Why Was West Side Story So Miscast?

Why miscast?

Who do you think they should have cast, Abbe Lane? Lupe Velez was long dead.

They did want Elvis as Tony...

I think Abbe Lane was a Jewish girl with a so-so voice who married Cugat (pre-Charo) and he tried to remake her as a Spanish chick.

Not to mention Michelle Wolf with her hair cut short as Anybody's

If they waited a few years they could have gotten Vikki Carr, Linda Ronstadt or hell, even Eydie Gorme (a spanish Sephardic Jew) for the cast.

Many of the Jets and Sharks were from the original Broadway cast, silly queen OP.

The only miscasting were the main leads, Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood, who could not sing well enough.

It used to confuse me because Tony looked more Puerto Rican than Maria. They should have got a blonde guy for Tony.

What are you on OP? Calling you delusional would be a gross understatement!

George Chakiris wasn't miscast, he could sing and dance and look Latino.

Opinions are abounding here but no one has answered OP's question. What led to the miscasting of the leads? I'm curious too.

Yeah they were totally unbelievable as the characters they were suppose to portray

Just what happened in La La Land. Star power. At least in WSS, they dubbed Natalie Woods voice with, I thnk, Marni Nixon's.

All the voices except Chakiris (because he barely had to sing and it was “ok” if the Puerto Ricans sounded off key, what with the accent and all) and SOME of Moreno’s, were dubbed.

I really wonder why they didn't cast some unknown girl as Maria, some girl who could actually sing and who could pass as Peurto Rican. I can see why they wanted one major star, hence Wood, but why not cast Paul Newman or Warren Beatty as Tony and an unknown as Maria?

Because what's his name was neither well-known, or good. He brought nothing.

The ONLY lead with star power back then was Natalie Wood. Rita Moreno said so herself in some interview, when explaining how they were all best d s themselves when they received so many Oscar nominations.

* besides themselves

What i find odd but effective about WSS is the set design/art direction. Maria's apartment with all of those black walls, doors and trim, and the French doors with multi-colored glass panes. It was probably meant to echo stained glass and look church-like. Who lives like that?

R18 West Side Story was filmed in the San Juan Hill neighborhood that was already begun to be demolished to make way for the Lincoln Center. The buildings you see in the film were real and just weeks after the filming was completed, they were gone. The close ups in the set design were Hollywood interpretation of what the homes looked like and no way represented reality.

Tony is a role that is almost impossible to play. He is essentially a wimp in the musical, but supposed to be a former gang leader. His songs are too " gay." It's a badly written part.

Maybe Sondheim wanted him gay.

Warren Beatty did audition for the original Broadway production.

It always puzzles me why George Chakiris won an Oscar for this movie. He does nothing. Montgomery Clift should have won for Judgement at Nuremberg.

R22 When it comes to awards, the popularity of one film often trumps the better film or acting role.

The original cast album is a triumph of miscasting, too. Larry Kert doesn't sound heterosexual, and Carol Lawrence is unconvincing in every way.

And we won't even get started on the 1984 recording conducted by Bernstein himself. . .

[quote]It always puzzles me why George Chakiris won an Oscar for this movie.

Oscars are for politics and publicity. They have nothing to do with recognizing quality.

I understand that r25, but it still doesn't make any sense. Was Montgomery Clift not well liked in Hollywood at that point? I mean he'd been in several Academy-Award winning hits in his career. I can't even name another George Chakiris role.

Was Judgement at Nuremberg not a well received film? I think it's a masterpiece. Far, far better than West Side Story. But what the fuck do I know?

[quote]but why not cast Paul Newman or Warren Beatty as Tony and an unknown as Maria?

I never miss a Paul Newman musical.

Bette Davis could have played Maria.

Natalie was great, but you could only imagine what Edyie Gorme or Vicki Carr would have brought to the role. There's also Annette Funicello, who I think would have been a revelation.

Natalie Wood DESPISED Richard Beyer and would only speak to him only when the director yelled "Action"

To this day Richard Beyer has no idea why Natalie disliked him so much.

[quote] . Montgomery Clift should have won for Judgement at Nuremberg.

He pissed off way too many people in Hollywood. He turned down hundreds of scripts. sometimes commit to something, then pull out of the last minute, his drinking problem spilling over to delays in filming when he did commit to a film.

To award the Oscar would be saying this behavior on film sets (being drunk) was okay when it is not.

Natalie could be like that, r30. I've read she treated her co-star Richard Beymer the same way.

George Chakiris explains why Natalie hated Richard

Because she wanted Robert Wagner or Warren Beatty. And when she didn't get her way, she took it out on Richard

I turned down the role of Maria when they refused to make her a night club entertainer.

I think they said Audrey Hepburn was going to do the role but got pregnant so Wood got it. I think I heard Leslie Caron was up for it as well, so Hollywood felt any European actress could play Puerto Rican. Hell, they even had a Japanese American actress, Joann Miya, playing a Shark.

Magdalena Montezuma would have been perfect, except for her.....

So Natalie was the original Jennifer Aniston, pissed that she didn’t have a higher wattage costar?

They should've kept Chita, Ken, Larry, and Carol.

ABC's doing a gay remake with Gio Benitez as Mario and Tommy DiDario as Tony.

Richard Beymer has nothing but disgust for the film, saying he was miserable during the making of it, and he was miscast.

[quote]Natalie was great,

She stunk. Natalie Wood was a lousy actress with a flat, strident speaking voice.

Natalie Wood was really one of the worst actresses ever. She had a nervous energy that worked for a couple of teen roles when - Splendor in the Grass (when she was 20something) and Rebel Without a Cause. Her work in dreck like Inside Daisy Clover was embarrassing. Same with Gypsy. She looked great with a great figure, but boy was she a terrible actress.

Fun fact from the Bernstein archives at the Library of Congress: "Warren Beaty" [sic] aged 20 read for Tony. They liked his looks and charm, but he was still too unformed as an actor to be cast. He didn't even get a chance to sing.

As an actress, Natalie Wood hit her peak aged 9 in DRIFTWOOD. She's really wonderful in it. It was all downhill from there.

OP, when the Hollywood studio sets out to make a blockbuster film, it costs a lot of money. They often feel they need a big star to insure success at the box office. That's how Audrey Hepburn got "My Fair Lady" and Julie Andrews did not.

