by Nathaniel R
Click on the image to embiggen
Toto, we're definitely not in Kansas Oz anymore. We've gone from incredibly expressive color to desaturated earth tones. Whose idea was it to base the color palette on a Nancy Meyers interior rather than from the incredible cinematography and design of the 1961 classic...
We're not the only ones worried about this very drab color palette. Consider...
— Guy Lodge (@GuyLodge) June 17, 2019
Note to filmmakers: the last movie musical you want to be compared with is Clint Eastwood's take on Jersey Boys!
Remember when we shared the Instagram images of the Sharks and the Jets? Those photos were a lot more droolworthy than this one. But perhaps it's just one of those needlessly "SERIOUS" promo images and the film will be more colorful.
If the new West Side Story is terrible, as karmic revenge we demand announcements of remakes of E.T., The Color Purple, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, Close Encounters, and Schindler's List by uninspired but famous filmmakers to f*** with Spielberg's legacy.
Judging by the cut of the jackets and the high waists of the pants, they've opted to stay in period (late 1950s) rather than to modernize the story.
Here's a few closeups, in case you didn't click the image to supersize it...
To the left that's "Anybodys" played by Ezra Menas (film debut) a non-binary or trans actor/singer (not sure which, as they hashtag both on their instagram. Or can you be both? Pardon my ignorance). We figured they might update the character this way, since we were discussing Anybodys obvious queerness and subtextual WSS queerness in our recent retrospective). That's Broadway regular Ben Cook to the right as "Mouthpiece"
Sean Harrison Jones (film debut) to your left as "Action" and Tony nominated Mike Faist (Dear Evan Hansen) to your right as "Riff," the two most defined characters from the original musical/film outside of the lead on the Jets side of things. Behind them almost entirely obscured is Patrick Higgins (film debut) as "Babyjohn"
Ansel Elgort (already a star of course) and Rachel Zegler (film debut) as Tony & Maria... so they're keeping the crazy height difference from the 1961 original, wherein Natalie Wood had to totally crane up to kiss her forbidden lover Richard Beymer.
To your left that's Tony winner David Alvarez (Billy Elliott) as "Bernardo" (film debut). We're excited to see him dance onscreen. The guy behind him that you can barely see is Julius Rubio as Quique (2nd film, he was in the dancing ensemble of The Greatest Showman) and Ricardo Zayas (film debut) to the right as "Chago"
To your left that's Josh Andrés Rivera (film debut) who is playing "Chino," Maria's would-be boyfriend. Up front that's Sebastian Serra (film debut) who is playing "Braulio" and in back... we believe that's Carlos Sanchez Falú (film debut) as "Pipo"
That leaves several of the Jets and Sharks previously announced not-pictured so we assume they're the ones who are only featured as dancers or might get an errant line here or there in group sequences? Well the male dancers plus most of the women who wouldn't be in this picture given that it's the gangleaders plus the romantic leads we're looking at.
P.S. We thank costume designer Paul Tazewell (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert and the forthcoming Harriet, his narrative feature debut) for putting that colorful wristband on Braulio because this image definitely needed any spot of color it could get.