Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is here—60 years after the original film—with Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler in the leading roles of Tony and Maria.
West Side Story is the Tony-winning musical created by Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents. Their story, inspired by Romeo and Juliet, is an ill-fated romance set among teenage gangs in New York’s Upper West Side during the 1950s. In 1961, Robbins and director Robert Wise adapted West Side Story for the big screen, with a cast led by Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris and Russ Tamblyn. The movie made Oscar history, winning 10 of its 11 nominations, including best picture. It still holds the record for most Academy Awards won by a musical. Now,60 years later, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the stage musical is being released, starring Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler as the star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria. Spielberg’s cast also includes Moreno, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for playing Anita in the 1961 film. This time, she is taking on the role of Valentina, a part created for her by screenwriter and Pulitzer-winning playwright Tony Kushner. Here Newsweek takes a look at how the 1961 cast compare to Spielberg’s stars. Natalie Wood played Maria in the 1961 version of West Side Story. Wood, who died in 1981 at the age of 43, was a Golden Globe-winning actress best known for roles in Rebel Without A Cause, The Searchers, Gypsy and Splendor in the Grass. In the 2021 reimagining, up-and-coming actress Rachel Zegler takes on the female lead. West Side Story is Zegler’s biggest role to date but, in 2023, you will be able to see her as Snow White in the live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
