West Side Story West Side Story West Side Story is a musical with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet". The story is set in the Upper West Side neighborhood in New York City in the mid 1950s, an ethnic, blue-collar neighborhood (in the early 1960s, much of the neighborhood was cleared in an urban renewal project for Lincoln Center, which changed the neighborhood's character). The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The members of
Deaf Side Story Sharks. The theme, music, and dances focus on culture problems. The well-known American musical "West Side Story" has been staged many times. However, a Deaf school in Jacksonville and MacMurray College in Illinois remade the musical into "Deaf Side Story". Diane Brewer, drama instructor was determined to put on a performance by having deaf students and hearing students perform the well-known musical West Side Story. The musical is a rivalry between Sharks and Jets, two teenage gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. Members of the Sharks gang are from Puerto Rico and the members of the Jets are white working class