Essay by

The West Side Story Appropriation We Never Really Talk About

Essay by




Maria running with Tony down the street

Out of the Sugarcane Fields to El Barrio





West Side Story: The Puerto Rican Story Rewritten

Míriam Colón

The Implications Beyond Casting




Who Tells Our Stories



Bookmark this page

Log in to add a bookmark




Add Comment


Newest First

Just writing from the south west of the uk here after watch in the film version during our lockdown lite #2

I deliberately searched to see a discussion about racism and identity in WSS and was interested to read your account.

What mainly struck me as I watched the film was the sophistication of the lyric and themes during the famous America song - but perhaps only when the deeper context of the couple of minutes prior to the start of the song is taken into account.

There's a gender differential to be taken into account as well.

"If you're all white in America" has to be one of the best lines in musical theatre - Sondheim as a free thinking , educated liberal...very interesting for the mid 1950s.

''Twas ever thus...the idiotic Brexit decision here is driven by the same dynamics. The Americans annoyed by the ca change.

I was in New Mexico 3 or 4 years ago and got chatting to a Native American guy. He referred to "the Americans" a number of times when we were talking - that really struck me. A good few years ago I was talking to an Irish catholic- heritage fella from Glasgow and he talked about "the Brits" when he was referring to the Uk establishment.

Both of those people were talking about the feeling of alienation and otherness. A huge amount of it is class-based, of course...

Class is everything...but racial/sectoral identity feelings will always play big in the minds of people who are living on the front line of immigration...

A fascinating subject,but cultural appropriation? Is anything new under the sun? I just worry about the counter productiveness of it's easily lampooned and parodied - the next thing is it's ruffling feathers in white, normal households and they're voting to reflect this....

West Side Story is a beautiful golden oldie-but-keeper of a classic movie-musical that won ten well deserved Academy Awards, including Best Picture when it came out in to the movie theatres in October 1961. Imho, Spielberg's upcoming reboot/remake of this great film will never, ever even begin to top the old original 1961 film version.

It’s really interesting how West Side Story’s storyline is very similar to Shakespeares play Romeo and Juliet. I strongly agree with your opinion of the musical having issues of appropriation and I hope it can be solved in future productions of West Side Story.

Has no one noticed or commented that all four creators of West Side Story were gay and Jewish, identities that were marginalized in their time and that were more important than their white male identities, in their own eyes and in the eyes of the world.  Of course they were not out with their gay identities at that time, but it led them to understand what it meant to be marginalized and contributed to their sensitivity in portraying the marginalized Puerto Ricans.  And there were no openly gay characters on Broadway at that time.  It would take decades and a new generation to tell their stories.  As an aside, Natalie Wood played the Jewish "princess" Marjorie Morgenstern in the movie Marjorie Morningstar, a fact that was not un-noticed by the Jewish community in 1959 when they very much wanted to see their world portrayed in book and film. I know because I grew up in the era and remember the excitement when the book and movie came out.    

I'll also add that the writer has part of the description of the original West Side Story (i. e. the Broadway stage version) wrong:  Maria was originally going to be a Jewish girl, and Tony was originally going to be an Irish-Italian Catholic boy.

The idea of West Side Story, which was originally going to be called East Side Story, originated at around WWII.   By the time the whole concept of West Side Story  really got off the ground, however, the conflict between Jews and Catholics here in the United States was no longer as fresh or as overtly hostile as it had been.  

By the 1950's, and during the 1960's,  there was a huge influx of Puerto Ricans here into NYC, and into the Continental United States, generally, and the conflict between the Anglos and the Puerto Ricans  was far more prevalent, and intense.  

