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West Side Story: the Romeo and Juliet Connection

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West Side Story: the Romeo and Juliet Connection
West Side Story: The Romeo & Juliet Connection
(Trivia Quiz at bottom of page)
Character Analogies
| Maria = Juliet |A-Rab = Sampson |Sharks = Capulets |
|Tony = Romeo |Riff = Tybalt |Jets = Montagues |
|Anita = Nurse |Bernardo = Mercutio |Det. Shrank = Escalus |
|Baby John = Gregor |Doc = Friar Laurence |Chino = Paris |

The characters do have some differences, since they are created in another place and time. For example, Doc is more helpless than Friar Laurence; Det. Shrank shows the dark side (not the wiser side) of the law; the religious side of Maria and Juliet comes from a different motivation. There are also other possibilities for comparison--are the characters Anybodys and Action similar to Shakespeare's clowns in the way they comment on society? Are Rosalia, Velma and the other women Romeo's Rosalind--stereotypes of women by naive men?
In the NTID production of West Side Story, we have done some casting against "type", in order to explore the play with new eyes. For example, our Rosalia is brighter and sharper than the 1958 Rosalia, and Shrank is a hard-bitten woman detective. Plot and Structure Comparisons
| Romeo & Juliet |West Side Story |
|The play begins with a fight between the rival | The play begins with a fight between rival gangs|
|Montague and Capulet clan's servants, reported on|the Sharks and the Jets, commented on by Jets |
|by Sampson and Gregor. |A-Rab and Baby John. |
| In Scene 2, we meet Romeo for the first time. He|In Scene 2, we meet Tony for the first time. His |
|has neglected his friends for awhile because he |close friend, Riff, the Jet's leader, is upset by|
|is in love. He has been counseled by his
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