402 - West Side Story

When you’re a geek, you’re a geek til ya die, from the stupid reviews to the heaviest sighs. And so, tonight, tonight, the geeks are out tonight--we’re talkin’ finger-snappin’, toe-tappin’ street gangs, daddy-o! Out of seemingly nowhere, Arlo pressures Paul into watching Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ 1961 adaptation of the 1957 Broadway show West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Leonard Bernstein. You might have heard of it! Somehow, though both of them love musicals--as documented extensively on this podcast--neither Arlo nor Paul had ever seen one of the most famous, and the most Oscar-adorned, musicals ever made. And so the boys discuss how, in true Romeo and Juliet fashion, Tony and Maria are kind of boring; George Chakiris and Rita Moreno being the film’s true stars; Robbins’ dynamic dance choreography; how you’ve just got to stay loose, boy, and accept the movie’s campy, colorful world; and more. Plus, a quarantine update and an exciting new behind-the-scenes development.

Next: T-B-muthafuckin’-D. 

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 01:48:58

• 00:00:25  -  Intro
• 00:17:20  -  Main Topic
• 01:46:45  -  Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

• “Cool” by Tucker Smith, West Side Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1961)
• “America” by Rita Moreno, West Side Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1961)

THE LINKS

• “West Side Story: Review” by Roger Ebert

• “A First Look at Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’” by Anthony Breznican, Vanity Fair