I find it interesting that the author of this article hones in on the fact that most of the Puerto Ricans portrayed in WSS are in a gang and finds fault with that - all the while ignoring the fact that the white characters in WSS are also in a gang.  She doesn't seem to understand that the Puerto Rican culture and immigration experience is not the front and center piece of West Side Story, but rather, the universal immigrant experience and resulting fear-based cultural clashes are.  WSS is an incredible piece of musical art that displays the tragedy of bigotry and gangs while highlighting the amazing power of love to overcome (at least until violent tragedy strikes).  It's too bad these facts seem to be lost on the author of this "cultural appropriation" complaint.  I find it disappointing that she feels the need to point out the race of the creators of this amazing musical insinuating that because they aren't of a certain race they couldn't do justice to that race.   How would the author react if I were to suggest that a story or musical about European immigrants couldn’t be done justice if written by an African American or person of Latino heritage?  The wildly successful musical “Hamilton” comes to my mind as I ponder such an unworthy thought.

On a personal note, I've played many top level musicals during my career and of all of them,  West Side Story was my best musical experience.  Every night I found new things to be amazed about in the intricacies of the music.  Bernstein was a musical genius.  My avatar picture is actually of me playing WSS in Basel, Switzerland during the winter of 2002/2003.

You've made some excellent point, John.  I couldn't have said it any better myself.  I'm admittedly a devout fan of the original 1961 film version of West Side Story, who never gets tired of watching it over and over again, especially on a great big, wide screen, in a real movie theatre, with the lights down low, and sharing the very experience with a bunch of other people, whether one knows them or not.  

The intensely brilliant musical score by Leonard Bernstein, the beautifully-choreographed dancing by the late Jerome Robbins, the cinematography and use of passionate colors, such as reds, blues, and purples by the late Daniel Fapp, as well as the very strong cast, the richly-colored costumes and photography, the seamlessly combined on-location NYC scenes with on-stage scenes, and the very story behind West Side Story, are all combined to make this great, golden oldie-but-keeper of a classic movie-musical the dynamic little package that it is.

I have never had any career in theatre, film, or music, generally, but I've always appreciated it.  I was introduced to West Side Story  through the music to the original Broadway stage production LP soundtrack of West Side Story, back in the summer of 1962, prior to entering the sixth grade, while attending day camp out West, in Tucson, AZ.   One girl in the group I was with, who'd just received an LP copy of the original Broadway stage production soundtrack of West Side Story brought it into day camp and played it for the rest of our group.  My love for West Side Story took off, instantly.  

Re: The relative danger of "Jets" vs. "Sharks". When the musical premiered in 1957, commercial jetliners were only a few years old and had literally crashed and burned. (The de Havilland Comet suffered from metal fatigue which resulted in multiple crashes and was yanked from the market. The re-engineered Comet and the Boeing 707 wouldn't enter service until 1958.) So the immediate image conjured up by the word "Jet" would not have been a friendly commercial airliner; it would be military airplanes.

Misha Berson here.

This is an old argument you are making. In my book, "Something's Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination," I address the ambivalent feelings many contemporary Latino actors and other theater people have about the show. Since the 1960s, in tempo with the rise of liberation identity movements in the U.S., there have been similar objections.

So be it. It is time to look at the past critically, and to make sure the present and future are more inclusive, more authentic, more truly representative.

But it's also important to consider this in context. Before "WSS," there was not a single musical that featured numerous sympathetic Puerto Rican characters. The show was created by four white men, yes, but that's because they were all Broadway mavericks at the top of their game and wanted to work together on something they considered important. Playwright Arthur Laurents and composer Leonard Bernstein were outspoken progressives and targets of the blacklist during the McCarthy era. Director-choreographer Jerome Robbins researched and admired Nuyorican culture.

All of them (including the young lyricist, Stephen Sondheim) hoped to cast Latino performers, and actively looked for them. However at that point there were few (like the great Chita Rivera) with the singing-dancing-acting Broadway credentials needed -- largely because the entertainment industry had not welcomed and encouraged them.

