West Side Story

This is a musical based loosely on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which was, in turn, based on a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke entitled The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562). Set on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the musical explores the rivalry between two teenage gangs of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The young protagonist, Anton, who belongs to the white gang, falls in love with Maria, the sister of the leader of the rival Puerto Rican gang. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theater. Bernstein's score for the musical has become extremely popular; it includes several interesting songs. One of them which I like a lot is, "I Feel Pretty" embedded below! I like this a lot more than the other ones in the movie, probably because it reminds me of the act that one my sisters performed a day before her wedding in one of her "high" moods in Alahabad!

The original 1957 Broadway production, was a skit directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins and produced by Robert E. Griffith and Harold Prince, marked Stephen Sondheim's Broadway debut. It ran for 732 performances (a successful run for the time), before going on tour. The production garnered a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical in 1957, but the award ultimately went to Meredith Willson's The Music Man. The show has enjoyed an even longer-running London production, a number of revivals and international success, and spawned an innovative, award-winning 1961 musical film of the same name. West Side Story is produced frequently by local theaters and, occasionally, by opera companies. Clike on the image on the right and you'd be taken to the official website of the company that continues to run the sho!

MARIA

I feel pretty
Oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and gay
And I pity
Any girl who isn't me today

I feel charming
Oh so charming
It's alarming how charming I feel
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I'm real

See the pretty girl in that mirror there?
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face
Such a pretty dress
Such a pretty smile
Such a pretty me!

I feel stunning
And entrancing
Feel like running
And dancing for joy
For I'm loved
By a pretty wonderful boy

GIRLS

Have you met my good friend Maria
The craziest girl on the block?
You'll know her the minute you see her
She's the one who is in an advanced state of shock

She thinks she's in love
She thinks she's in Spain
Lallala

She isn't in love
She's merely insane
It must be the heat
Or some rare disease
Lallala

Or too much to eat
Or maybe it's fleas
Keep away from her
Send for Chino
This is not the Maria we know
Modest and pure
Lallala

Polite and refined
Well-bred and mature
And out of her mind!

Miss America, Miss America, speech!
Miss America, bravo, speech!

MARIA

I feel pretty
Oh so pretty
That the city should give me its key
A committee
Should be organized to honour me
Lallalalallalalla

I feel dizzy
I feel sunny
I feel fizzy and funny and fine
And so pretty
Miss America can just resign
Lallalalallalalla

See the pretty girl in that mirror there
(What mirror, where?)
Who can that attractive girl be?
(Which, what, where, whom?)
Such a pretty face
Such a pretty dress
Such a pretty smile
Such a pretty me!

MARIA & GIRLS
I feel stunning
And entrancing
Feel like running and dancing for joy
For I'm loved
By a pretty wonderful boy!