Wild Side Story multimedia experience. Recorded narration was added in Los Angeles in 1977 to help audiences grasp plot continuity. Costumes especially designed and created in 1976 by Maria Knutsson of Sweden's popular Gul&Blå boutiques have continued to be used since then, and the same body language that the director found in the young Cubans already in 1972 has also been preserved to a large extent. With about half the music from the classic musical "West Side Story", in several versions including instrumentals and comedy renditions, of course that musical is parodied, especially its suicidal "Romeo and Juliet " theme. Other songs are
Kenton's West Side Story harmonic and rhythmic structures. To fill in the blanks, there are numerous 'Richard-isms' in "Kenton's West Side Story" that surface musically; a great deal of sylistic characteristics of his renderings of Bernstein's music are borrowed from the successful 1956 "Cuban Fire!" LP and his other Kenton orchestrations. Many of the Afro-Latin themes from both Kenton LPs ("Cuban Fire!" vs "West Side Story") are similar but both retain their uniqueness in the hands of Richards. It is mentioned earlier about Mirisch Company executive being impressed with the Johnny Richards orchestrations but in the end there is little doubt Richards designed his