S.A.Q.
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All that stuff you never thought twice about
One of the most famous images of West Side Story is that great photograph of Carol Lawrence tugging Larry Kert along behind her. Was that picture taken on an actual New York street? Do you know where?
There is a garbage can on the left side of the picture that indicates an address of 418 W. 56th Street. By several accounts the can is not a prop and the photo was actually taken at or near that address.
Read "West Side Glory" from Smithsonian Magazine, with thanks to Gwen.
The baseball field in the opening sequence of the film -- Yankee Stadium or the Polo Grounds?
It is generally assumed to be the Polo Grounds since that stadium's location would correctly fit a geographical pattern of the northbound journey of Manhattan presented in this series of scenes. However a special panel of independent advisors to this site have studied the evidence and have reached a unanimous confirmation: while the "northbound" idea is valid and the innocent may be fooled, the overhead shot is indeed of the Bronx's Yankee Stadium.
When the Sharks are evicted from Doc's drugstore whistling the American patriotic song "My Country 'Tis of Thee" – which is obviously meant as a comment on Schrank's prejudicial mistreatment in the "sweet land of liberty" – they happen to be whistling "God Save the Queen," whose melody the colonists swiped for their own use. Don't you think that hearing the British National Anthem in this scene would seem odd to moviegoers in the UK and the Continent? Do you think the scene is shown in other countries with a different song on the soundtrack, say "God Bless America"? Or maybe cut altogether?
Feedback on this issue has been provided from correspondents in Scotland, Canada and England. It is indeed a fact that "My Country 'Tis of Thee" (actually called "America," though the author wisely uses the better-known title to avoid confusion with a dozen other tunes, including the Bernstein/Sondheim piece performed one scene earlier!) is a song "borrowed" from our friends across the pond, a larceny that, in the case of West Side Story, has indeed resulted in some minor confusion abroad. According to those who would know, the film is run in overseas moviehouses as is, probably due to the prohibitive cost of overlaying a more palatable song onto the soundtrack. Thus non-U.S. audience members who are unfamiliar with the song's dual identity are left to wonder why members of a Puerto Rican gang in New York are whistling the British National Anthem, not to mention how they even happen to know the melody in the first place.
However in stage performances, on the other hand, for at least one European tour in the 1960s, and at least one Canadian production in the 1980s (hardly a consensus, but surely an indication that the practice is common), the song that is presented is none other than the American National Anthem, an inspired accommodation that leaves no doubt – globally – that the Sharks' quiet anger is being vented not against Great Britain but the good old U S of A.
The use of "The Star-Spangled Banner" may evoke other interpretations of the scene, indeed of the relationships, since it implies that the Sharks are accusing Schrank of something more than gutter prejudice, that he may be actually taking the side of the Jets because he is literally sticking to his own kind, as another lyric would have it. The hatred is not directed at Puerto Ricans per se, but at anyone who is not a native-born American. One can't help but wonder if the more revered Anthem was indeed Mr. Laurents' first choice, and perhaps rejected to avoid commercializing a national treasure.
Sincere and hearty thanks to Deryk, Keith and John C for their valued input on this question.
In the outdoor scenes of the film the name "Bobby" is scrawled on the walls in a couple of places. Any significance?
Bobby’s name appears in the background of the first shot of the Jets; it is also written on the left (viewer’s left) wall of the stairway during the "Jet Song," and is prominently painted on the wall under the highway. This is understood to be the work of designer Saul Bass, and the tribute is to producer-director Robert Wise. Aside from a number of in-story references (Riff, Ice, Nardo, Pepe) that decorate various walls and fences, several other "signatures" relate to members of the company. The closing credits sequence constitutes a cornucopia of such references, including "RM" (Rita Moreno) and "RT" (Russ Tamblyn) among many dozens of others. In addition to his prominently etched initials at the end of the sequence, a personal touch from Saul Bass is seen in a couple of valentines ("SB + EM") celebrating his marriage to his long-time design partner Elaine Makatura.
Of the five major characters, the actual given name of only one is unknown to us. Would you care to speculate on the association between Riff’s name and the musical term "riff" meaning "a repeated phrase in jazz, typically supporting a solo improvisation," and, incidentally or otherwise, as a reference to the title of the Bernstein composition (and newsletter) Prelude, Fugue and Riffs?
An early draft of West Side Story called for the Jets to be associated with musical instruments and/or musical motifs, and the suggestion that "riff" is a leftover of this abandoned exercise is a marginally plausible one. Another likely explanation exists, as pure speculation. It is reasonable to assume that Arthur Laurents, an intelligent man of letters, did his share of research beyond the Shakespearean source as the project was taking shape. The conjecture is that he came across a book entitled Teen-age Gangs, a non-fiction account of the growing problem of juvenile delinquency, specifically as it unfolded in New York City. While possibly a great coincidence, the fact remains that this book, published in 1953, contains characters called Chino, Indio, Action, Baby Sam (sic), and, indeed, Riff. The Coincidence Theory is stretched a bit by the inclusion of names such as Emeralds, Atomic Jets, Acemen, and a number of other familiar references. None of which mitigates the bottom line, that Mr. Laurents’ masterful libretto is a model of theatrical excellence, whatever the source of the building blocks. The name of the Jet leader being immortalized in the name of the newsletter is indeed, as another lyric states, just one of those things.
The dances on those television commercials for The Gap sure looked like the real deal - do you know who the choreographer was?
The dances were staged by Alan Johnson, long-time West Side Story dancer, choreographer, director and dedicated Keeper of the Flame. Mr. Johnson appeared as both Jet and Shark in the original Broadway production, the first U.S. National Tour and the Broadway return engagement, but his great legacy is directing and choreographing the musical in productions all around the world, from the 1970s into the 21st Century, giving two more generations of theater-goers a reliable presentation of the original staging of Jerome Robbins.
True or false: The cast album of West Side Story was the very first Long Playing 33-1/3 record released in stereo.
Not true. Some conflicting information exists about the release dates of this record and other records of the same era. We have sorted out this much information so far. West Side Story was not the first record released in stereo; by 1957 stereo versions of several popular and classical albums were available. But we know it to be the first cast album released in stereo by Columbia Records, the prolific producer of the greatest share of Broadway show recordings at that time. Some of the confusion stems from the fact that Columbia had already recorded two other shows in stereo, so West Side Story would correctly appear no higher than third on some statistical or historical lists. But West Side Story was the first of the three to be made available to the public, and thus is acknowledged as the first show album released from that studio. Also, according to one reliable source, Columbia did beat out RCA Victor's Jamaica by a matter of weeks and thus, as far as we can determine, can claim West Side Story as the first stereo show album on any label.
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