In this case, a bankable Hollywood box office star who was also 16 years old and Puerto Rican was just never going to materialize. She didn't exist. That's your explanation for how Natalie Wood god shoe-horned into the role.

NOTHING explains the godawful Richard Beymer.

He was also in "The Diary of Anne Frank" around that time, another big picture, so someone liked him doing casting.

"West Side Story" is a pastiche of its time, as musical theater tried to uplift itself through a "serious" composer and dance and musical style often running against the story actually being told. The casting of the musical (which the OP doesn't even seem to be aware of) as well as the film fit the sense of the piece. It was not about Puerto Ricans or people who could actually sing. It was about New Yorkers trying to adapt "other people's" troubles into a "classy" mode, meaning Shakespeare. Even on that level it is a failure, since the musical does not bother to find precise parallels for ROMEO AND JULIET. And only "America" reaches a level of intelligence and timely satire to seem apt. The other music almost all is overreaching schlock or pretty-pretty pieces that are lovely but a bit stilted. Maybe "Maria" is the nearest to okay, but even that is rather simpering.

r43 Presumably that was for the stage version, not the movie. And his actual surname IS "Beaty," not "Beatty." Just like sister Shirl, he changed his name.

And the Oscar for the dumbest commentary goes to ..... R47

Yes, Nathalie Wood was no Sarah Bernhardt, but .... I can't even imagine WSS without her. The same goes for Rita Moreno .... everyone else was was replaceable but certainly not miscast ... with the exception of Richard Beymer. I wish they picked Warren Beatty instead. No matter what some say I think WSS is one of the greatest musicals and the film version did a full justice to its brilliance.

This should be NBC's next live musical.

[quote]To this day Richard Beyer has no idea why Natalie disliked him so much.

Because had Warren Beatty landed the role (which he auditioned for), she would have gotten dick the whole time

Elvis actually would have been the best because he would have made Tony seem like he was actually a former gang leader. Beatty and Beyer were too much pretty boys. Since they also considered Anthony Perkins, Troy Donahue and Richard Chamberlain, toughness was not a prerequisite for the role.

They needed a young Brando.

Warren Beatty might not have worked as a blond. And with a few exceptions the Jets are by and large blonds or red heads.

Excusez-moi? ... not only was Beymer's Tony dark haired .... he pinged Gay all the way ... Beatty would be a great choice indeed ... especially after undeniable chemistry with Wood in "Splendor in the Grass".

Racism in casting departments for movies made in 1960 MUST BE STOPPED!!!!

It's a bit too late OP ... don't you think?

"George Chakiris explains why Natalie hated Richard Because she wanted Robert Wagner or Warren Beatty"

Wood was actually right about that, Beymer brought zip nothing nada to the role - no star power, no talent, no singing, diddly! Beatty would at least have brought some star power and sexual charisma, he wasn't a great actor but somehow the camera could see right into him, so he would have given the film some heart as well as sexiness.

Wood wasn't great either, but Beatty's presence would have improved her. They did have sexual chemistry together, something the existing film desperately needed.

That's right R54 - all the movie needed was mumbling and screaming Mariiiiiaaaaaaaa! in front of the fire escape.

[quote]Excusez-moi? ... not only was Beymer's Tony dark haired .... he pinged Gay all the way .

So I guess they were just replicating the original Broadway casting.

[quote]All the voices except Chakiris (because he barely had to sing and it was “ok” if the Puerto Ricans sounded off key

What makes you think Chakiris Kundera off key? He sang well enough to star in the national tour of “Company,” and that role needs a legit musical theatre voice.

It was cast better than the original B'way production. Besides, I can't remember his name but the actor who played Tony is nice to look at.

Richard Chamberlain didn't have a legit musical theatre voice.

He's o.k., r64.

Casting male actors for screen versions of WSS is horribly difficult; these are supposed to be teenage street toughs, the sort of stupid trashy hair-triggered young assholes normal people cross the street to avoid. And they've also got to be able to sing and dance - how many actors can look that rough AND sing and dance at a high level?

Okay, the singing can be faked, but the dancing can't. And they're supposed to be very young, so young they're going to high school dances, young enough that the audience forgives them for some of their shit.

There was an episode of Laverne and Shirley where Marshall is auditioning for WSS along with Toni Basil. At one point, Eddie Mekka as Big Ragoo notes that the show isn't about tap dancing, but it's about jazz and demonstrates. It was one of the more instructive moments about the show because he was noting that the roots of the show were of a younger, more contemporary feel.

LOL, R67. I remember that episode and Laverne still tried to get in a couple of taps. Mekka was excellent with his explanation and demonstration.

He also had a hot ass.

Any ideas as to why Beymer was given the role? He clearly wasn't up to it.

OP is a dope.

[quote] but it's about jazz

??? It is???

Audrey at 31 looked way too old to play a 16 year old. Suppose they use her they'll have to age up the cast like they did for her in MFL, which would make this youth-themed story appear ridiculous. The much younger Wood was the better choice.

Wiki said that Jill St. John, Diane Baker, Audrey Hepburn, Valerie Harper, Elizabeth Ashley and Suzanne Pleshette wanted the role. Wow, that's a lot of bad casting ideas, JSJ being easily the worst.

Can't get over how ugly George Chakiris was.

WHAT?!

Lucille Ball was almost signed for the part of Maria, and had been learning the dances she'd need. But Gary talked her out of it.

Valerie Harper???? That is comical. Suzanne Pleshette already sounded like a 50 year old smoker in 1962 and no way she could have played an innocent virgin. JSJ is rolling on the floor funny. What was she thinking. As for Elizabeth Ashley, same as Suzanne Pleshette, husky voiced been around the block a few dozen times persona. The other I never heard of.

Don't they have any fresh faced young starlet with some degree of fame in 1961? All the actresses they considered for the role were so mature.

[quote]I think WSS is one of the greatest musicals and the film version did a full justice to its brilliance

^^ it’s definitely one of those few musicals whose film version surpasses the stage version, magnificently enough to nab a Best Picture Oscar which the stage version couldn’t do with the Tonys.

Don’t forget my movie! It may have not won Besht Picture, but it won the mosht Oshcars for Nineteen Sheventy Two!

Wasn't Anita black?

I agree Elvis would could have been a great Tony, but would he be too old looking by 1961?

R78, Diane Baker was Joan Crawford's daughter in the classic horror flick "Straight Jacket". She, like the others would have been a dreadful Maria.

