<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" > Introduction:</h1>
There is no doubt that as one of the most successful works in the history of world musical theater, "West End Story" has its own greatness. Although the whole play is adapted from the classic, there are innovations everywhere, and it has had a huge impact on the development of musical theater in the United States and even the world. Below, we will go through an analysis of the background of its creation, the script, the music, the dance. Let's explore its characteristics and the inheritance and innovation behind it.
Musical theater is a modern stage comprehensive art form, which is a performing arts entertainment product that takes drama (especially script) as the basic, music as the soul, dance as an important means of expression, and tells stories, portrays characters and conveys concepts through the integration of three major elements of music, dance and drama. West End Story is a perfect combination of music, dance and theatre. Below, through the analysis of these three elements in "West End Story", we will discuss its artistic characteristics and the inheritance and innovation behind the play.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > the birth of the classic - the background of the creation of "West End Story"</h1>
The 1950s was a depressed era for American musicals, for American musicals, after experiencing the passion and creativity of the mid-forties, classics such as Oklahoma and The Carousel were born, and since 1951, the Broadway stage has been extremely special depression, with fewer new works and a significant decline in quality.
The style of American musical theater of this period is similar to that of ancient Chinese huajian words, with gorgeous and perfect external forms, beautiful words and sentences, and exquisite rhythm; in terms of artistry, it is mediocre and has no novelty compared with before. There are almost no works to expose a series of social problems such as juvenile delinquency and racial conflict in this period of society, and most of the music coincides with a simple story, which is always love. The music promotes noble, pure, and unsteady emotions, showing a sentimental and sad. The traditional form of musical comedy is single, and the shortcomings of not being deep enough are exposed. In this context, "West End Story" came into being.
The idea for West End Story began in 1949, when musician Leonard Bernstein, dancer Jerome Robbins, and playwright Arthur Lawrence decided to adapt classic tragedies like Romeo and Juliet into a modern musical. In the trio's original conception, the musical still featured "mutual attraction in opposition" as the core of the dramatic conflict, but the time and place of the story were to be placed in New York at the time.
Initially, they envisioned a play called The Story of the East Side, set against the backdrop of conflicts between Jewish and Italian Americans in eastern Manhattan. The story revolves around the love affair and conflict between a Jewish teenage girl and a young Italian. However, a musical with a highly similar theme, "Flower of Ireland", was the first to be staged on Broadway.
Until 1954, conflicts between Latinos and native whites replaced the original conflicts between Jewish and Italians and increased the problem of juvenile delinquency. The new story is set in the Puerto Rican immigrant community in western New York. The title was changed to "West End Story". At the time, Bernstein was busy adapting Voltaire's famous play , The Hunt , so he was responsible only for the composition of the West End Story , and the then young songwriter Steven Sandham took on the heavy responsibility of lyrics. After three years of meticulous polishing, West End Story finally took place at the Winter Park Theatre on Broadway on September 27, 1957, and one of the greatest works in the history of musical theater began its great path.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="12" > two On the script - derived from the classics, exposing reality</h1>
Adapted from Romeo and Juliet, West End Story has many similarities in characters, plots, and even themes, but also adds to the characteristics of the times in which it lived.
First of all, in terms of characters, the male protagonist Tony corresponds to Romeo, the heroine Maria corresponds to Juliet, Rif corresponds to Mokusho, and Bernardo corresponds to Tiber. Anita corresponds to the wet nurse, and Zino corresponds to the Count of Paris. The community police correspond to Prince Escales. The Shark Gang corresponds to the Monte Dove family, the Jets Gang corresponds to the Cabret family...
