#incidentally shoutout to prince of cats for being i believe only one to win a bracket with 1 nomination

[rosencrantzsguildenstern]

West Side Story is set in the mid-1950s in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, then a multiracial, blue-collar neighborhood. The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The Sharks, who are recent migrants from Puerto Rico, and the Jets, who are white, vie for dominance of the neighborhood. The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang's leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks.

it is a musical. it is wonderful. it is relevant still today. Shakespeare and Bernstein, Soundheim, and Laurents. iconic

PRINCE OF CATS is the B side to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, played at an eighties block party in an NY where underground sword dueling blossomed alongside hip-hop, punk, disco, and no wave. It's the story of the minor players with Tybalt at the center.

ITS SO GOOD IM OBSESSED WITH IT first of all the art is gorgeous, literally every page is bursting with color and really active/immersive panels. basically anytime I’m drawing an action (comic) scene, I reference this book for how to do it. besides this, it’s one of my favorite adaptations of Romeo and Juliet because of how it interacts with the text. I was vehemently opposed to changing the plot or characters in R&J adaptations before this (because to be fair. it gets so annoying) BUT!!!! this book showed me it can be done well. it feels like it was made in conversation with the original text, playing on Tybalt’s widely-known death as him being “doomed by the narrative” (oooh Tumblr buzzword vote for this book please) to show how the Montague/Capulet kids are trapped in a similarly destructive and deadly system, which in turn represents the cycles of violence a lot of (especially black, as Tybalt’s story focuses on) teenagers are forced into. Also, unlike a lot of R&J adaptations, it feels like it was made with soooooo much passion instead of just because they knew it would sell. (I looked it up and it turns out it was a long-term passion project of the author!! so I suppose I was right) ALSO!!!!!!! ITS WRITTEN ENTIRELY IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH AND LARGELY IN IAMBIC PENTAMETER???? AND REALLY WELL???? WHILE ALSO INTEGRATING MODERN AND 80’S SLANG ???? I don’t know if this was coherent and I’m SURE I didn’t do this gorgeous gorgeous book justice but I would recommend that everybody ever reads it. and then votes for it in this poll. it is soooo good

#incidentally shoutout to prince of cats for being i believe only one to win a bracket with 1 nomination #tournament #prince of cats #west side story