[quote]Okay, the singing can be faked, but the dancing can't. And they're supposed to be very young, so young they're going to high school dances, young enough that the audience forgives them for some of their shit.

Um, have you been living under a rock for the last five decades? Most musicals require their dancers to be young. As a matter of fact, the dance industry requires their dancers to be young, because, aside from the brief ping that tap dancing registered in the early eighties, the art form has required people to spin, jump, slide and roll around the floor like no 40+ year old can.

And many musicals, from BBBirdie to Grease to Footloose to Hairspray, are all about high school kids. When was the last time somebody came up with the idea of On Golden Pond, The Musical? Yes, Hamilton...but they’re rapping and hip hopping.

LOL at the clip by r83. As always, hair and make-up betray the period piece.

Thankfully the move decided to include the Shark men in “America.” Besides elevating the production quality of the number, creating a plethora of copycat rooftop dance extravaganzas throughout the sixties and seventies, it added much needed sexual tension to the script.

Well, aside from the obvious fact that Tony and Riff were ex-fuck buddies.

Back in the 80’s, Eddie Mekka would faithfully take the same advanced jazz dance class I took at Phil Black’s studio in NYC any time he was in town. Hot ass indeed. Also, he was a good jumper, partly because he’s about 5’5”.

To ease up on my snide remarks at r86, I do have to admit that, unlike most high school musicals, WSS’s choreography, when done well, requires strong ballet training and at least an athletic demeanor, if not outright skills.

[quote]Any ideas as to why Beymer was given the role?

He had played Riff and other Jet roles (yes, he was a great dancer as well) in national and international tours of the stage version, so he had an in with Jerome Robbins, who directed both the play and the movie. That got him a screen test.

As we all know, Natalie Wood had no problem exuding sexual energy towards a gay/bi counterpart lead (exhibit A, her marriage). But with Beymer it was like kissing her gorgeous hairdresser.

What about Tuesday Weld as Maria? She was young, brilliant, pretty and had a little bit of a name from Dobie Gillis, like Warren Beatty, not to mention her numerous earlier credits as a child star. Kubrick wanted her badly as Lolita barely more than a year later but she turned him down, saying something like she didn't need to play Lolita since she was Lolita.

Rita Moreno said Barbara Luna almost got Anita over her but after she got the part, Luna became the leader for Maria. Luna later did Anita in the first big revival at Lincoln Center. Luna also played Morales in A Chorus Line but was so bad that Bennett replaced her after a couple of performances, even though he personally invited her to do the role. One of the frontrunners was Ina Balin. Who? I had to look her up and I still don't know who she was. I think Anna Maria Alberghetti was probably also considered since she was fairly well known for performing on TV specials. She was denied the role in the Broadway production because it was felt her voice was too operatic and she also had a reputation for being very difficult to work with.

Nonetheless, for awhile AMA made a second career of playing Maria in stock, tours and regionally.

R95 and still she's best known to audiences for those Good Seasons salad dressing commercials.

I don’t see why, a few years later after my stint in Torch Song, I couldn’t have been Anita.

Casting would be so much easier today - Tony and Maria would be black.

Richard Beymer IS gay?

R41 and r42 speak the truth... Natalie Wood was a horrible actress. I thought that her mental breakdown scenes in SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS made Doris Day's similar work in MIDNIGHT LACE look like a master class.

The most unintentionally funny moment in that movie is during the dance at the gym and Maria and Tony first meet. Wood blurts our, “My hands are cold!” in such a stupid way, everyone in the movie audience invariable chuckles

Did Sandra Dee test for it, she was age appropriate?

West Side Story gets badly cast because it is badly written.

Tony and Maria's ages are never stated, but if they are much older than 16 years of age, they must be developmentally disabled. Their behaviors do not suggest that they are in their 20's. Nothing in the story suggests they are anything but young teenagers.

But where do you find a 15 year old girl who can sing and act the role of Maria eight times a week? And a 16 year old boy who can sing and act Tony eight times a week? It's theoretically possible, but almost unthinkable to find even one of them, but certainly not both. And it will be easier to find kids to sing the roles than to credibly act them performance after performance. And then there is the rest of the company that has the same problem.

Everyone who can perform West Side Story is too old to be in it. You can't act young. You are young, or you are not. The audience see the difference. It is especially clear in a widescreen close up.

Everyone in the film West Side Story is old enough to be a hardened thug. They are not kids we can fear for, kids who are victims of their hard luck and tough surroundings. Their (relatively) advanced age robs the story of any tragedy. But if you cast the right ages, the performers in experience would undermine the story, too.

Put this one away. Play the orchestral suites on FM radio and be done with it. The show sucks.

[quote]the art form has required people to spin, jump, slide and roll around the floor like no 40+ year old can.

Some 40-year-olds can!

DL's resident curmudgeon has spoken! West Side Story is uncastable and sucks and should be put out to pasture!

The fact that nobody but nobody agrees with him doesn't make any difference!

MTI, are you listening? Delete it from your catalogue at once!

[quote]and Carol Lawrence is unconvincing in every way.

I will never forget being at Epcot Center and seeing some has-been tap dancing on some orange crates (not on a stage, but by the fake lake, in the middle of the crowd).

I heard her say, "This is for Mr. Bojangles." And with a hilariously theatrical salute to the sky she added," Who knows? Maybe he's listening."

I turned to my BF and said, "For his sake, I hope not."

My FB said, "That's Carole Lawrence!"

It was such a sad spectacle.

I saw her in "Do I Hear a Waltz" at the Pasadena Playhouse about 12 years ago or so - she was wonderful. Old age really works for her.

r101 That was a tip of the hat to Puccini's "La Boheme."

Go back to All That Chat, R105. Those are your people.

R103 speaks like musicals featuring adolescents have never existed.

My mother despised Carol Lawrence. And Phyllis Newman for some reason. Said that they were phony.

[quote]Richard Beymer IS gay?

Pretty much everybody who has played Tony in any major production has been:

R111 Carol Lawrence was insufferable in those International Coffee ads, swanning about with that "Aren't I such a gracious STAR?" attitude.

Okay, R110. What is your theory to respond to OP's question?

Ina Balin was a Star to Be who.....I guess....just didn't get around to it.

R115, she couldn't sing either, but she had the slightly ethnic look that people thought would go with Maria. However, she was not at all virginal looking and actually looks pretty rough and old in some of those photos circa 1961.

Does it get any dumber than R103 ?

