collective but personally for Maria and Tony.—HuggoWestside story is a modern musical representation of the classic story "Romeo and Juliet". The sharks and the jets are rival gangs fighting for the same territory. Tensions rise as a shark girl named Maria and a Jet named Tony fall for eachother, but there's a problem they can never be allowed to be together. The sharks are Puerto Rican immigrants. A rumble is planned and Maria pleades with Tony to stop it. Will he try? Or will he run away from the impossible task? The rumble goes horribly wrong and tensions are at the breaking point, will the fighting stop or will the jets get rid of the sharks once and for all?On a hot late-1950s summer in New York's Upper West Side, William Shakespeare's timeless story of Romeo and Juliet (1968) comes to life, as a fierce enmity between two antagonistic street gangs paves the way for heartbreak and tragedy. Once more, the clan of the Montagues are at odds with the Capulets. This time, Riff's gang of rebellious second-generation New Yorkers, the Jets, and Bernardo's brass gang of Puerto Rican immigrants, the Sharks, fight over the control of the neighbourhood. Under those volatile circumstances, a climactic rumble is unavoidable; however, not before Tony, a former Jet, and Maria, Bernardo's little sister, fall head over heels in love with each other. Now, there's no turning back--and in a classic Shakespearean fashion--there can be no easy way out. Just this once, can there be a happy ending?—Nick Riganas1 moreAll