Ansel Elgort has been cast as Tony in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the Broadway musical “West Side Story.”
Pulitzer prize winner and Oscar nominee Tony Kushner penned the revival of the 1957 musical, which was originally written by Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim with music by Leonard Bernstein. Spielberg, Kevin McCollum and Kristie Macosko Krieger will produce the movie for Fox. Filming for “West Side Story” is set to begin in the summer of 2019.
Larry Kert played Tony in the original 1957 Broadway musical, which earned six Tony nods. “West Side Story” was inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and centers on the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs. Richard Beymer portrayed Tony, the founder of the Jets, in the 1961 film.
I have the CD's for both the original Broadway stage production (with Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence), and the 1961 film version of West Side Story, and love them both. Larry Kert was excellent in the original late-1950's Broadway production of WSS. I saw Ansel Elgort on a couple of youtube videos, and heard him sing, as well. Ansel Elgort doesn't have the least bit of charm or believability to be cast as Tony.
i don't have an ignore list, but there are a certain few users whose posts i've began skipping when i visit a Spielberg thread
That's fair. As for my opinions of him, I get that it's unpopular. I do think he's talented (duh) and I'll always enjoy my favorite films of his, but a lot of his work is too comfortable for my taste.
Steven Spielberg has done some wonderful films, which I've enjoyed a great deal, but for all kinds of reasons, I firmly believe that the 1961 film version of West Side Story should definitely be left alone--and not re-made, at all. The 1961 film version of West Side Story, imho, is in much too special a class by itself to justify a re-make of it, by anybody, including Steven Spielberg.
“This has been a journey without precedence: a joyful, stunningly moving, endlessly surprising encounter with the story and score of one of the world’s greatest musicals. My brilliantly talented, fiercely committed, generous and apparently inexhaustible cast and crew of hundreds have given our film everything they’ve got, and I can already say the film we’ll be releasing on December 18, 2020 owes everything to them, as does its immensely grateful director.”
“And while I’m on the subject of gratitude: One every day of the past four years during which we’ve been preparing, casting, imagining West Side Story, I and my team, cast, and crew have been walking in the footsteps of our giants: Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins, and Stephen Sondheim. For the light they’ve shed on the world, for Stephen Sondheim’s insight, guidance, and support, and for the openhearted support of the Bernstein, Laurents, and Robbins estates, I owe more than I can possibly express.”
He’s incredibly bland.