Miss Barbara Luna on Ship of Fools. I couldn't find anything that showed off her terpsichorean ability.

Audrey Hepburn got My Fair Lady because for decades Jack Warner had been an idiot. He probably did it to be contrary. The stories of him screwing up casting goes to movie after movie. Julie Andrews was well known, hence the uproar over her not being cast. The My Fair Lady cast album, both London and Broadway, were sellouts. She'd been on high rated television specials. She wasn't just an unknown theatre actress. She was already an international star, certainly as well known as Rex Harrison, who got the part in the movie. Warner already knew from her appearance on Ed Sullivan in Camelot and many other filmed projects. He was just being a tool. Apparently he put out the rumor she wasn't photogenic in order to justify his decision, but he did it AFTER he made the decision. Walt Disney saw her on Sullivan and on Broadway, and immediately offered her Mary Poppins. She was pregnant, but they waited for her. The Sound of Music team were allowed to see Poppins rushes (very unusual) because the Warner rumor still lingered. They took one look at her on camera and that was it.

But, it's true that West Side story was a major first line project, and there were no Puerto Rican female movie stars. Wood being brown eyed was probably enough for them.

I think Woods best co-star was Tony Curtis. Their movies together were terrible, but we forget that he was very talented, good-looking, and versatile. Something about him relaxed her on camera and she had more confidence and sense of humor.

Even though she couldn't act, sing or dance, Raquel Tejada was only 20 when the movie was shot and Sherwood Schwartz wanted her to play Mary Ann, not Ginger in Gilligan's Island. Elvis and Raquel.

Raquel was just too futuristic for Maria.

[quote]Carol Lawrence was insufferable in those International Coffee ads, swanning about with that "Aren't I such a gracious STAR?" attitude.

If she had been truly gracious, she'd have served Twinkies and Ho-Hos.

Served on Chinet, r122.

Anjanette Comer as Maria (?)

AMA's Good Seasons commercial featured porn star to be Scotty Schwartz. It's pretty embarrassing when they identify you as "the Good Seasons lady".

Maybe Carmelita Pope could have done Maria. She was Kim Stanley's understudy in Streetcar Named Desire.

I thought Natalie was fine in WSS...

Years ago I watched "Myra Breckinridge" with both Raquel Welch and Farrah Fawcett in it, expecting to have a camp evening watching the two of them be absolutely awful. Camp the movie certainly was, but I was really shocked to find Rachel Welch and Farrah Fawcett were both good in it.

Even if she had actually been 16 at the time, Raquel Welch would have seemed to mature and knowing to play Maria! Same for all the European starlets like Gina Lolobrigida or Verna Lisi who could have played the role of a girl with an accent, too sophisticated. Wood may not have been much of an actress, but at least she could play young and gormless.

No, there weren't any gorgeous young dark-eyed starlets who were perfect for the role, they should have hired an unknown and used a major star for Tony. Casting someone well-known would not only have brought the movie enough star power to compensate for the unknown playing Maria, but his star persona would have compensated for the weaknesses written into the role of Tony.

I was offered the role of Maria. I don't do Hollywood because of the booze and the dope. I'm Broadway, baby. I suggested Neely O'Hara for the role. She missed the audition because she was high at the time.

Sorry, R126. Kim Stanley never did Streetcar on Broadway. Or anywhere else, I'd wager.

Only Divine could have done justice to the part of Maria.

R131, obviously Kim Hunter not Stanley.

R30

Beymer has elaborated on this and said that several years after they'd filmed WSS, the two were in the same restaurant and that Natalie went over to his table and spoke with him and that it was a warm pleasant encounter. The reason that Natalie hadn't paid attention to Beymer during filming had nothing to do with anything that Beymer had done; she simply wanted Warren Beatty to have the role believing that he would have been far better as 'Tony'. She tried using her clout but to no avail. I think that Beatty might have been a good pick considering he was very handsome at the time and with his sex appeal he would have had the young girls going back to see it again.

This is from IMDB trivia, so who knows how truthful it is: Natalie Wood had literally just finished filming Splendor in the Grass (1961) upon joining the cast, and felt very insecure about her singing and dancing, and withdrew into herself, hence why some of her fellow actors felt that she was aloof. Contrary to myth that has persisted, she did not want Warren Beatty to play Tony. They didn't get along during filming of Splendor in the Grass (1961) and did not start dating until her separation from Robert Wagner. Tony Mordente, who helped Wood with the dance numbers and became a close friend, confirmed that Beatty was never around, during filming or afterwards as he spent a lot of time with both Wood and Wagner off-camera during production.

R135

Interesting. I learned something tonight !

Ann-Margret as Maria.

Connie Francis IS Maria!

Miyoshi Umeki IS Maria!

[quote]I saw her in "Do I Hear a Waltz" at the Pasadena Playhouse about 12 years ago or so - she was wonderful. Old age really works for her.

Was she waltzing in her flat?

140 posts and no one has mentioned the best actor in the cast: Russ Tamblyn, who looked like he could fight, and was a pretty good dancer.

[quote] I saw her in "Do I Hear a Waltz" at the Pasadena Playhouse about 12 years ago or so - she was wonderful. Old age really works for her.

I saw that production too, hon, and I hate to tell you it was in 2001, SEVENTEEN years ago, not 12.

We're getting old.

Yes, Lawrence was good as Fioria. I was sorry they cut 'Bargaining' and reinstated 'Everybody Loves Leona', a song I hated, but overall I liked the show. Unlike that piece of shit Lawrence did a few years ago Off-Broadway, HANDLE WITH CARE

footage....

The most unintentionally funny moment in the film is after the dance, Tony goes through the streets calling "Maria". Only one girl comes out. I mean, there should have been a stampede.

Jack MacFarland IS Maria!

JACK: Maybe something with an umbrella. [TO THE WAITRESS] Excuse me, miss. Yeah, we're ready to order over here. What's good?

WAITRESS: What's good? Me in Hawaii with Richard Crenna.

ROSARIO: I heard that, sister.

WAITRESS: What do we got here? You look like a bus and truck company of West Side Story.

JACK: You know, I played Maria a time or two. It's true, I tell ya. Anyway, I'll have a club soda with two teaspoons of sugar, a splash of Rosa's Lime Juice, half crushed ice, half cubed, and an umbrella.

WAITRESS: One beer.

