West Side Story Frequently Asked Questions

Answer: Action

Complete with fake Austrian accent!

Answer: Maria/Juliet

In "Romeo and Juliet" when Juliet finds Romeo dead, she kills herself. In "West Side Story", Maria freaks out, but doesn't kill herself.
The unimportant difference is that Romeo kills himself when he thinks Juliet is dead, whereas Tony wanders the streets yelling for Chino to kill him too. Chino has a gun and has been looking for Tony to avenge his best friend Bernardo's death. He hears Tony and comes and shoots him just as Tony sees Maria and finds out that she is not really dead. So at the moment of death, Tony does not want to die. But, just the same, he committed suicide as surely as Romeo did, so this does not impact the ending all that much. It is more important that Maria did not die than how Tony died.

Answer: Graziella

Riff took Graziella to the dance at the gym. She was devastated when he was killed, but it appeared that she would become the new girlfriend of the new Jet leader. It has been brought to my attention that Graziella was his girlfriend in the movie production, but on Broadway his girlfriend was Velma.

Answer: 21

You really have to know the movie to answer this one correctly.

Answer: 7

Only 7 were shown in the opening scene. Including Tony (the inactive member) and Anybodys (who finally becomes a 'buddy boy' late in the movie), there were 13 Jets in all.

Answer: Chita Rivera

Chita Rivera was a well known singer/dancer.

Answer: Russ Tamblyn

Russ Tamblyn was awesome in this role. His amazing dancing/acrobatic skills were integral to the role. He was a champion gymnast and acrobat. He also appeard in the movies 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' and 'Hit The Deck'. In my opinion, he made the perfect Riff.

Answer: John Astin

John Astin played the small part in the movie. He is the father of actor Sean Astin.

Answer: Richard Beymer

Mr. Beymer was twenty-two years old when he accepted the role of Tony in the movie musical. He was born in Iowa and moved to Los Angeles at an early age.

Answer: Twin Peaks

'Twin Peaks' has become a cult classic.