Where is west side story set

That realism also applied to casting. Spielberg only wanted performers with Hispanic backgrounds to play Hispanic characters, and he estimates that 20 of the 33 Puerto Rican characters are specifically Puerto Rican or of Puerto Rican descent.

And there was so much interaction between the cast wanting to be able to commit to the Puerto Rican experience. They all represent, I think, a diversity, both within the Puerto Rican, Nuyorican community as well as the broader Latinx community.

And they took that seriously. The film stars newcomer Rachel Zegler in the role originated onscreen by Natalie Wood—purehearted Maria, part of the wave of Puerto Rican migrants who traded one island for another when they came to New York seeking a new life in the post—World War II economic boom. Her streetwise Casanova is Tony Baby Driver actor Ansel Elgort, taking over the part played by Richard Beymer , who once led a gang of local toughs known as the Jets, but has since outgrown them.

Remember Doc, the old-timer who ran the corner store that served as neutral ground for the gangs? Spielberg made Moreno an executive producer on the film and urged her to share her perspectives on that time and place with the younger actors.

Snowboy When you're a Jet, you're a top cat in town You're a gold medal kid with the heavyweight crown! Ice When you're a Jet, you're the swingin'est thing Little boy, you're a man, little man, you're a king. All Jets The Jets are in gear, our cylinders are clickin' The Sharks'll steer clear, 'cause every Puerto Rican's a lousy chicken Here come the Jets, like a bat out of hell Someone gets in our way, someone don't feel so well Here come the Jets, little world, step aside Better go underground, better run, better hide We're drawin' the line, so keep your noses hidden We're hangin' a sign, says: 'Visitors Forbidden' And we ain't kiddin' Here come the Jets, Yeah, and we're gonna beat Every last buggin' gang on the whole buggin' street On the whole Tony, an ambitious, level-headed young man who is responsibly employed and works for a living at Doc's, the neighborhood drug and candy store, resists Riff's invitation to the dance, to confront the Sharks that "walk bad" and "fight hard" on neutral turf.

Riff pleads for one last favor from his idealistic best friend who has left his past behind and dreams of moving on to something "just around the corner":. Tony: Every single night for the last month, I wake up. And I'm reachin' out. Riff: For what? Tony: I don't know. Riff: A dame? Tony: It's right outside the door. Just around the corner. But it's comin'. Riff: What is?

It's like the kick I used to get from bein' a Jet, you know? Riff: Oh, well now you're talkin'. Oh man, without a gang, you're an orphan. With a gang, you walk in twos, threes, fours. And when your crew is the best, when you're a Jet, you're out in the sun, buddy-boy. You're home free home. Tony: Riff, I've had it.

Riff: Tony, Tony, look at me, will ya? Come on, look at me Now, I never asked the time of day from a clock, did I? I never asked nothin' from nobody. But I'm askin' you: 'Come to the dance tonight. Riff: Then do it after the dance. Tony, I already told the guys you'd be there. If you don't show up, I'll be marked lousy. Tony: What time'd ya tell 'em? Riff: Ten. For me Tony, for Riff! Tony: Ten it is. They shake Riff: Womb to tomb! Tony: Birth to Earth. And I'll live to regret this.

Riff: Who knows? Maybe what you're waitin' for will be twitchin' at the dance tonight? Tony sings: "Something's Coming," a song of expectancy about the coming night:. Could be, who knows? There's something due any day. I will know right away, soon as it shows. It may come cannonballin' down through the sky, gleam in its eye, bright as a rose! Who knows? It's only just out of reach, down the block, on a beach, under a tree. The act provided for the revitalization of slums as part of a wider vision promoting public housing.

Slum clearance also adversely affected low-income residents. Signed by Franklin D. Citing Title I of the Housing Act, which provided capital grants to public agencies for the redevelopment i. Before a crowd of some 12, people in May , President Dwight D. Wagner, John D. According to The New York Times, the inclusion of a campus for a Jesuit-run institution concerned some who viewed the relationship between the university and the city as violating church-state separation.

Monsignor Thomas J. The report emphasized the need for affordable housing in the city, already a growing issue by , and noted that middle-income families had been driven away from San Juan Hill because of its substandard living conditions. The redevelopment of Lincoln Square, however, led to the eviction of its majority black and Hispanic tenants, who then found themselves in Harlem or the Bronx and not in new housing units proposed by the Committee on Slum Clearance.

The New York Times estimated that 7, lower-class families and businesses were driven out of their former community. It was the birthplace of the Charleston and a haven for New Orleans jazz music, the place pioneering jazz pianist Thelonious Monk called home. Correction, Feb. A lot of the outdoor scenes took place on actual streets that you can still visit today although many of the buildings were torn down shortly afterwards to build the massive Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Robert Wise was chosen to direct in part because he could shoot scenes like that very convincingly. The effect was to make the story feel very real and grounded.

That helps keep the musical numbers from flying off into the realm of fantasy and lets us know that the ideas they're talking about—and that William Shakespeare talked about before them—still have relevance today. Hence, New York: city of cities where the good, the bad and the ugly all meet up on those hot summer streets. Parents Home Homeschool College Resources.