JACK: Excuse me! [SLAMS HIS HAND ON THE TABLE] Rudeness! I would like the drink I ordered! And maybe even a "Hello, my name is pbblt. I'll be your server tonight."

WAITRESS: Listen, Maria... I've been on this shift since-- What time is it now? Uh, 1947. My back aches, my feet hurt, and the only thing holding up my boobs is hope. So, you'll enjoy your beer.

JACK: A beer would be great. Thanks.

ROSARIO: Make that two, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs.

Thank you R143 - I was not aware of this clip ... priceless!!!!!

Warren Beatty can't sing. In those days, he could barely talk.

The singing for both Tony and Maria was dubbed, r147, so what difference does that make?

Realistic casting vs. practical casting is an ages old problem. Take Richard Strauss's opera Salome. She's supposed to be a seductive sixteen year old girl. But Strauss wrote her vocally with a huge voice that had to carry over a 120 piece orchestra without miking. Only experienced middle aged singers could sing it but to top it off, the libretto calls for her to do a sensuous striptease, The Dance of the Seven Veils. It's still a popular opera, but there are always compromises somewhere in the casting.

Meanwhile, adults in their 20s and 30s had been playing teenagers in Hollywood for decades and audiences just accepted it without thinking about it. My favorite abomination is 40 plus something Norma Shearer playing 13 year old Juliet in MGM's grandiose 1930s production. Have you seen Steve McQueen in The Blob?

In cases where 30 something mid life stars play teenagers, it's usually a period setting where the costumes suggest theater to the audiences. Like Romeo Juliet or My Fair Lady. The audience are there to look at not just the star, but the lush period settings and costumes. Having a 30 something star who looks like a 30 something person playing a contemporary teen like in West Side Story would have been extremely off putting.

Extremely off putting, indeed, R149. And one property is not like another. For example, West Side Story is not Grease. In Grease, it doesn't much matter if everyone is 10 years older than their character, because the whole movie doesn't much matter. West Side Story takes itself very, very seriously, from start to finish. If the creators are going to try to create a Group Theater sort of experience built around serious social comment about the tragedy for young people caused by poverty and racism, then they have to cast it with actual young people. Without them, the empathy the audience would bring is lost.

Same problem with Evita - the show ends with her death at age 33, but you need a young, powerful, experienced belter to take on the role. Someone who can play the 15 year old ambitious youth Eva Duarte to the jaded, driven, powerful Evita Peron. The score is written for an experienced vet but you NEED someone young to play the part. It's almost impossible to cast. Exhibit A: Elena Roger.

There's a reason LuPone is a legend - she's the ONLY one who put Evita on the map.

[quote]Same problem with Evita - the show ends with her death at age 33, but you need a young, powerful, experienced belter to take on the role.

Now, you tell me!

Can't you all just enjoy brilliantly written score without wandering was she too young or too old for that part?

R153, I love WSS, it's my second favorite musical of all time, I love the music and the choreography. But it's true that it's much easier to willingly suspend disbelief and believe that the performer you're watching is actually a teenager and a not a middle-aged battleaxe with a mature voice... in the theater where the performer is many yards away and you can't see them too clearly. On the big screen, or even the small screen, you see too much, it's hard to convince yourself that the performer's age is off by more than ten years.

The performers really do need to be young for the big screen, not just to make them look plausible in the context of a high school dance, but so that you don't hold their criminality against them. Much. They should be so young that it seems like they might be redeemable, not like hardened criminals.

We are not talking about Olivia de Havilland playing Juliet at the rape age of 100 and 2. If you can name 16 year old being able to act, sing and dance appriopriatly to the requirements of WSS, than just name one ... otherwise "hush up sweet Charlotte".

R154 ... WSS is one of my favorite musicals as well ... but luckily ever since the first viewing of the movie I have never questioned the age issues ... you must know by now, it is a musical, not a documentary ...

I've always wondered why WSS was such a terrible movie musical and huge flop and fortunately there are people like R47 to explain why it sank without a trace.

In fact it turns out it didn't even work when it opened in on Broadway in '57. Thank you as well R103 for your insightful analysis.

Sorry, R157, Ann does not want me. I'm bANNed.

Robert Wise's dead hand is all over the parts of the film Robbins didn't direct.

r150 Agreed. The singing on the big screen can always be dubbed. But youth and ability to dance, I think, are absolute must for for the roles in WSS. I believe youth matters even more than acting skills to the audience in WSS, who had to sympathize with these "kids" for their youthful misguided-ness. They considered Audrey Hepburn, which reminds me, both she and Peppard are likewise too old for the call girl and boy of Breakfast At Tiffany's. Which is why BAT is more a sophisticated (aka middle aged) fashion statement than an actual film where people can feel for the characters.

R159, the scenes Robbins was involved with in actual filming were the opening dance sequences, which were shot first. He was fired and banned from the set shortly after, although he retained his screen credits.. Of course he was intimately involved in reworking the choreography, supervising rehearsals and well over a year of pre-production.

Am I the only one who liked Richard Beymer as Tony? LOL I fall in love with him every time I watch WSS.

Uh you R162 and the millions and millions of people who have seen and loved the film since 1961 and have had no problem with Beymer, Wood, the ballerinos and Wise's 'dead' hand which I guess proved even deadlier with SOM.

We've just got a couple of Paulettes on DL who have bit hitting the pepper vodka a little bit too hard lately.

Thanks, R163. Glad to know that once again DL has lost its mind.

Yes R164 everybody who has loved that film since '61 and teared up at horrible choice Beymer dying and horrible actress Wood lashing out in anger is insane.

Really you people who think the two of them are bad at least give them the credit that there are an overwhelming majority of people who find them extremely moving even if you don't. At least admit it's a case of 'But what the fuck do I know?'

It was not miscast. Only a comparative few theater queens who think so.

And I love that because Robbins did not film the dance at the gym himself it's not very good according to Moreno. Of course practically everybody else who's seen the film considers it one of the most exciting dance sequences ever put on film. And had Robbins filmed it we would never had had Tamblyn's gymnast moves which makes it even more exciting and is a highpoint of the movie.

'have had'

It's an odd thing thing for Moreno to say because Robbins didn't even choreograph America and the Dance at the Gym. Most of those two numbers for the stage show were done uncredited by Robbins' primary assistant, Peter Gennaro, who remained on the film after Robbins was fired.

Sony are currently casting for a remake of WSS. They're auditioning Harry Styles for Tony and Selena Gomez for Maria.

