West Side Story

About

Never has a gang fight escalated so dramatically. One second, everyone’s dancing angrily at each other; a moment later, someone’s bleeding out. But we won’t tell you who or what, just in case you’re one of the very few people left in the world unfamiliar with Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein’s Romeo and Juliet-inspired tale of star-crossed lovers. Set in 1950s New York, Tony, the head of white, working-class gang the Jets, falls in love with Maria, the sister of a rival Puerto Rican gang leader. Sondheim later said that he felt his lyrics were unrealistic—characters like Tony and Maria would never sing a song like “Tonight,” for example—but the music is still beloved, and the musical is still insanely popular. Just remember that when you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way.