Is The Music in 'West Side Story' 2021 As Good as the Original? An Analysis

For his musical-film debut, Steven Spielberg decided to bring the 1957 Broadway musical and 1961 Hollywood film West Side Story back to life. In an epic re-imagining, Spielberg has stuck exceptionally close to the original Broadway material and set out to right several of the wrongs from the 1961 film, including casting actors with Hispanic backgrounds in Hispanic roles and having the actors signing their parts instead of being dubbed.

Fans of the original musical and 1961 will be pleased to know Spielberg has included all of the songs from the original stage and film score, including "Maria", "Somewhere" and "Cool": but are the updated numbers as good as the original? Newsweek spoke to Oscar-nominated Composer David Newman, who worked as an arranger and adapter on Spielberg's West Side Story, and classical music expert Rosie Pentreath to find out more.

Is The Music in the West Side Story 2021 As Good as the Original?

Whether you are a fan or not of the original West Side Story, it is fair to say the musical's score is considered to be one of the greatest.

Conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents, the 1957 musical went on to receive six Tony nominations winning two for Best Choreography and Best Scenic Design. The 1961 film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins went on to win 10 Oscars, including the award for Best Picture.

Speaking to Newsweek, classical music expert Rosie Pentreath said: "Leonard Bernstein's music for West Side Story is unquestionably among the greatest ever written for a musical. And the beauty of the 2021 film is that the score, like the overall production, has stayed faithful to composer Leonard Bernstein's original intentions, but with an ear to modern tastes and sensibilities.

"It's wonderful to revel in the sharp, snappy numbers like the jazzy 'Jet Song' and the slick, syncopated 'Cool' all over again. The energetic group number, 'America' is a delight, and the love ballads 'Maria' and 'Tonight', which leads Ansel Elgort (Tony) and Rachel Zegler (Maria) do real justice to, are wonderful."

In Spielberg's adaption, Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler lead the cast as Tony and Maria, with Arina DeBose as Anita, David Alvarez as Bernardo, Mike Faist as Riff and Rita Moreno as Valentina.

Just like the Broadway show and 1961 film, Spielberg's West Side Story starts with "Jet Song" and ends with "Somewhere", with hits such as "The Rumble", "America" and "Maria" in between.

Pentreath described the music in West Side Story 2021 as "fresh" and "updated" compared to the 1961 original.

She said: "It's a joy to hear West Side hits like 'Maria', 'Tonight' and 'I Feel Pretty' without the affectations of formal 1960s vocals, which sound a bit strained and unnatural to modern ears. Like the socially-aware aspects of plot and character in the 2021 version – for example, seeing non-binary actor Iris Menas playing the transgender character Anybodys, and the casting of all Latinx actors as Sharks – the music feels fresh and updated for a 2021 audience and beyond."

Pentreath pointed specifically to Elgort's performance of the love-song "Maria", citing his vocals as "a little more natural" than Jimmy Byrants.

She also highlighted the new spin on the comedic track 'Gee Officer Krupke' the Jets sing while they await their police interviews, explaining: "I like how the 2021 version is more liberal with the timing at the start, beginning slow and oscillating a bit, before settling into its relentless beat; it gives it an authentic and spontaneous feel."

Giving his take on the 2021 score, composer David Newman, who served as an arranger and adapter on Spielberg's revival said: "The music, the orchestration, the arranging was all essentially Broadway and a bit of the 1961 movie. Both were orchestrated by Irwin Kostal and Sid Ramin, so we felt we could pull from both if need be.

"The idea was not to reimagine, update, re-orchestrated the score. This music is timeless.

"Bernstein's "Symphonic Dances from West Side Story", that he arranged in 1961, is in the Classical Music Canon. That's a one-in-a-million" feat. There are a handful of pieces from the middle 18th century to the present day that are in this repertoire. West Side Story is one of them.

"It is not something that you can change all that much. When we tried, it just didn't seem authentic. The music is the "North Star" of West Side Story. It's timeless, completely original, and completely "Bernstein" who was the most famous living American musician, composer, conductor at that time. There are a few things that were done - some lengthening or contracting of bars for choreography, a few underscore cues, but it's all pulled from the West Side Story score."

However, OG West Side Story fans will have noticed one major change in the 2021 version of West Side Story regarding the performance of "Somewhere".

Traditionally "Somewhere" is sung by an off-stage soprano and is reprised by the entire company. Tony sings the song to Maria after she learns he was the one who killed her brother. At the end of the musical, when Tony dies in Maria's arms, she sings the first few lyrics.

Rita Moreno, who played the role of Anita in the 1961 film starred in Spielberg's re-imagining as Valentina, the widow of Doc (Ned Glass) performed the song live on set and it is that version which made it into the final cut.

Newman shared: "Creating the arrangement for "Somewhere" for Rita Moreno to sing, was one of the joys of being involved in this project.

"I can't say enough about the cast. Everyone. The Leads, the Shark, Jets, Rita - It's thrilling to watch."

Pentreath in particular admired the different take on the iconic song. She said: [Somewhere] is given a new take without straying too far from the emotion of the original version, in spite of being sung by an entirely different character.

"Moreno's voice is fragile, tender and transporting and again the very formal, controlled, almost operatic vocals of the 1960s aren't the aim at all in Spielberg's vision. I really appreciate the updated soundworld, personally."

The entire soundtrack to West Side Story was pre-recorded, but that did not mean the actors did not sing live on set unlike the 1961 film where the vocals of Marni Nixon and Jimmy Bryant were dubbed over leads Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer.

Newman explained: "Everything in the movie is sung by the actors. This is different from the 1961 movie where some of the actors were dubbed (had other people singing for them). There was a bit of singing on the set, but we also pre-recorded everything. We had a lot to choose from."

Posting on her Twitter account in November 2021, Zegler, who plays Maria shared "A Boy Like That/I Have A Love" was performed live.

The songs also performed live on set were "One Hand, One Heart" and "Somewhere" with Elgort requesting to sing portions of "Maria" live on set.

One thing is for sure, regardless of your movie or stage preference, Spielberg's West Side Story is a movie do you not want to miss.

West Side Story is in theaters now.