The remake is being directed by Steven Spielberg. He's wanted to do it for years but only recently did he finally get the rights.

I love the musical with a deep and abiding love, but I don't think it's ripe for a remake. Certainly it can't be updated, as today's criminal kids have semi-automatics instead of switchblades, and does the world really want a musical set in the world of 1950s juvenile delinquents?

Harry Styles would be ideal, he's touring at the moment and selling out huge arenas all across the world. Selena obviously is Latino. Both can sing really well and would bring in a much needed younger audience.

They should consider Zayn Malik too as the rival gang leader, can't remember his name.

The millions of Harry Styles fans will go to anything he's in so if it's not modernised that won't be a problem. They turned up in droves to see him in Dunkirk which could not have been less fangirl friendly.

R167, Moreno didn't say it. What she said was that in her opinion, the only number that didn't work onscreen and didn't capture the excitement of the stage production was the Dance at the Gym. She did not give a reason except to say that she felt it wasn't up to the level of the rest of the movie.

It may not have been MIScast, but I think it could have been cast better.

"It didn't work on screen" = what? It's terrific?

If you don't agree with my opinion and agree with Moreno's that's fine. I think her opinion is jaw dropping-but ok.

And where is Spielberg going to find the dancers? He can't. They don't exist. Just because people can do the moves doesn't mean they can dance the music. Maybe Spielberg will use entirely new choreography by Rob or Kathleen Marshal and have one of them co-direct. That should interesting.

Harry Styles and Selena Gomez can dance so all is well.

[quote]Maybe Spielberg will use entirely new choreography by Rob or Kathleen Marshal and have one of them co-direct. That should interesting.

Interesting? i think you misspelled "appalling."

Tony and Maria don't need to be dancers, they don't join in any if the big dancers. They need to save their breath for the semi-popular score, and BTW I do wonder if Spielberg is going to have the voices of these pop singers dubbed, or enhanced, or if he's just going to let them mangle the score a la "Sweeney Todd".

Dancers for the Robbins choreography can be found at any ballet company.

[quote]Harry Styles would be ideal, he's touring at the moment and selling out huge arenas all across the world. Selena obviously is Latino. Both can sing really well and would bring in a much needed younger audience.

They have nice pop voices... but the brilliant Bernstein score requires legitimate voices that border on operatic without losing that youthful innocence that sits over the characters. They have the latter but lack the former.

[quote]Harry Styles and Selena Gómez can dance so all is well

Except that their roles require minimal to no dancing, lucky for Styles, who really can’t dance at all. One Direction was the biggest con in terms of dancing. I think their handlers realized most of them couldn’t do it, unlike their American earlier counterparts, so they were made to rapidly walk from one end of the stage to another and hit a pose.

María has to hit a clean, strong high C at the end of the Tonight quartet. That’s where Selena’s voice will need beefing up.

Tony has to have beautiful, strong, seamless transitions between his chest, head and falsetto voices during “María.” Can Harry handle that?

The licensing agreements for professional productions of Peter Pan, West Side Story, Gypsy and Fiddler used to include requirements that you use at least certain parts of Robbins' original staging/choreography, per the Robbins Estate. I have no idea how much of that is still true.

The flying choreography for Peter Pan, for example, and the strobe light scene where the older kids replace the younger kids in the vaudeville scenes of Gypsy, for example. Professional productions had to use them and materials were provided to recreate them. Otherwise you couldn't get the rights. These restrictions didn't apply smaller productions like schools and community theater.

Again, I have no idea what current licensing rights require.

And I assume big major productions, like for Broadway, negotiate these things individually with the various estates.

R157

WEST SiDE STORY was a huge flop ? You don't know what you're talking about.

And r182, you can’t identify sarcasm if it smacked you right on the head. Did you bother to read r157’s sign-off, or notice who he was directing his comment to?

R183

No. I'm clearly not too bright.

WSS originally on Broadway was not a flop but it was not a great success either. Hal Prince noted that the show was so ahead of its time that the critics didn't quite know how to respond the first time. They closed, toured and returned. The show got the reviews this time and it became the smash hit that people remember.

The thought of WSS remake is simply repulsive .... what next repainting of Mona Lisa?

Dancers for West Side Story can be found in any ballet company? Yeah and they totally don't get it. The original dancers were Broadway dancers with some ballet training a very very different thing.

You can paste the dancing on them but they never inhabit it.

DL Fave Cheyenne Jackson is a pretty decent singing Tony on the San Francisco Symphony recording (conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas). Heard on Spotify, and clips on Youtube. Of course, he's too old now for the movie remake.

See r188? All good Tonys are gay.

Ack! This thread has been infiltrated by the Musical Comedy Fascists of All That Chat.

A swift death to them all!

This thread has also been infiltrated by Cathy, The Original Frau.

West Side Story Movie “America" Sequence Recreated By Karen Olivo (Anita) & George Akram (Bernardo)

The marvelous “America” sequence is performed in the theater by the Sharks’ girlfriends; an expanded movie version includes the gang boys too. The stage lyrics are quite different also, more about the perks of living in the U.S. versus Puerto Rico (rather than the prejudice and poverty faced by newcomers to this country).

I like it

R187 is correct. Whenever I have seen revivals of WSS (or even JR Bway] the dancers may be more proficient or technically on the mark but it always looks too clean or perfect.

There’s 12 minutes of color footage of the original cast on YouTube ( for some reason DL will not let me post link). I saw Lawrence talk about the “Somewhere” ballet and how there are steps( a life maybe?) that only she and Kert did (I know she’s bat shit crazy but looking at her in the clips you realize the luxury of having a Maria who can dance. What there is of “I Feel Pretty” has personality and certain elegance which I’ve not seenin any other Maria)

Karen Olivo = worst Anita, both as an actress and dancer. Good singer.

She was even allowed to do 1990s “Miss Thing” type of air snaps!

Debbie Allen was the best dancewise, and Rita Moreno, the only true “immigrant” amongst them, the best actress.

Jossie De Guzman was also a true “immigrant” who played María... but she came from a fairly well-off theater family in Puerto Rico.

[quote] Karen Olivo = worst Anita, both as an actress and dancer. Good singer.

Yet she is the only actress to win the Tony Award for playing Anita. Says more about your taste, than anyone else's

Says more about the competition that year.

