Notes From My Journal
Spielberg's West Side Story Converted Me Into A Believer
I was skeptical. Doubly skeptical. I’ve never liked the idea of modernizing Shakespeare. Much less converting one of his plays – a tragedy – into a movie musical. But Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim proved me wrong. The original (1961) West Side Story film, which, itself, was an adaptation of the hit 1957 Broadway musical, won me over.
It was perfect for its time. And it was a period piece. So why do it again? It seemed like a crazy idea. This time, the Dream Team was Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner.