STACK #209 Mar 2022

MOVIE FEATURE

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first child was born three years after I directed E.T . “And so West Side Stor y was only the second time where I’ve felt like I was part of a very diverse family. “And I was not in the centre of the family, I was simply a part of the family,” he says of his cast, which includes Ansel Elgort as Tony, Ariana DeBose as Anita, David Alvarez as Bernardo, Rita Moreno as Valentina, and introducing Rachel Zegler as María. “So, I did jump out of my chair and

• West Side Story is out on Mar 2

I did sing and dance with the cast, singing off key, and dancing like I had three left feet, during rehearsal. Rita was there, too, dancing with the cast,” he says of Moreno, who has the distinction of being in both the 1961 film and this one. “We were so compelled to get up on our feet because it was such a life in the air of song and dance and this genius choreographer, Justin Peck, getting a muscular kind of dance style going.” Getting the best young talent was crucial. “I wanted it to look like real kids, not like 39 year olds playing 18 year olds, so it was incredibly important that we cast the Sharks and the Jets as all under 23 years old,” he explains. “I’d always thought that when they’re fighting about territory, they’re really fighting about race,” he says. Making her film debut in what feels like a Star is Born moment, 21-year-old Rachel Zegler is simply incredible as María, and the real heart of the film.

STACK chats with Steven Spielberg about his lifelong desire to direct an adaptation of Leonard Bernstein’s 1957 Broadway musical, West Side Story . Words Gill Pringle A s a kid, Steven Spielberg grew up loving Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story . WEST SIDE STORIES

“Rachel is extraordinary,” agrees Spielberg. “[She] walked onto this huge set, never having made a movie before, surrounded by a bunch of fairly formidable people and superbly talented actors with much more experience than her. She watched, she listened, she learned at a jaw- dropping rate, but she also brought with her that mysterious quality of having been born to do what she’s doing. Her María is a revelation.”

Steven Spielberg on the set

Just 10 years old when his parents brought home the original Broadway cast album in 1957, the precocious director-in-the-making immediately memorised all the lyrics. Not that his folks were too pleased at his efforts. “I’d be at the family dinner table, singing, ‘My father is a b–tard. My ma’s an S.O.B. My grandpa’s always plastered…’” he says, reciting the infamous lyrics of Gee Officer Krupke . “And my mom and dad would say, ‘You can’t say b–tard at the dinner table! Where did you learn to say S.O.B?’ And I said, ‘You bought the

THE 1961 FILM First adapted for the screen in 1961, West Side Story became the second highest grossing film in the US that year and won 10 Academy Awards – the most for any musical film – including Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, Sound and, of course, Music. Moreover, Rita Moreno was the first Latina actress to win an Oscar (for

make his very own West Side Story . Inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , West Side Story explores themes of forbidden love and the rivalry between two teenage street gangs – the Jets and the Sharks – of different ethnic backgrounds in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Spielberg’s film isn’t a direct remake of the 1961 movie, but rather a new adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical. The experience of making his first musical was nothing short of joyous, Spielberg tells STACK . “It was the most delightful family affair I’ve had since E.T. , where I felt like I was a dad to all those kids. Back then, I wasn’t a dad in my real life, but E.T. made me wanna be a dad, so my

record and gave it to me to listen to,’” he adds, recalling how they listened in stony silence as he played back the Krupke song on his record player. “They didn’t take the record away from me, but they were really nervous about what else I was gonna learn from that record and take to the dinner table!” As West Side Story ’s lyricist, Stephen Sondheim introduced a slew of memorable songs including Somewhere, Maria, I Feel Pretty and America . Then came Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise’s 1961 big screen adaptation (starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer), and Spielberg was hooked. And though he would go on to forge his own hugely successful career, privately he hankered to

her supporting role as Anita). Jerome Robbins, who directed and choreographed the stage version, shares a directing credit with

Hollywood legend Robert Wise ( The Sound of Music ).

18 MARCH 2022

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