BONUS: Steven Spielburg’s West Side Story!

The Gospel of Musical Theatre

That's right... We're not done with West Side Story! Today in this very special bonus episode, we're talking about the 2021 Steven Spielberg adaptation.

We talk about:

- Spielberg. Spielberg’s style and the political & sociological context that he and screenwriter Tony Kushner bring to the original material

- Religion. Shifts in religious imagery from 1961 to 2021 - and how the film shifts the setting of the story's religious/liturgical moments

- Awareness. How the film raises the stakes of Tony & Maria’s love by paying deeper attention to the political & racial context of the late 50s

- The Immigrant Experience. A deeper and more nuanced take on Maria & Anita and the ways they navigate white society

- Rita Moreno. Valentina, the new character created by Kushner and Spielberg - and what it means to have Rita Moreno’s presence in the film

- Midrash. The phenomenon of midrash in the Jewish exegetical tradition and how this film riffs on the complications & tensions inherent in the original material

- Mary. The theological question of whether it’s true that when “love comes on so strong, there is no right or wrong” – and Maria as a (literal!) Marian figure

You’ll hear tracks from the 2021 Film Soundtrack:

- David Alvarez and the Sharks singing “La Borinquena”.

- Gustavo Dudamel leading players from the New York and LA Philharmonics in “Mambo” from the Dance at the Gym

- Ansel Elgorty and Rachel Zegler singing “One Hand, One Heart”

- Rachel Zegler, Ana Isabelle, Ilda Mason, Annelise Cepero, Jamila Velazquez, Andrea Burns, Tanairi Sade Vazquez & Yassmin Alers singing “I Feel Pretty”

- Ariana DeBose and Rachel Zegler singing “A Boy Like That/I Have A Love”

- Rita Moreno singing “Somewhere”

Continue the conversation with Peter (@pgeinvan) and Nathan (@nathan_lerud) on Twitter, and follow the Gospel of Musical Theatre on Instagram or Twitter @gospelofmt.