West Side Story

West Side Story
in the
Mainstream Media

As though it were too big a commodity to be confined to its own productions and recordings (and who could argue with that?), West Side Story has burst through those boundaries and popped up in many passing or significant appearances in our various media. TV shows ("Brooklyn Bridge," "Laverne and Shirley," "Scrubs," "Rugrats," "Family Guy," "Flight of the Conchords"), films (Anchorman, Analyze That, Anger Management, Camp, Last Holiday, West Bank Story) and even other musicals and plays (The Ritz, Applause, Urinetown) have all accepted the general wisdom that West Side Story is too well known, too familiar to audiences of all ages and stripes, to be overlooked as a cultural point of reference. A highly selective list of examples appears below.

Familiarity with West Side Story is alive and well in the 21st century! For a pop culture quiz devised by Gunnar and Sherry Johnson called "Every Which Way" that appeared in its May 2007 issue, Games Magazine presented a two-page spread of pictures, logos and other graphics, each of which was a clue to the identity of a person, place or thing whose name included either "Front," "Side" or "Back." The answer that went with this well-known photo was among the easiest of the batch. Other images led to "Welcome Back, Kotter," The Front Page, "The Dark Side of the Moon," etc.

The 2006 NCAA Playoffs and their attendant Bracket-ivity inspired a graphic drawn by Ariel Molvig and published in The New Yorker issue dated April 3, 2006. Famous foes throughout history were paired off tournament-style, among which were these two well-known rivals.

(Click the image for a view of the entire drawing.)

The 2004 Lincoln Center presentation of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide found the disconsolate title character facing exile and packing his pitiful few but extremely valuable possessions, including the keeper shown here.

Great Performances on PBS

Paul Groves as Candide

In 2000, U.S. television audiences were surprised and delighted to see three commercials for Gap jeans that used startlingly authentic choreography from the masterwork. Worries of plagiarism claims were compounded by the utter accuracy of the presentation—why were they allowed to re-produce the dances from "America," "Cool" and "Mambo" and, moreover, who did they hire that was able to get it exactly right? All fears and suspicions evaporated when it was finally learned that none other than Alan Johnson (pictured), member of the original company and Robbins-sanctioned director/choreographer of the musical into the 21st century, was responsible for the magic, clearly with all permissions in place.

"Bridging the Gap"

On September 9, 2007, one day before General David Petraeus’s controversial report to Congress on the United States presence in Iraq, the comic strip Opus featured an apparently confident President Bush literally singing the praises of the U.S. Army Commander and his presumably administration-friendly testimony.

(Click the image for a view of the entire feature.)

Probably the first parody of the film appeared, predictably enough, in the April 1963 issue (#78) of the satire publication Mad Magazine. It is much to the credit of the masterwork’s integrity that writer Frank Jacobs and the "usual gang" at Mad avoided the magazine’s typical stinging assault on its target’s actual story and characters. Instead, the general idea of street fighting—minus the romance—was re-assigned from the juvenile West Side gangs to the then-current heads of state (Kennedy and MacMillian, U.S. Ambassador Stevenson, Khrushchev and Castro, etc. etc.) contentiously vying for space and recognition on their East Side turf, otherwise known as the United Nations. This superb piece, noteworthy for being as provocative in its assessment of the Cold War as it was hilarious, was topped off with the innovative idea of superimposing artist Mort Drucker's drawings over actual photos of the UN buildings and grounds.

Mad's April 1971 issue (#142) served up a second version called "West Coast Story," in which a "group of militant extremist freaks" known as the Rats were pitted against key members of the Establishment ("Then, President Nixon, NIX YOU!")

