How does West Side Story question the idea of what it means to be an American? What does Americanness mean to Tony or Riff? What about Maria? Bernardo? Anita? Use evidence from the text to support your claims. What do you think the musical says about American national identity? 

Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim updated Romeo and Juliet to address a 1950s audience. What themes from the Shakespeare play did they emphasize? How might West Side Story connect to a contemporary 21st-century audience? What themes and issues remain relevant and why? What seems irrelevant or doesn’t age well?

In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo, thinking Juliet is dead, swallows poison and dies. Juliet awakens, discovers that Romeo is dead, and kills herself with his dagger. How is the end of West Side Story different? How do these changes create meaning that differs from the Shakespeare original?