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I chose the musical, West Side Story to critique for my final assignment. I will touch on several topics in my essay including cast members' performances and the costumes used in this performance, the theme of the story, and my overall opinion of the performance itself.
The West Side Story takes place on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. It is a modern-day Broadway musical of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are similar in that they are both about two individuals that fall deeply for each other. However, they are kept separated from their family, friends, and rival gang members.
In this Broadway musical, Maria, the younger sister of Bernardo, with the Sharks falls head over heels for Tony, founder of the Jets. The Jets are trying to defend ownership of the Manhattan neighborhood. In addition to the dispute between the two rival groups in West Side, there was also a theme that existed in this story. That theme includes racial prejudice between the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, and the Jets, a group of “American” boys. An incident between the two groups escalates later resulting in a fight for revenge.
In West Side Story, there is a rollercoaster of emotions present throughout the entire story. Such as violence, love, hate, and racial tension. For example, West Side Story’s opening scene immediately begins with violence and bickering between the two rivals on the basketball courts and carries on throughout the entire play. Tragically, Tony dies in the arms of Maria as a result.
This leads to my next discussion topic, acting. The director of West Side Story used physical and method acting in this Broadway musical. This method of acting was probably chosen so the characters can connect with the audience. Physical acting is the use of voice, such as singing, and body, such as body language and gestures which there was plenty of throughout the entire musical. Each character sings and dances. Hence, the actors were cast due to their previous backgrounds and experience in dancing, singing, and acting.
For example, Maria is the lead female character in West Side Story. Her singing, acting, and dancing all came together and brought a great deal of value to the performance. Maria played the role of a Puerto Rican teenage girl. One that was excited to start her new life in America. She was able to become one with her character. In fact, so much so that she received an award for outstanding performance.
The sound, music singing, dancing, set, and costumes used in West Side story all came together perfectly to make this Broadway musical a success. Each character spoke their lines loud and clear. In some scenes, only body language and gestures were used to convey the message to the audience. Even then, the message was easy to interpret. A good example is the scene when Anita attempts to get Nardo to stay behind. You clearly can see that she is arguing with him to not leave by hand gestures alone.
Overall, the unique talent, dancing, movement, vocals, and performance all came together well to make this Broadway musical a successful hit. Each character performed their character’s role well.
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