In November 2009, in an episode that also includes a lost pair of pants, a discovered pair of panties, an invitation to a ménage, the ongoing Seinfeld reunion, and a demonstration of verbal abuse toward sidewalk lemonade vendors, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” featured a meeting between star Larry David and a local cop by the name of Krupke. Larry’s delight in making the acquaintance of “Officer Krupke” was not the least bit dampened by the unlikely and very funny fact that the policeman had no idea what David was talking about, had never seen the film and never even heard the song. We viewers are delighted, in turn, to learn that the normally sour Larry cheerfully does what we all do when driving alone—sings selections from the score, although the show’s producers wisely gave the closing-credit honors to the Jets as heard on the original Broadway cast recording. Guests include John Schneider and Elizabeth Shue, and Mr. Seinfeld himself is on board to speak on auditions for the role of George Costanza’s ex-wife. Larry waxes philosophical on the reasons nothing more than “Krup you” could be sung on stage in the 1950s. On the subject of the missing pants, a very funny Curb-typical explanation of the difference between “lost” and “gone” is attempted; as for those panties—you may be better off catching a rerun or a download and watching for yourself.

In giving West Side Story its proper place in his long-running satirical series Forbidden Broadway, creator-writer-director Gerard Allesandrini also chose not to satirize the plot or characters of the musical, nor its creators (a frequent FB target), but instead zeroed in on the notion of a (fictional?) feud between the fortuitously rhyming Chita and Rita and their fiery rivalry as (yup) Anita. Stepping on to the stage in identical costumes and hair-dos, each of the two singers comically rattles off a rapid recap of her own virtues and the other lady’s sorry lack of talent, all to the tune of "America."

Forbidden Broadway.com

Noted writer and artist Jules Feiffer made this contribution, "with apologies to Stephen Sondheim," to The New York Times Op-Ed page on November 2, 2006, a harbinger of the emerging "minority battle" between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama in their quest for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination.

Any number of barometers exist to measure the status of a piece of work as a cultural reference. One sure test of a work's popularity is its appearance as an element of the question--or rather, the answer--in a "Jeopardy" contest, a distinction that West Side Story has enjoyed several times. This answer appeared in the category "Common Bonds" on December 24, 2007, and was selected to advertise that day's show in the print media, including the New York Times. Click the image for the answer--er, that is: question.
Thanks, Wayne

In April 2009, net surfers seeking relief from the jitters caused by the financial crisis took some quick-fix pleasure in this animated parody by Newsday's Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Walt Handelsman. The feature can be viewed at Newsday.com and also (surprise!) at YouTube.

For the 2003 DVD edition of her Farewell Tour, Cher included a medley of songs from the score, all of which were sung and acted by Cher and Cher alike in a remarkable and unexpectedly sincere tribute to the masterwork.

See also Video page

In May 2007, the plot of the masterwork was expertly woven into the situational events of the episode--entitled "East Side Story"--that closed the freshman season of "Ugly Betty" in the U.S. Book, music and lyrics formed a poignant counterpoint to the action of the story when Betty’s nephew stepped into the role of Tony for his school play.

From top: America Ferrara as Betty, Mark Indelicato as Justin playing Tony, and with Juliette Goglia as Hilary playing Maria.

In June 2009, with Twitter solidly (and, it would seem, permanently) piled atop Facebook, MySpace and all the others, CollegeHumor.com published a hilarious parody of the new wave of Internet social sites by using, like so many before them have done, West Side Story as its framework. The would-be gang members are instead on-line slackers who are not tempted by the street life thanks to their new addiction to the www ("When you’re on the net / on the net you will stay"), while Maria ("I’m on Twitter") and Tony ("Pandora") meet on line and spend mere moments together in the third dimension before running home and checking each other’s blogs to find out how the date went. Funny and discomfortingly on target. Check it out at CollegeHumor.com

A school of thought exists that states the inclusion of one's name in the morning crossword is the ultimate tribute; the more prestigious the newspaper, the more soaring the tribute. "Inclusion" is one thing; being the actual theme of the puzzle is something else again.

In 2006, on the occasion of her 75th birthday, The New York Times honored Rita Moreno with a crossword puzzle that included the strategic placement of her name, along with the names of the various works for which she received an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy. Also included in the grid were answers clued from "Place of Birth" (18-Across) and "Profession" (20-Across).

