West Side Story

West Side Story is an American Musical set in the West Side neighborhood in New York City during the 1950's. The story revolves around the rivalry of two teenage street gangs with different ethnic backgrounds: the Jets and the Sharks.

CHARACTER COMPONENTS

MEET THE JETS

The Jets is the Caucasian gang under the leadership of Riff. The Jets does not like the Sharks and considers them a threat to their territory. This attitude of the Jets may be attributed to their being native of the place. Since the Jets are the pure residents of the place, they were afraid that the arrival of the Sharks may give them unnecessary competition.



SHARK ATTACK

The Sharks are Puerto Ricans who migrated in New York after the second world war.The sharks were under the leadership of Tony who has a beautiful sister named Maria. The Sharks felt oblige to fight for their rights from the jets. Being the new comer has given the jets the backward edge in the game. Since they are the new comer, they had to fight their way in almost everything. They played the challenger while the Jets assumed the defending role.

Overall, the dark theme, the sophisticated music and the extended dance scenes gave a very creative approach in representing the social problems during the 50's.