Cultural appropriation, as another commenter has suggested, is a complex charge in a country which, despite long entrenched institutional racism, has absorbed a multiplicity of cultural influences from its diverse citizenry. Also, the show was never intended to be a documentary but a work of the imagination, just as Romeo and Juliet was. It's a tragic love story that synthesized many styles of music, dance and some reflections of society -- including the very real explosion of youth gang violence (there was a related murder blocks away from the theater during the original run), the growing Puerto Rican community in Manhattan and the resentments of working class white residents.

I'd just like to add that having dug deeply into the history of West Side Story and its creators, I believe their intentions were honorable and not some attempt to simply "cash in" by ripping off another culture. They had great difficulty raising any money for the show because of its subject matter (the young producer Harold Prince came to the rescue at the 11th hour), and no expectations that it would be a hit. Whatever its weaknesses, it broke the mold of standard musical comedy fare on Broadway, with its serious themes and blunt dramatization of pervasive bigotry.

Criticism of the show from the current perspective of a Latina theatre artist is entirely understandable, and potentially productive. But to assign negative motives to artists working 60 years ago, artists who were committed to civil rights and believed strongly in what they were doing, seems unfair and probably not useful.

Thank you, Misha, for this cogent analysis and for providing key historical context for the individuals that made this musical. I'd add to it that the richest, most complex character in the entire musical is Anita, a Puerto Rican woman. Over the course of the show we see her many facets - she's a working woman and the queen bee at her job (I Feel Pretty); she's fearless in showing up the men in her life and demonstrating she has a mind of her own (America), while also expressing unapologetic sexual desire (Tonight); she demonstrates a strong moral core (A Boy Like That), yet is capable of accepting nuance in the face of her own moral convictions when she sees how much Maria truly loves Tony (in the same song no less); she puts herself at enormous personal risk to extend an olive branch to The Jets (the drugstore scene), while rightfully expressing her rage and acts on her desire for vengeance after they assault her; and at the end we witness the depth of her mourning while also being able to find forgiveness. For my two cents, the creators of the musical gave us a rich, complex, fully dimensional, human being with enormous dignity - that the character is a Puerto Rican woman strongly speaks volumes about their commitment to humanizing a migrant population that had experienced profound dehumanization and marginalization.

Hi Misha,

Further inspecting intended motives and actual results is an excellent place for us liberal minded folks to work towards progress. As a white ally (and ally of any marginalized group), a great place to “do the work” is to think about places where unintended negative results occurred out of good intentioned motives. In this way, we can look at where that gap was in our perception of the experience and the actual result felt on the marginalized community. With the white male creators of WSS, these gaps occurred in the moments you mentioned: not including a Puerto Rican artist (of which they did exist as seen with the creators of El Nuevo Círculo Dramatico) in the writing and creation process, and still deciding to cast white actors in roles for POC (something we cannot continue to make excuses for as being acceptable). Additionally, the later film that followed these practices caused serious issue because of its widespread reach. I’m pointing out that the decisions of the past still have impact today — many people had (and perhaps still have) never seen Puerto Rican people portrayed other than in that movie.

Sorry, but this latest "Cultural Appropriation" fad is tiresome.

Anybody who's an adult should understand that art is NOT reality. It may be based in the author's reality or imagination but nothing more real than that. I never read anything about West Side Story (or any other piece of art) that states "This is how all (fill in the blank) people act/think/talk."

And having ONLY people of (fill in the blank) race/gender/etc. write "appropriate" material is also no way to fix this issue.

If theatres, etc., want to find better works about specific categories of folks, then instead of restricting writers to those categories, choose READERS in those categories and then read the scripts blind of the author's category.

A couple points of minor correction that I learned from the recent Folger Shakespeare podcast that talked about West aside Story. It was not originally titled East Side Story, it was (and referred to in Bernstein's notes) as Romeo. East Side Story was a title that was considered but not the original title.

Also, in acknowledging Lin Manuel Miranda's influence why didn't you touch on the work he and Mr Sondheim did on the revival of West Side Story?

