Tribeca: “A West Side Story Story” Winds a Tense Tale of Authenticity
West Side Story began as a Broadway show in 1957 and was adapted into a film in 1961. The movie famously stars Natalie Wood in the lead role of Maria and Rita Moreno as Anita. Then, in 2021, Steven Spielberg adapted the musical once again for the big screen, with newcomer Rachel Zegler stepping into the role of Maria. Across all these adaptations, West Side Story has garnered incredible nominations and wins. Moreno won the Oscar, which made her the first Hispanic woman to win an Academy Award. History would semi-repeat itself when Ariana DeBose won the same award decades later and became the first Afro-Latina and queer woman of color to win an acting award. For all these accolades, there’s the undisputable, yet oft-forgotten fact that West Side Story was written by White men. The Tribeca-premiering short film, A West Side Story Story, seeks to reclaim the musical.
courtesy of Tribeca
It’s less than an hour before the lights go down and this community production of West Side Story begins. As anyone who’s worked any sort of live event knows, things are falling apart and everyone is hanging on by a thread. The director of this production is Carolina (Ana Luz Zambrana). She has envisioned this to be the first culturally authentic telling of West Side Story. Audiences are treated to twelve minutes of frenetic energy as one person’s dream is pushed up against reality. While not a one-take short film, there are minimal cuts. This allows for the relentless sensation that comes from a single-take sequence. The few moments that break out of the chaos are the times when Carolina finds solace in the image of her grandmother, who was once in a production of West Side Story of her own.
“Why are we doing this opening number in Puerto Rico?” Carolina asks her cast as the film opens. This question is part of the short’s central thesis. Why does it matter that the audience is getting to see life in Puerto Rico? It’s something no previous iteration of West Side Story offers. Carolina’s answer? It’s about joy. There’s something profoundly radical about taking a piece of art made outside of your culture and imbuing truth to it. That’s the battle Carolina is facing at every turn. When the skirts she specially ordered from Puerto Rico are ruined and the costumer tells her no one will notice if they use ones made for the Spielberg adaptation, Carolina knows that it does matter. That taking these steps to weave authenticity into the production matters to her and to the person who ignited this love for theater in her soul. The person she’s doing all of this for.
courtesy of Tribeca
“This is West Side Story like they've never seen it before. This is for our abuelas.” So many people who push themselves in the world of artistic passion are doing it because of the person in their lives who actively encouraged them from the beginning. Every time they step on that stage for the rest of their lives, they remember who inspired that first step. A West Side Story Story is for the abuelas who get to see the fruits of their labors and also for the ones who don’t. It’s a thank you of sorts to the generations who brought us to our lives and this moment. “There’s a place for us / A time and place for us / Hold my hand and we’re halfway there” go the lyrics in West Side Story’s “Somewhere.” The original production got us halfway there, but A West Side Story Story brings us home to an authentic Puerto Rican story.
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