48 | DECEMBER 9 • 2021
MOSTLY WEST SIDE
STORY, SOME SEX AND
THE CITY
A film re-make of West Side
Story opens on Dec. 10. It
was directed by Steven
Spielberg, 74, and the
screenplay was written by
Tony Kushner, 65. They
first worked together on
Spielberg’s acclaimed film
Lincoln (2012). Kushner
was Oscar-nominated for
his Lincoln screenplay,
and Spielberg earned a
best director nomination.
They also teamed-up for
The Fabelmans, a semi-
autobiographical film about
Spielberg’s “coming-of-
age” years that will open in
2022. Spielberg directed
and he co-wrote the
original screenplay with
Kushner.
Here’s West Side
Story’s “very Jewish”
origin story. Around 1955,
choreographer Jerome
Robbins “pitched” the
idea of a modernized
musical version of Romeo
and Juliet. Romeo would
be a young Irish Catholic
guy, and Juliet would be a
Jewish teenage Holocaust
survivor. “Everybody”
eventually agreed that
this update didn’t work. It
was too much like Abie’s
Irish Rose, a schmaltzy
hit play about a Catholic/
Jewish couple. Not
long after, news stories
appeared about gang
fights between “white kids”
and recent Puerto Rican
immigrants. They decided
to make Juliet (Maria)
Puerto Rican and Romeo
(Tony) a native-born white
guy.
The Broadway creative
team was “all Jewish”:
Robbins directed and
choreographed; Arthur
Laurents penned the
“book” (story, dialogue);
Leonard Bernstein wrote
the music; and Stephen
Sondheim, who died on
Nov. 26, age 91, penned
the lyrics. The Broadway
musical (1957) was a hit, as
was the 1961 film. The new
film is “still” set in the ’50s
and it retains the original
score.
Corey Stoll, 45, has a
supporting role as police
lieutenant Schrank and
Ansel Elgort, 27, co-stars
as Tony. Elgort has an
“interesting” Jewish
background. My sense is
that he’s secular. Ansel’s
mother is of non-Jewish
background. His mother’s
mother was sent to a Nazi
concentration camp for
saving Jewish children.
Ansel’s father, Arthur
Elgort, 81, is a well-known
fashion photographer.
Arthur’s father was Jewish,
and his mother wasn’t
born Jewish. Arthur made
comments in an interview
that make me believe he
was raised Jewish and that
it’s possible his mother
converted to Judaism.
Sam Mendes, 56, an
Oscar and Tony-winning
director, spoke to the
British newspaper the
Guardian about Sondheim
right after his death.
Mendes directed revivals
of several Sondheim
musicals, and he eloquently
described the things which
made Sondheim so great.
He dropped one nugget
that makes me think that
the script of the new
West Side Story film may
have many changes from
the original Laurents’
“book.” Mendes said that
Arthur Laurents had legal
veto power over script
changes in West Side
Story until his death in
2011. He didn’t allow any
changes and, in Mendes’
opinion, stage revivals
became very stale. Last
year, Mendes said, there
was an innovative stage
revival and, he implied,
the new film will also have
interesting changes. By the
way, Mendes, a Brit, was
knighted on Nov. 30, and
he’s now “Sir Sam.”
Right after Sondheim
died, I looked up how
many Tonys he won (seven)
and how many he was
nominated for (11). While
doing so, I came across
a list of all the winners of
the Tony for best musical
and I did a quick check:
70 musicals have won the
“best” Tony since 1949.
Fifty of these winners had
their score (music) and/
or their lyrics written by
someone Jewish (including
two Jewish women).
Clearly, Broadway musical
theater is a crown jewel in
the history of Jews in the
diaspora and more people
should know this.
This “gentle dominance”
explains Stephen
Sondheim’s reaction when
asked in a documentary
(many years ago) if he
ever faced antisemitism
in his work. He was taken
aback, and he asked, “You
mean in the theater?” The
questioner said, “Yes.” He
replied, “No.”
You could tell that
Sondheim found the
question absurd. It was like
asking a guy who works at
a famous Jewish deli if he
faced antisemitism at work.
The HBO Max series, And
Just Like That (a “reboot”
of Sex and the City), begins
streaming on Dec. 9. Sarah
Jessica Parker, 55, who
plays star character Carrie,
is in the reboot, as is Evan
Handler, 60, who plays
Harry, the Jewish husband
of star character Charlotte
(who converted to Judaism
before marrying Harry). Sad
to note: Willie Garson, who
played Stanford, Carrie’s
gay friend, was reported
to be in the reboot earlier
this year. But it’s unclear if
Garson filmed any episodes
before he died (Sept. 17) of
pancreatic cancer.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
BY GAGE SKIDMORE VIA WIKIPEDIA
Corey Stoll
BY EVA RINALDI FROM SYDNEY AUSTRALIA
Ansel Elgort