Hi Everett, thanks for your comment and new information! Lin Manuel Miranda's work in the revival was brought to my attention after publishing this article by a friend who said, "he was brought on to help the west side revival be less racist/problematic. It was cast with latinx actors and he translated two of the songs so they were sung in Spanish." Do you have any more information on what he did and how the finished product turned out? I.e. did you get to see the production?! Would love to hear more!

Hi Viviana, thanks for responding. IIRC, in 2007 or 8, Arthur Laurants (who directed the show for the first time in 2009 at the age of 90) asked Lin Manuel Miranda to help with the revival. Lin Manuel and Stephen Sondheim worked on all the Shark's songs and dialog and translated them into Spanish.

Josefina Scaglione played Maria and Karen Olivo played Anita and both were nominated for Tony's with Olivio taking home best featured actress in a musical.

I did not get the chance to see the show in 2009, but I do own a copy of the soundtrack and love how the translations work.

I think we also need to have a more serious conversation about who is 'allowed' to represent a particular community or ethnicity.

Just because someone's last name is Martinez or has dark hair, for example, doesn't necessarily make them qualified to speak for the experiences of the Latinx community.

But in theatre should we be in the business of saying "you can only play someone just like yourself?"

Such a hot topic question! With cultural appropriation in general, I think we have to look at each case individually based on the effects a decision will have on the community its representing and on the effects on the way the rest of the world perceives that community. Overall, I am in the mindset that if you feel like there is something off, there probably is. You just have to do a little digging and reflection on what and why that is.

Is it an accurate representation of Puerto Ricans? No.

But the message of the play, arguably, is centered around the tragedy that occurs when there is a lack of understanding between cultures.

The show was relatively progressive for it's time.

Nuance is important. But nuance isn't part of today's political discourse. Everyone's either a hero or a villain.

I agree the show was definitely progressive for its time! However, I disagree in thinking everyone is either a hero or a villain. No one is perfect and every villain has a reason they got where they are. And if we don't reclaim the small stuff, we'll end up with even less control of the larger things.

Where is the line between cultural influence and cultural appropriation?

Societies being influenced by cultures other than their own is part of human history all over the globe. It's not always negative.

Here's an example: Norteño music in Mexico was profoundly influenced by the arrival of German immigrants to Texas. Instruments, oom-pah rhythms imported by the Germans shaped the sound of this music, which has evolved into its own distinct form. Or African-American jazz musicians incorporating Cuban rhythms to lay the foundations for the Latin Jazz craze of the 1950s. Or Chuck Berry's first hit Maybellene, which was based on a Western Swing song from the 1930s by Bob Willis and his Texas Playboys, and arguably is one of the first, if not the first rock n roll song....

Of course there are plenty of egregious examples of inequity and racism in works of art that "borrow" from other, often marginalized traditions. However, I was responding to your question to a previous post where you asked for positive examples. I though to add to the conversation, I would provide several undeniably positive and culturally significant examples (I can also think of dozens of others in music as well as in other forms - in architecture, for example, Oscar Neimeyer, the Brazilian architect, was heavily influenced by Swiss French architect Le Courbusier, when he designed Brasilia... but don't get me started). It seemed from your question - and this is an inference - that you were challenging the idea that cultural influence was not always negative, as the post you were replying to suggested.

The fiscal inequities question is super interesting and complex if you take the time to examine the nuances. An example - The Rolling Stones, who were very open and unapologetic about their appropriation of American blues music in the 1960s, made a gazillion dollars doing so, and were often boneheaded cultural tourists in their artistic practice. At the same time, they can be credited with re-introducing to a whole new generation of listeners the original artists and recordings that their music was based on by citing them and bringing them on international tours- effectively resurrecting the careers and financial welfare of a number of blues artists whose careers had either sputtered out or were relegated to their local blues scenes in Chicago and other local scenes. The story goes that the great Muddy Waters was supplementing his meager income from playing Chicago blues clubs by painting the offices of Chess Records when the Stones recorded there (an act of cultural tourism if there ever was one) - but that encounter jump re-started Waters' languishing career, which cemented his place as of one of this country's most important artists. For all their problematic practices, I love the Stones, and I also love Muddy Waters, and I am richer for experiencing them both (and I would know nothing about the latter without knowing something about the former) and reflecting on the complicated exchange between them.