In terms of specific character settings and character portrayals, "West End Story" has many transcendences. Like Maria, unlike Juliet in Shakespeare' plays, she came from a low-key background but dared to pursue love, and when she first arrived in the United States, she longed for a new life. She asked Anita to cut the neckline of her dress a little lower to show her charm, she was a girl, but he wanted to fight, wanted to give a tone for his gang. After the death of her lover, she did not choose to commit suicide and martyrdom. Strong, brave, kind, longing for love but not seeing love as everything. Another minor character, Anita, after her boyfriend Bernardo was killed by Tony, although extremely sad, was touched by their sincere love and was willing to help them. Later, he lied because of the humiliation and anger of the Jets gang, was able to think independently, would not numb his mind with hatred, and was full of self-esteem and at the same time had some willfulness and did not consider the consequences. These qualities are very consistent with the image of modern American women.
Secondly, in terms of plot, the two stories also have a similar development context. The background of the story is based on the hatred between families or races; the cause is that at the dance, the hero and heroine meet and fall in love; the development of the story is that the male protagonist mistakenly kills the heroine's relatives, and the heroine eventually forgives the male protagonist and wants to escape the dispute together and fly away. In terms of the twist of the story, the two dramas are different. In Shakespeare, the godfather asks Juliet to drink medicine and fake her death, but the messenger fails to deliver the message in time, resulting in a tragedy. In "West End Story", Anita is due to the racial discrimination and humiliation of the Jets gang that she tells the lie that Mariai is dead, which leads to tragedy. At the end of the play, the two families and the two major gangs stop fighting due to the tragedy, but Juliet commits suicide and Mary does not choose to commit suicide.
Finally, thematically, they all express the eternal propositions of human beings - love and hate and life and death. Two pairs of people who love each other incomparably, but because of family or inter-racial hatred, they both bury their love and lose their lives. They are telling us that too often we wash our hatred with blood, and the price is too heavy. When will I really come out of narrow hatred? Embrace the truly beautiful and precious thing in this world—love. At the same time, "West End Story" is more contemporary and critical, and the conflict between races and cultures is more tense and social than the contradiction between families. It is almost perfect for a series of social issues such as the clash of race and culture, juvenile delinquency, and so on. By telling a tragic story of death due to gang struggle in a wealthy society in the Fifties, it shows the love-hate love and hatred between the white people at the bottom of the United States and Puerto Rican immigrants in that affluent era, and then reveals the shadow under the surface of a prosperous society, questioning and questioning this seemingly free, equal, and affluent society, which is thought-provoking. Breaking the original Broadway stage dominated by light comedy, it opened a realistic creative trend that exposed social problems and paid attention to the underclass. This makes the musical more profound. It provides Broadway with a perfect example of tragic content, realistic themes and musical theater forms, creating the style of broadway's tragic themes.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > three musicals — dramatic features and jazz are widely used</h1>
As the composer of the play, Bernstein will always pay attention to the drama of music, and he himself has not shyly pointed out that "if people accuse me of being as pretentious as acting, I will be happy to take responsibility." Because every work I write, no matter what medium it is, is in a sense a theatrical music. In "West End Story", the operability of the music is particularly evident.
For example, at the ball, Tony met Maria, who made him fall in love at first sight, so he sang the song "Maria" that expressed his love. This is the first and most straightforward song of love in the whole drama. The repetition of the single tone set off Tony's excitement and excitement at that time. The strong echo creates a trance and hazy feeling, reflecting Tony's dreamy feeling of falling in love the first time he meets Maria. At the same time, the large number of repetitions of Maria's name in the lyrics reflects the impact of love, Tony is above the ability to speak and think, and only Mary is in his head. The whole musical development, around Tony's psychological state, unfolded from hazy to sober, then from sober to warm, from warm to calm, and finally to expectation and hope, which clearly conveyed Tony's emotional changes.
After Tony tells Maria that he killed Maria's brother Bernardo by mistake, they sing "Dream Ballet Scene" and "Somewhere," the most tragic scenes of the whole show. In the song "Magic Ballet Scene", Tony's melody is tossed and turned slowly, as if he has entered a dreamlike state, figuratively showing his fear, remorse and confusion after the accidental killing of Maria's brother Bernardo. It shows its mixed feelings of both apology for Mary and fear of losing love.
