Maria (West Side Story) after he meets and kisses Maria for the first time. Her name is sung 29 times in total. Natalie Wood was not the first choice to play Maria in the 1961 film version. Audrey Hepburn was considered, but she did not take it due to her pregnancy. Like Wood, Hepburn was not Puerto Rican; she was British, Dutch, and Austrian. Oh Maria, Maria / She remind me of a West Side story. Maria (West Side Story) Maria is the leading female character in the film "West Side Story". Maria is in her late teens when she arrives on the US
West Side Story Tribune" on September 27, 1957: The other reviews generally joined in speculation about how the new work would influence the course of musical theater. Typical was John Chapman's review in the "New York Daily News" on September 27, 1957, headed: "West Side Story a Splendid and Super-Modern Musical Drama". "Time" magazine found the dance and gang warfare more compelling than the love story and noted that the show's "putting choreography foremost, may prove a milestone in musical-drama history ..." The score for "West Side Story" was orchestrated by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal following detailed instructions from Bernstein, who then