Your Web Host extends sincere thanks to his partner Wayne for putting PEN to paper and meeting this challenge, and especially for sharing the finished product with this site.

Special thanks also go to Susan for her continued support and encouragement,
and to Marcy, generous to a fault and a tough act to follow.

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	Familiarity with West Side Story is alive and well in the 21st century! For a pop culture quiz devised by Gunnar and Sherry Johnson called "Every Which Way" that appeared in its May 2007 issue, Games Magazine presented a two-page spread of pictures, logos and other graphics, each of which was a clue to the identity of a person, place or thing whose name included either "Front," "Side" or "Back." The answer that went with this well-known photo was among the easiest of the batch. Other images led to "Welcome Back, Kotter," The Front Page, "The Dark Side of the Moon," etc.

	The 2006 NCAA Playoffs and their attendant Bracket-ivity inspired a graphic drawn by Ariel Molvig and published in The New Yorker issue dated April 3, 2006. Famous foes throughout history were paired off tournament-style, among which were these two well-known rivals. (Click the image for a view of the entire drawing.)

	The 2004 Lincoln Center presentation of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide found the disconsolate title character facing exile and packing his pitiful few but extremely valuable possessions, including the keeper shown here. Great Performances on PBS

Paul Groves as Candide

	In 2000, U.S. television audiences were surprised and delighted to see three commercials for Gap jeans that used startlingly authentic choreography from the masterwork. Worries of plagiarism claims were compounded by the utter accuracy of the presentation—why were they allowed to re-produce the dances from "America," "Cool" and "Mambo" and, moreover, who did they hire that was able to get it exactly right? All fears and suspicions evaporated when it was finally learned that none other than Alan Johnson (pictured), member of the original company and Robbins-sanctioned director/choreographer of the musical into the 21st century, was responsible for the magic, clearly with all permissions in place. "Bridging the Gap"

	On September 9, 2007, one day before General David Petraeus’s controversial report to Congress on the United States presence in Iraq, the comic strip Opus featured an apparently confident President Bush literally singing the praises of the U.S. Army Commander and his presumably administration-friendly testimony. (Click the image for a view of the entire feature.)

	Probably the first parody of the film appeared, predictably enough, in the April 1963 issue (#78) of the satire publication Mad Magazine. It is much to the credit of the masterwork’s integrity that writer Frank Jacobs and the "usual gang" at Mad avoided the magazine’s typical stinging assault on its target’s actual story and characters. Instead, the general idea of street fighting—minus the romance—was re-assigned from the juvenile West Side gangs to the then-current heads of state (Kennedy and MacMillian, U.S. Ambassador Stevenson, Khrushchev and Castro, etc. etc.) contentiously vying for space and recognition on their East Side turf, otherwise known as the United Nations. This superb piece, noteworthy for being as provocative in its assessment of the Cold War as it was hilarious, was topped off with the innovative idea of superimposing artist Mort Drucker's drawings over actual photos of the UN buildings and grounds. Mad's April 1971 issue (#142) served up a second version called "West Coast Story," in which a "group of militant extremist freaks" known as the Rats were pitted against key members of the Establishment ("Then, President Nixon, NIX YOU!")



	In November 2009, in an episode that also includes a lost pair of pants, a discovered pair of panties, an invitation to a ménage, the ongoing Seinfeld reunion, and a demonstration of verbal abuse toward sidewalk lemonade vendors, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” featured a meeting between star Larry David and a local cop by the name of Krupke. Larry’s delight in making the acquaintance of “Officer Krupke” was not the least bit dampened by the unlikely and very funny fact that the policeman had no idea what David was talking about, had never seen the film and never even heard the song. We viewers are delighted, in turn, to learn that the normally sour Larry cheerfully does what we all do when driving alone—sings selections from the score, although the show’s producers wisely gave the closing-credit honors to the Jets as heard on the original Broadway cast recording. Guests include John Schneider and Elizabeth Shue, and Mr. Seinfeld himself is on board to speak on auditions for the role of George Costanza’s ex-wife. Larry waxes philosophical on the reasons nothing more than “Krup you” could be sung on stage in the 1950s. On the subject of the missing pants, a very funny Curb-typical explanation of the difference between “lost” and “gone” is attempted; as for those panties—you may be better off catching a rerun or a download and watching for yourself.

