Deaf Side Story the problems having to get hearing members of the audience to understand the Sharks’ signing in their scenes. Rigney follows Brewer on how it all started and the challenges they all faced. Deaf Side Story Deaf Side Story is a musical based on "West Side Story", itself an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet". Takes place in New York City during the mid-1950s, the musical based on West Side Story explores the rivalry between the two gangs Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different cultural backgrounds (Deaf and Hearing). The members of the Sharks from
West Side Story note." He directed a pre-Broadway production of "West Side Story" at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. that ran from December 15, 2008, through January 17, 2009. The Broadway revival began previews at the Palace Theatre on February 23, 2009, and opened on March 19, 2009. The production wove Spanish lyrics and dialogue into the English libretto. The translations are by Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. Laurents stated, "The musical theatre and cultural conventions of 1957 made it next to impossible for the characters to have authenticity. Every member of both gangs was always a potential killer even then. Now