In addition, in "West End Story", the wide application of jazz is also a significant feature of its music. As soon as the film begins, it is full of jazz flavor, using many jazz elements such as the small third degree range, the large seventh degree interval, the nine chords, as well as the distinctive side points, walking bass, etc., and highlighting the use of saxophones and trumpets. Jazz and Latin American music represented underclass white youth and Puerto Rican immigrants, respectively. The songs "The Song of the Jets Gang" and "Calm" are masterpieces of jazz in the play, and they use typical blues. It is not difficult to find that jazz plays an important role in "West End Story".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" >4 Widespread use of narrative dance</h1>
As we all know, dance is one of the three elements of musical theater and has always been an indispensable part of musical theater. But before West End Story, no musical relied so heavily on dance, using it so broadly and deeply. In "West End Story", dance is not only limited to satisfying the visual enjoyment needs of the viewer, but also plays a role in reflecting the plot, setting off the atmosphere, portraying the characters and revealing the theme. In the book "Can't Help Singing", the author even directly refers to "West End Story" as a "dance show". The role of dance in West End Story is evident.
First of all, the dance is intertwined with the plot. In West End Story, there is no need for even language, and the dance itself is already able to make the whole story clear at a glance. For example, in the prologue, there are almost no lines and singing segments, but the dance vividly reflects the conflicts and contradictions between the Jets Gang and the Shark Gang. Another example is at the dance party, such as the scene of the fight dance, one of the two gangs wearing yellow and the other wearing purple, although it looks like there is a joy on the dance floor, the audience can still see the swords in the two color camps. Anita's humiliation in the small hotel by the Jets gang is also expressed in the form of dance.
Second, the dance shows tense dramatic conflict. In the play, the dance that symbolizes the fight between the gangs is an important means of reflecting the dramatic conflict in the prologue, for example. For example, in the prologue, when Jeff led Jets to help the people grab the basketball, after occupying the basketball court, they danced a ballet, and the brisk dance steps reflected their inner joy, and Bernardo's appearance made all this come to an abrupt end. The dance was no longer as light and crisp as before, and began to become urgent, powerful, and full of anger. Finally, the sharp whistle of the police calmed everything down.
Finally, the dance also reflects the two different ethnic styles in the play. At the heart of the play is the conflict between the underclass whites in the United States and Puerto Rican immigrants, and in the choreography, Robbins also highlights the cultural differences between the two races. The Jets Gang is mainly composed of native American young people, who reject traditional society, pursue freedom and excitement, have no direction to struggle, and often lose themselves. Prematurely contaminated with drug abuse, alcoholism, fighting, and other vices, it is called the "Beat Generation" (Beat Generation). And the rhythmic, exaggerated and crazy swing dance and rhythm blues can just be their characteristics. As for the Shark Gang, they are young people from Puerto Rico with Latin American enthusiasm and pride, so they often dance with enthusiasm and boldness.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="33" > conclusion</h1>
As a musical born in the mild and restrained 1950s, West End Story has undoubtedly caused an uproar. It breaks the situation in which musical comedy dominates, broadens the creative path of musical theater, and makes musical theater return to the road of paying attention to social issues and reflecting social reality. It is undoubtedly another landmark work after Oklahoma.
At the same time, artistically, it enriches and perfects the means of artistic expression of musical theater. In terms of script, although it is adapted from the classic, it has a large combination of the characteristics of the times and the personal ideas of the creator. At the same time, it attaches importance to the lyrics and emphasizes the connotation and social significance of the story. In music, the drama of music is emphasized, the profound connotation of music is valued, and the serious and heavy tune makes the drama unheard of dramatic power. At the same time, the widespread use of jazz adds to the color and richness of musicals. In addition, in terms of dance, "West End Story" places dance in an equally important position as the script and music of the musical, so that dance no longer becomes a tool that exists only to meet the sensory needs of the audience, but becomes an indispensable part of reflecting the content of the story and exposing the spiritual connotation. It provides valuable reference for the creation of musical theater in later generations
In the end, it is precisely because of the perfect combination of script, music and dance, while combining the inheritance of classics and the innovation of genius. It was West End Story that made him great.