Is 'West Side Story' Based on True Events? Here's the Inspiration Behind Maria and Tony

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West Side Story has had a special place in people's hearts then and now. After the play's first performance in 1957, the musical romantic drama reached a wider audience with the 1961 movie adaption. Now, Steven Spielberg's 2021 iteration is up for Best Picture at the 2022 Oscars, which features Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose. After seeing several different versions, fans can't help but be curious about one question: Is West Side Story based on a true story?

According to Newsweek, West Side Story was the brainchild of choreographer Jerome Robbins, who wanted to turn the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet into a musical that felt authentic to the world they were navigating. Initially, Jerome's inspiration for the play was to write about an ill-fated romance between a Catholic boy and a Jewish girl. But after learning about the rise of gang activity within the country the story evolved. In other words, the original play came together thanks to different works and events.

West Side Story eventually became the telling of a Puerto Rican teenage girl named Maria falling in love with a teenage boy Tony, who belonged to a white gang called the Jets. Folks who know of the play and have watched both films are aware that the Upper West Side in New York City is used as the backdrop. What's more, the storyline explores the history of Puerto Ricans migrating to the Big Apple during the '50s. In all of the West Side Story versions, several themes are spoken about at length, including love, race and culture. That said, West Side Story isn't based on a true story.

Even though West Side Story has been associated with a modern and American telling of Romeo and Juliet for decades, Tony Kushner, who worked on the screenplay of the 2021 flick, thinks differently. In a December 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the writer shared his perspective on how closely related the Shakespeare play and the romantic drama are.

"The source material, Romeo and Juliet, is about hatred between two groups that are sort of two sides of the same coin. Nobody even knows why the Capulets and the Montagues hate each other," Tony told the outlet. "That’s given a misimpression about West Side Story, which is that the Jets and the Sharks are the Capulets and the Montagues. They’re not."

West Side Story might not be based on a true story but the fantasy within it is built upon the realities of many immigrants, migrants and the evolving communities within the United States.

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