Why West Side Story's Trailer Is Hiding So Many Major Elements
The trailer for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming adaption of West Side Story has stirred a lot of anticipation for the film, although the anticipation is caused more by what the trailer is hiding than what is shown. Those who have seen the original movie will already know the Romeo-and-Juliet tale of Maria, a teenage immigrant from Puerto Rico, and Tony, a caucasian born in NYC where the story is set, who fall in love as tensions rise between two gangs run by Maria’s brother, Bernardo, and Tony’s best friend Riff. Stephen Spielberg’s adaptation has been long-awaited, and the trailer has been met with much excitement.
The trailer opens with a close-up of Maria, portrayed by newcomer Rachel Zegler, singing a couple of lines from the song ‘Tonight’. This is followed by a series of clips showing Maria preparing to go to a dance, a couple of gangs facing off against one another as Tony (Ansel Elgort) is questioned by his best friend Riff (Mike Faist) about his loyalty, and Maria meeting and talking to Tony at the dance amongst other brief glimpses of the film. All of this is underscored by an orchestral arrangement of ‘Tonight’, ending with Maria again singing a quick snippet of the song.
Since West Side Story is a very famous and well-beloved musical, it seems very strange that the West Side Story trailer features only a single song from the show. Usually, ‘Tonight’ is a duet between Tony and Maria, so it is interesting that the trailer only features Zegler singing (albeit not a part of the song that provides much of an idea of her vocal range) and not Elgort as well. Elgort seems to be very much in the background of the trailer, as more of the action in the trailer seems to be focused on Maria. The trailer also doesn’t feature any choreography, a key reason for the acclaim of the Broadway show and the original film adaptation.
The reason for Elgort’s passive role in the trailer might be due to the sexual assault allegations that came out against him in the middle of last year. Although Elgort denied the allegations and no legal action was taken, it seems that perhaps the marketing for the musical film adaptation will place more focus on Zegler’s role as Maria in order to avoid negative press. It is also possible that marketing is being designed around Zegler anyway, since Spielberg has taken care to cast a Latina actress as Maria who was infamously played by white actress Natalie Wood in the 1961 film. Also in contrast to Wood, Zegler will perform the musical numbers using her own voice; Wood’s singing was dubbed by another performer.
But even though the trailer lends more focus to Zegler’s performance, her singing voice is largely untapped by what is shown along with most of the other musical aspects of the film. This could perhaps be a strategy Stephen Spielberg is using to avoid early comparisons to the original film version of West Side Story, since that version of the film is considered by many to be a classic and is famous for the rigorous choreography of its musical numbers. Many who enjoyed the original film will no doubt be highly skeptical about Spielberg’s version and will compare the musical performances to those of the original. If more music were included in the trailer, people who may not like it would possibly choose not to see the movie, which Disney has scheduled for a theaters-only release.
The critical success of Spielberg’s adaptation will largely hinge on the musical performances, so the director seems to be holding these for the theatrical experience. Spielberg seems to have an awareness of what audiences are most anticipating as this trailer feels similar to the original trailer for Jurassic Park, which has many clips that withhold the viewer from getting a clear look at any of the dinosaurs. The West Side Story trailer does the same thing, drawing the audience in by hiding the thing that people are most wanting to see.