[quote]DL Fave Cheyenne Jackson is a pretty decent singing Tony on the San Francisco Symphony recording (conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas). Heard on Spotify, and clips on Youtube. Of course, he's too old now for the movie remake.

Call my agent! I'm available to play Officer Krupke!

[quote] Says more about the competition that year.

Karen Olivo BEAT Carole Shelley for Billy Elliot. Even you would admit Carole Shelley is no amateur

R187 is not correct. The issue is not the dancers. It's the management.

How committed is the management to providing enough rehearsal, before and after opening, to keep the raw style that Jerome Robbins demanded? It costs money. Sondheim has discussed how different the original production was only six months after opening. The edge that had been painstakingly built during rehearsal was gone.

And not just with the dancers. Throughout the production. The shop that built the costumes, with Robbins and Irene Sharaff supervising the results, produced costumes that looked old and worn and dirty, as if they came from poverty. With no one at the top of the production keeping an eye on the integrity of the work, in six months time, the show's wardrobe people had all the costumes spiffed up nicely. The same thing happened with hair and make up. Everything just got be nicer.

There are great dancers today, all over the world, doing terrific work. They can do West Side Story, as directed. But then somebody has to keep an eye on things, or that singular vision of the director will suffer a death by a thousand improvements.

'Tony has to have beautiful, strong, seamless transitions between his chest, head and falsetto voices during “María.” Can Harry handle that? '

No but maybe they'll get Zayn Malik for the role instead, he could handle it and he looks Latino, unlike Harry.

r201 Tony is Polish, dummy.

Harry Styles looks Polish with his pale skin and big green eyes, he'll do for the role.

Harry Styles? Will he be wearing that combover?

It's not that the costumes were spiffed up, r200, it's that they weren't spiffed down. I'm assuming as costumes were replaced/rebuilt, they went without the distressing/aging step of the process. I don't know if that would have been for budgetary reasons or just due to laziness.

" It's not that the costumes were spiffed up, [R200], it's that they weren't spiffed down."

MARY! You are out of your fucking controlling mind.

It's a valid point. Shows often get the edges smoothed out if a production runs. Take Cabaret: Jill Haworth was replaced by mostly conventional musical theatre types who would go on to be cast as "The Mom" in typical sitcoms.

Yeah. Les Miserables and In The Heights looked like Vegas reviews by the end of their runs.

Or I should be more specific - the cast of Les Miserables was phoning it in at some point in the early 2000s (like they did in Old-school Vegas reviews that lasted for decades) and management had to step in. They fired most of the cast.

R200 It's the training and environment. The world that produced those dancers no longer exists.

So you couldn't even have it from the get go with all the training in the world. And there isn't a director in the world who could properly train those dancers. You might as well remake The Wizard of Oz with the same script and music and try to create the same magic. It is not happening. I saw the dancers of Robbins and Balanchine live on stage and believe me those dancing those works today are a very different thing.

It's pretty much like reading a book in translation. If you've ever read a great book in its original language and then read it in English you'd be jesus it's missing all the nuance, color and detail.

I love Natalie Wood. There was something genuine about her. She shouldn't have been Maria. Chita Rivera could have been Anita and Rita Moreno could have been Maria.

Chita Rivera could have been Anita in1960’s Hollywood had dermabrasions, Botox, implants, and chemical peels been perfected by then.

I tried to link and failed. Raul Esparza and Lin-Manuel Miranda do a cover of 'A boy like that ' at the MCC theater. They are the Maria and Anita we need for this remake!!!!!!

I may actually serious. It would be fantastic!

Why hasn't Spielberg ever done a gay film hmmm? A jewish themed film, African American themed films and where are the gay leads in his films?

What, r214???!

Oh, never mind, r214, I WAS missing proper punctuation comprehension.

The Color Purple does not apply. On principle.

Alice Walker wrote a book in which intimate and sexual relationships between women were central.

Steven Spielberg made a movie that all but completely scoured out the lesbian themed content that were essential to Walker's book. The little bit he left in does not outweigh everything he deleted.

So... no gay points for Spielberg with The Color Purple. In fact, he gets lots of points deducted.

Wasn’t Shaving Ryan’s Privates a Spielberg film?

Oh, put a cork in it, r206. I'm a professional costumer. Costume houses have to add to their costs with that final distressing process. Someone (like myself) has to be knowledgeable to do it, and they get paid for it. Also they don't all have in-house dyeing. In that case things are sent to professional dyeing establishments. Adds $$$.

Perhaps in Orlando you are a costumer. If you're such a professional, then you will concur with the original point. Management has to be committed to maintaining the integrity of the creators' vision. If they are not willing to 'add $$$' necessary to do that, the integrity fades away.

And you should also know that on a Broadway production, the supplier that builds the costumes and delivers them has then finished its work, unless replacement costumes are required. The production's own employees do the on-going work of maintaining the wardrobe throughout the run of the show. They would not have been present at the creation of the costumes. As wardrobe people come and go, the new additions to the staff would not know what the new costumes looked like. It takes time and attention and money to maintain that original design and vision.

Now get back to your sewing machine. Mickey's gloves need mending.

R220, Apropos to WSS, Hal Prince said he thought the original designer made ridiculous choices and simply drove the budgets up when they could have had the Sharks and Jets wear Levis for free for a credit in the program. They eventually did this. Prince would ask why the show no longer looked as vibrant and the answer was because the levis weren't costumes.

That wasn't my point, r220, and you aren't being accurate. Day-working wardrobe does repairs. If a costume is to be replaced, the original NYC house rebuilds it using the show's bible that gives EVERY detail of what went into building that costume. Of course some productions get lax and it shows. And of course no, they shouldn't.

Sorry r220, I just restated what you wrote. This is all a silly semantic issue. Spiffed up vs spiffed down.

Trina López is Bernardo!

You would have thought somebody even though still young but experienced like Harold Prince would know Irene Sharraff though expensive(I'm surprised he even hired her for such a show)would know what she was doing when designing jeans for a stylized musical.

I like the anecdote about Streisand's Hello Dolly Harmonia Garden's dress. Sharraff knew that this very expensive carefully designed and executed gown was going to be seriously damaged during preproduction and shooting when Streisand was wearing it. I guess at that point she knew what kind of wear such a costume had to endure. She told the executives at the studio they needed to create another one as this one would take too long to repair if it was damaged and causes expensive delays for the shooting for that sequence and they needed a duplicate copy that would look as fresh as the original to be used immediately.

