West Side Story movie

[CJ-Rochester]

This press kit has been released listing all of the credits for the movie. It reads like a Playbill. We can see the characters assigned to the Billys who are Jets.

JETS:
Baby John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PATRICK HIGGINS
Little Moly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DANIEL PATRICK RUSSELL
Mouthpiece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BEN COOK
Snowboy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MYLES ERLICK
Tiger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JULIAN ELIA

Reading further I was surprised to see one more Billy listed. Kylend makes the 7th Billy taking part in this movie.

Dance Doubles
KYLEND HETHERINGTON RACHEL HUTSEL

https://assets.gettyimages.com/bf-bould ... ESSKIT.pdf

[CJ-Rochester]

I saw this yesterday. Steven Spielberg's new "West Side Story" is a visual masterpiece. Every scene, shot and camera angle is a work of art. The dancing is spectacular. Loved the choreography! Special shoutout to Rachel Zegler as Maria. She is gorgeous and a true star!

It was great seeing several Billys who I saw on stage years ago now on the big screen. David Alvarez is a fierce Bernardo, and was one of the standouts in the cast. Ben Cook has a featured part in the "Gee, Officer Krupke" number. Patrick Higgins is Baby John, in an expanded role from the stage show. The others, Myles, Julian, Daniel, are part of the Jets ensemble, but rarely get noticed as individuals. I suggest BETM fans study the publicity photos of the movie before going, so you can spot what each of them looks like. Many of them have grown up quite a bit since their time in the show, and are not as easy to recognize.

[angelenroute]

I thought the movie was fantastic. Not at all surprised to hear of its box office woes, but I suspect Spielberg and company aren't as concerned with the money in this case. What matters most is that he managed to remake the musical film, and what he accomplished will surely stand the test of time--the next 60 years, anyway.

Really impressive staging, camerawork, lighting, orchestral performance, and singing throughout. There was some criticism about Ansel in the days prior to the film's release, but I wonder if that wasn't simply a leaked whisper to lower expectations for one of the leads. He was very good in the role, and so many other characters matter much more anyway.

My only criticism with the movie was the delivered emotional impact in a couple of places, but I felt that was the director's fault, and not the actors'.

Overall, I'd give it a solid A rating. While I personally believe you do not need to see it on the big screen, it was really fun to see it that way anyway.

[CJ-Rochester]

This is from the scoring session for West Side, where they record the movie score. Look at the fun the cast is having. We see future Oscar winner Ariana DeBose (Anita) with David Alvarez singing along.

It's remarkable how involved Rita Moreno is with everything. So cute when Spielberg gives her a kiss at the end!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GTvpZ-FtPw

[CJ-Rochester]

Here's a great behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Officer Krupke number. Ben and Patrick are interviewed, along with Steven Spielberg and others from the creative team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7pvQUFhrFM