Leap to 1986 when hip-hop pioneer Run DMC were recording with legendary producer Rick Rubin. In the studio Rubin pulled out the 1975 song "Walk This Way" by the hard rock band Aerosmith. Run DMC had never heard of Aerosmith, and were at first reluctant to do a version of the song, but ended up recording it. It became a landmark - the first hip hop song to reach #5 on the Billboard charts, while also reviving the fortunes of Aerosmith, a band who at that point had become culturally irrelevant. The video for the song was one of the first, if not the first, hip hop songs to play on constant rotation on MTV, a network that at the time notoriously refused to air music by black artists in its early years. On the one hand, it's a shame that it took a fusion of a ubiquitous white form (hard rock) with an emerging form (hip hop) to make the latter palatable for mass consumption, but I doubt either artist would complain what that fusion did to their bank accounts. There's no question they mutually benefitted - it opened the door for hip hop's acceptance in the mainstream, and it helped the members of Aerosmith to kick their drug and alcohol addiction and start the second and very lucrative act of their career. In a larger sense, this unlikely collaboration succeeded in what cultural exchanges are supposed to do - break down barriers.

I leave you with one last mindf**k, which is better described by linking you to the original blog... which I use when I talk to my students about the complexities that are inherent to conversations about influence and appropriation... in this story there is egregiousness everywhere, but the power dynamics are far more complex than a they stole/they were stolen from paradigm....

BTW - I am half Puerto Rican and I love West Side Story. I remember my late mother, who was born on the island, singing gleefully - and with a tinge of bitterness - the showstopper America.

One can only imagine the impact West Side Story could have truly had in 1957 if "Rita Moreno" had played Maria alongside Chita Rivera's "Anita" or, vice versa. And, to the larger point, the sense of dislocation and isolation the "Nuyorican" experienced in NYC in those days might have come out a lot more had the two most important "Puerto Rican" roles in the musical gone to actors who were actually Puerto Rican. The insights and nuances they would have brought to each day of rehearsal would have certainly found themselves into the book and the music.

Thanks Richard for your comment. I think that's definitely something very important producers and writers must do in these situations where they are responsible for producing or writing stories of others-- let the actors influence the work with their thoughts and experiences. And on the actor's part there is a responsibility to speak up when things seem off.

I am Puerto Rican and West Indian and Love West Side Story. My island family loves the musical. I don't look to it for the "real story" of Puerto Ricans coming to the continental United States. It reflects the attitudes of the 1950's. If you read interviews with Rita Moreno and others from the movie one of the things that bothers them the most is portraying Puerto Rican people as all the same color and all the same accent when we are indeed a multicultural, multiracial, complex, and interesting group of people with many many stories and experiences. I love the music of West Side Story and the story is Romeo and Juliet about love vs hate. A 2017 version of West Side Story would be wonderful. Go for it, kids.

Viviana,Thank you for bringing this important analysis of West Side Story and its devastating cultural consequences-- that continue to this day, about how Puerto Rico and its people are perceived. The sad part is that in the name of commerce we continue to have Pacific Overtures, Miss Saigon and yes, West Side Story despite the fact that an honest/brutal take on PR migration is found in the theatrical masterpiece that is Marquez' The Oxcart.

It is hard to conceive the insularity of that original audience (and I grew up probably not too remote from it). Was it curious but conventional? Or maybe not so curious? And where does conventionality end and whitewashing begin? You imagine the sort of person who considers a well-done steak (maybe with ketchup) as the apogee of fine dining, and a rich chocolate cake something to boast about. We like to believe theater-goers are better than that, but I don't know.

I get what is being said here and I mostly agree but is west side story really cultural appropriation? its more of a bad rip off of Romeo and Juliet than it is anything else .