West Side Story...- Page 5

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 10:24pm

west side story premiered in 1957 on broadway at the winter garden theatre which now houses that piece of ca-ca: MAMMA MIA!

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 10:26pm

Did you know that in the stage version of West Side Story, Robbins forbad the 'Jets' and 'Sharks' to fratenize with each other when NOT rehearsing (i.e., they couldn't each lunch together, etc.)

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 10:26pm

macgruder my secret ingredients in my recipe for arroz con gandules: sliced vienna sausage and bacon bits.

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 10:27pm

but they did maaaaaaaaaaary they did!

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 10:28pm

i have it on good authority that two of them were actually *ahem* "roommates"

[magruder]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 10:29pm

You know what ROCKS...arroz con chorizo o salciccia.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 10:29pm

Tony Mordente, who played Action, is now a TV Director (directed a lot of the "Family Ties" episodes)

[magruder]

Posted: 11/9/04 at 10:38pm

Some say it's the size of the chorizo that counts.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/10/04 at 1:37am

Wait a minute...Puerto Rico is IN America? What state is it in? Georgia? I am so confused. What does that song MEAN, Mary?

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/10/04 at 3:51am

puerto rico is actually in Orlando, Florida if you must know Sue Ellen

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 11/10/04 at 7:55am

The original stage version of Maria's song "I Feel Pretty" included the lyrics "I feel pretty and witty and bright / And I pity / Any girl who isn't me tonight." In the film this night scene was changed to the daytime, and presumably for this reason, the rhyming words "bright" and "tonight" were changed to "gay" and "today

Rita Moreno's singing voice was dubbed by Betty Wand only for "A Boy Like That" since it was below her range. Moreno sang "America" and "Quintet" herself
Betty Wand sued to get a percentage of the movie-album sales, having dubbed part of Rita Moreno's singing. The dispute was settled out-of-court

Film rights to the play were bought for $375,000.


Six members of the original Broadway cast appeared in the movie: Carole d'Andrea (Velma), David Winters (movie: A-Rab, Broadway: Baby John), Jay Norman (movie: Pepe, Broadway: Juano), Tommy Abbott (Gee-Tar), Tony Mordente (movie: Action, Broadway: A-Rab), William Bramely (Officer Krupke)

Robert Wise's original choice to play Tony was Elvis Presley.


Most of the original Broadway cast were rejected for the film as either photographing or actually being too old for the teen-aged characters. And since Hollywood was accustomed to dubbing the singing voices of many stars, dozens of non-singing actors and actresses were tested or considered for the leading roles. Among them: Suzanne Pleshette, Jill St. John, Audrey Hepburn, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Elizabeth Ashley, Anthony Perkins, Warren Beatty, Bobby Darin, Burt Reynolds, Richard Chamberlain, Troy Donahue and Gary Lockwood.

Audrey Hepburn was offered the role of Maria, but she turned it down, because she was pregnant with Sean H. Ferrer at the time.

Throughout the movie, Natalie Wood wears a bracelet on her left wrist, not for any esthetic reason, but because she had injured her wrist on the set of a previous movie, causing an unsightly bone protrusion on her wrist. She wore the bracelet to hide the injury.

[mominator]

Posted: 11/10/04 at 8:48am

Am I the only one who thinks Elvis would have been AWESOME in this role? I am not a huge Elvis fan, and hos movies were just fluff, this could have been a wonderful role for him if he really wanted an acting future.

Posted: 11/10/04 at 11:21am

I don't know... I think Elvis would have done a good job, but I think the film would've been classified as another Elvis movie rather than the satd alone classic that it is.


Personally, I really like the ending credits with the names written within the graffiti.