Books: “West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, The Making of a Classic” by Richard Barrios (2021)

Ask a baby boomer which musical changed the cultural firmament forever and he/she is likely to say, “A Chorus Line.” Richard Barrios ably disputes that answer in his latest book, “West Side Story: the Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic” which reveals the good, the bad, and the not-so-I-Feel-Pretty about WSS.

For people who can’t get enough of this story (raises both hands), the book is a Thanksgiving feast of interesting facts and did-you-know’s. The original name of the musical, for instance, was “Gangway!” The lonnnnng casting process: Elvis was at one point considered for Tony, and Joey Heatherton (among others) auditioned for Maria. The fight to get it filmed on West 68th Street as real gang members watched and jeered was epic. The perfectionism of Jerome Robbins pushed the movie over budget and eventually got him sacked.

Barrios’ book doesn’t skip a detail, including the lack of chemistry between Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood, who was devastated when she found out her singing was later dubbed by Marni Nixon. The author also reports on the later reincarnations of WSS, right through to the one we saw on Broadway in 2019 (loved it) and the Spielberg film (due to be released this coming December.)

Stupendous photographs and just wonderfully juicy anecdotes about this cultural phenomenon. And no, New Yorkers, you can’t have it until I return it to the library after this accursed NYC blizzard disappears. Until then, stay cool, boy.