West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein - Assignment Example

 Leonard Bernstein West Side Story Thinking about the music most people listen to today, many songs borrow from different styles of music. Leonard Bernstein was a composer who was able to write music in unique various styles including classical, pop and jazz many of which combined the three styles. The most famous story of his was Westside. This paper answers questions and concepts related to the West Side story in relation to other works. West Side story is can be termed as a modern-day version of Shakespeare’s work Romeo and Juliet.

It is about young people who fall in love but are unable to be together because of conflicts in their respective families. The universal values of the story involved respect for human rights irrespective of race and color and love. These values allows for the reworking of Elizabethan Story in the 1950s (Sanchez 137) The source of antagonism between the rival gangs is love. Both gangs tend to capture the most basic human emotion; love. If the musical was updated to contemporary America, then the major theme talked about would be juvenile delinquencies beside racism (blacks and whites).

This is due to the increasing gang violence in Detroit, Michigan among the blacks. The types of music that can be used include pop music. In addition, Westside story is a continuous and stark reminder of political and social divisions that exist today. The ideologies learnt in this musical are that all human beings are equal and that love doesn’t know boundaries. Because Westside story remains Broadway best dance driven musical, Ellen Eccles theater production took place in Broadway with extraordinary choreography.

Moreover, the use of the music “something coming”, “tonight” and “America” in the production makes it pulsate throughout. The production widely captures the spirit of the original film because it remained powerful and timely as ever. My favorite musical number is five: “tonight” because it expresses passion in the musical in the first appearances of the dramatic scene. Work citedSanchez, A. (1994) Westside Story. A Puerto Rican Reading of America.