The execs refused as the budget was already soaring, the dress was enormously expensive and they'd take their chances. Sharraff then made her own copy and paid for it herself which must have cost her a bundle. But she didn't come cheap so she had enough to do it.

Anyway she was right. During production that fragile dress under enormous stress with all the dancing was damaged and they immediately needed a new one no matter what to avoid any costly delays. She just happened to have one on hand and charged them a lot of money for it making herself a nice profit.

It wasn't.

I liked Sharaff's book very much. I think it was Funny Girl that she had problems with Barbra continually changing/adding to her bust pads.

I think it was Sharraff who told Streisand she complained too much and was a pill when she had so much to be thankful for.

R228

Omar Sharif, Matthau, Wyler all had similar comments.

I'd be acquiescent of Miss Sharaff, r228. Those pins can hurt!

Spielburg confirmed today that they have signed up Harry Styles for Tony and Zayn Malik for Fugrezzo.

What the hell is a Fugrezzo? An ugly rude Italian?

[quote]Why hasn't Spielberg ever done a gay film hmmm?

Well, the shark in "Jaws" WAS named "Bruce," so there's that.

Tom Holland, with his years of ballet training and his background in musicals, would have been a better choice for Tony for this remake. He looks like a teenager too.

Auli’i Cravalho would make the idea Maria going by her performance in Rise. Selena Gomez could be Anita.

Actually, Tom Holland would have been a great idea! He can play young and innocent, and these kids have to have the air of not having completely lost their innocence.

But his dancing ability would have been wasted, as noted before, Tony and Maria hardly dance a step. Those roles are for singers.

They've cast Timothee Chalamet as Tony and Rita Ora as Maria ! Inspired casting.

No, they haven’t, R237. No casting announcements at all yet.

R218, I actually own a VHS copy of Shaving Ryan's Privates. Also, Bi-tanic, whose exteriors are shot on the decks of the Queen Mary.

Sharaff said she would never work with Streisand again, the only person of whom she made that comment. Wyler said Streisand should be forgiven her behavior on Funny Girl, because it was the first film she had ever tried to direct.

Timothee Chalamet IS Anybodys!

[quote] I actually own a VHS copy of Shaving Ryan's Privates. Also, Bi-tanic, whose exteriors are shot on the decks of the Queen Mary

How about "Splendor in the Ass?"

Interesting that Sharaff said that about Streisand as they worked 4 times together and she played an important part in the best period of Streisand's career.

Also after Dolly Sharaff seems to have done only 3 sets of undistinguished designs for films and nothing for the stage and she lived until '93. Until then it seems she was working constantly.

It's as if with Dolly she used up the last of her great talent despite living another 25 years.

La Streisand sucked the last drop of talent right out of her.

Lehman said after Dolly wrapped Streisand wanted some of the antique pieces which he said he couldn't give to her because they belonged to the studio.

He said she cut him off dead.

Many years later they were at a function together and she came over to him and was warm and friendly. He was wtf?

55 yr-old here who appreciates most classic musicals. For the heck of it I have tried to see all the Oscar best pictures but I still haven't seen this one from start to finish. I appreciate how great and classic the score is, but I get ten minutes into the movie and I see the ridiculous dark makeup on ALL the characters (not just the "Latinos") and the dancing gang members who don't look like they could swing a wiffle ball bat and I am out.

Warren Beatty was too WASPish for Tony and would also have needed to be dubbed.

[quote]It's a valid point. Shows often get the edges smoothed out if a production runs. Take Cabaret: Jill Haworth was replaced by mostly conventional musical theatre types who would go on to be cast as "The Mom" in typical sitcoms.

Pam Dawber IS Sally Bowles!

[quote]I never miss a Paul Newman musical.

In the 1950s, Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint starred in a television musical adaptation of "Our Town." Frank Sinatra played the Stage Manager and introduced the song "Love and Marriage," which later would become the theme of "Married With Children."

I thought Riff was excellently cast. No OP? Most of the jets were good, but Tony couldn't sing.

Bernado was a good cast, also.

I did like Natalie Wood as Maria and I don't care that she wasn't PR and couldn't sing and I'm PR. It's not that big a deal.

I know that Natalie was a limited actress (although she had been a very effective child actress), and yet I always found her very appealing on screen, including in "West Side Story." And I've always loved her in the dressing room scene at the end of "Gypsy."

Whatever Natalie's acting abilities, she certainly projected the innocence and vulnerability that was needed for Maria. Wood's speaking voice was technically weak, but it worked well onscreen for conveying teenage pathos as evidenced in Rebel without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass, and WSS. Also, she was so bloody pretty, not beautiful, but she had a prettiness that made the audience like and want to protect her. I honestly couldn't imagine another choice for the role during that time period.

I think Russ Tamblyn and George Chakiris were fine as the gang leaders.

Richard Beymer? He's one of the biggest miscasts of any movie.

As a gang leader, he always reminded me of the Richard on The Patty Duke show.

I hope the Spielberg version has new choreography as the Jerome Robbins stuff is dated.

As society, and the world crumbles, Rita Moreno is still the only one who makes sense.

Hollywood certainly didn't highly value authenticity.

What was with the gang members all having brown paint on their faces?

What about Steve McQueen's wife? Wasn't she a singer/dancer? She was Filipina but could pass for Puerto Rican

Natalie Wiod couldn't sing, so why should any of the other actors have to sing? Sal Mineo could've been Tony. He looked about as. Polish as Richard Beymer did. Gary Crosby looked like a blonde trashy gang leader. Hell, I watch Perry Mason, Twilight Zone & Alfred Hitchcock on metv and plenty of young actors besides the wincingly miscast Beymer. could've played Tony.

Just dub Larry Kert's voice, like Marnie dubbed Natalie's vouce. .

Beymer was fine.

Warren Beatty would have been unbelievable as an ordinary delivery boy or whatever he was.

Eva Marie Saint (in the movie 'All Fall Down') saw Warren Beatty play some garage attendant (in the movie 'All Fall Down') and said to him that a delicious creature (as he then was) should be employed as a movie star and not as a garage attendant.

How is the choreography dated? It’s meant to evoke its time period and it succeeds on that level. Dated? For a show that is firmly set in it’s time?

Those actors in the 1957 B'way show were so freakin' old. Tony had a receding hairline. They both had amazing singing voices but looked to be in their 40s. I can't believe they were supposed to be in high school. They must have been left back a hundred times each.