	In giving West Side Story its proper place in his long-running satirical series Forbidden Broadway, creator-writer-director Gerard Allesandrini also chose not to satirize the plot or characters of the musical, nor its creators (a frequent FB target), but instead zeroed in on the notion of a (fictional?) feud between the fortuitously rhyming Chita and Rita and their fiery rivalry as (yup) Anita. Stepping on to the stage in identical costumes and hair-dos, each of the two singers comically rattles off a rapid recap of her own virtues and the other lady’s sorry lack of talent, all to the tune of "America." Forbidden Broadway.com

	Noted writer and artist Jules Feiffer made this contribution, "with apologies to Stephen Sondheim," to The New York Times Op-Ed page on November 2, 2006, a harbinger of the emerging "minority battle" between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama in their quest for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination.
	Any number of barometers exist to measure the status of a piece of work as a cultural reference. One sure test of a work's popularity is its appearance as an element of the question--or rather, the answer--in a "Jeopardy" contest, a distinction that West Side Story has enjoyed several times. This answer appeared in the category "Common Bonds" on December 24, 2007, and was selected to advertise that day's show in the print media, including the New York Times. Click the image for the answer--er, that is: question. Thanks, Wayne
	In April 2009, net surfers seeking relief from the jitters caused by the financial crisis took some quick-fix pleasure in this animated parody by Newsday's Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Walt Handelsman. The feature can be viewed at Newsday.com and also (surprise!) at YouTube.
	For the 2003 DVD edition of her Farewell Tour, Cher included a medley of songs from the score, all of which were sung and acted by Cher and Cher alike in a remarkable and unexpectedly sincere tribute to the masterwork. See also Video page

	In May 2007, the plot of the masterwork was expertly woven into the situational events of the episode--entitled "East Side Story"--that closed the freshman season of "Ugly Betty" in the U.S. Book, music and lyrics formed a poignant counterpoint to the action of the story when Betty’s nephew stepped into the role of Tony for his school play.
From top: America Ferrara as Betty, Mark Indelicato as Justin playing Tony, and with Juliette Goglia as Hilary playing Maria.

	In June 2009, with Twitter solidly (and, it would seem, permanently) piled atop Facebook, MySpace and all the others, CollegeHumor.com published a hilarious parody of the new wave of Internet social sites by using, like so many before them have done, West Side Story as its framework. The would-be gang members are instead on-line slackers who are not tempted by the street life thanks to their new addiction to the www ("When you’re on the net / on the net you will stay"), while Maria ("I’m on Twitter") and Tony ("Pandora") meet on line and spend mere moments together in the third dimension before running home and checking each other’s blogs to find out how the date went. Funny and discomfortingly on target. Check it out at CollegeHumor.com
	A school of thought exists that states the inclusion of one's name in the morning crossword is the ultimate tribute; the more prestigious the newspaper, the more soaring the tribute. "Inclusion" is one thing; being the actual theme of the puzzle is something else again. In 2006, on the occasion of her 75th birthday, The New York Times honored Rita Moreno with a crossword puzzle that included the strategic placement of her name, along with the names of the various works for which she received an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy. Also included in the grid were answers clued from "Place of Birth" (18-Across) and "Profession" (20-Across). Your Web Host extends sincere thanks to his partner Wayne for putting PEN to paper and meeting this challenge, and especially for sharing the finished product with this site.

Special thanks also go to Susan for her continued support and encouragement, and to Marcy, generous to a fault and a tough act to follow.
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