Author: ECCYC

Director Steven Spielberg’s retelling of “West Side Story” takes the classic 1957 Broadway musical to a whole new level of emotion, performance and production. It’s spectacular, superb and a must-see, especially on a big screen in a movie theater.

The screenplay by Tony Kushner examines themes not immediately apparent, possibly overlooked or glossed over in the 1961 Hollywood movie version.

It’s as if a classic or collectible car was restored, taken down to the frame and reassembled with new paint, interior and updated electronics and stereo while retaining the original appearance, beauty and aesthetics. (Speaking of cars, there’s a bevy of circa 1957 rides in the “West Side Story” remake that should please car buffs.)

It’s the details in the Spielberg movie that make the retelling of “West Side Story” so delightful, powerful and meaningful. Spielberg is a master storyteller. “West Side Story” is a masterful story.

Spielberg and Kushner not only remake the 1957 Broadway musical (six Tony Award nominations) and 1961 movie musical (11 Academy Award nominations), they dust off the primary source material, William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” (1597), about the star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the warring families: House of Capulet and House of Montague, circa 13th-14th century Verona and Mantua, Italy.

The 1957 musical was conceived by Jerome Robbins, the show’s choreographer, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents. The musical, as with a classic car, motorboat or yacht, and well-designed and constructed house, has good bones. Spielberg and Kushner meticulously restore the best parts and navigate the Scylla and Charybdis of contemporary culture wars as best they can. They mostly succeed.

In Spielberg’s and Kushner’s amplification of the 1957 musical and 1961 movie, the turf is San Juan Hill, cleared by “master builder” Robert Moses for Lincoln Center, the 16.3-acre performing arts complex on New York City’s Upper West Side.

The movie opens powerfully and symbolically with wrecking balls knocking down walls. An estimated 17,000 were displaced in the predominantly African-American, Africo-Caribbean and Puerto Rican neighborhood. Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and stride pianist James P Johnson lived in San Juan Hill.

In Robert Caro’s Pulitzer-winning biography “The Power Broker” (1974), Moses is accused of using “urban removal,” aka urban renewal, on black and Latino neighborhoods.

“West Side Story” opens exuberantly with a kaleidoscope of choreography, cinematography and editing in one of the most astounding opening sequences ever put on film. It’s no mere backdrop, giving a whole new raison d’etre to the warring Sharks, the Puerto Rican gang, and the Jets, the Italian and Eastern European gang. They are rebels with a cause.

This is no shiny Spiebergian suburban utopia, admittedly, with undertones of conflict, of some of his previous films (notably, “E.T.,” 1982). The world in “West Side Story” is a ghetto. The details, not only to clothes hanging from wash lines on fire escapes, but to the gritty interior of Doc’s Drugstore, now run by Doc’s widow, Valentina (Rita Moreno, Oscar winner, supporting actress, Anita, “West Side Story,” 1961) and the worn-through linoleum on the floor of the apartment of Maria (Rachel Zegler) and her sister Anita (Ariana DeBose).

OK, that’s granular. Big picture: “West Side Story” has some terrific performances, tremendous song and dance numbers and a profound conclusion that is Shakespearian in its tragedy.

The terrific numbers include: “Something’s Coming,” “Maria,” “Tonight,” “America” and “Gee, Officer Krupke.”

The cinematography by Director of Photography Janusz Kaminski (Oscar, Cinematography, “Saving Private Ryan,” 1998; “Schindler’s List,” 1993) recreates the splashy colors of films from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

The production design (Adam Stockhausen, Oscar, production design, “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” 2014), art direction, costume design and set decoration is phenomenal.

Spielberg (Oscar recipient: director, “Saving Private Ryan,” 1998; picture, “Schindler’s List,” 1994; Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, 1987; 14 Oscar nominations; 57 director credits on the Internet Movie Database) directs with consummate skill.

Kushner (Oscar nominee, adapted screenplay, “Lincoln,” 2013; adapted screenplay, “Munich,” 2008; Pulitzer Prize, drama, “Angels in America,” 1993) has made interesting and important changes in updating characters and storyline. Little is spared in the fight scenes.

Ansel Elgort (“Baby Driver,” 2017; “The Fault In Our Stars,” 2014) plays Tony as a responsible young man trying to go straight after a jail stint for assault and battery. Elgort moves well and sings lovely. He has the quiet screen presence of a young Marlon Brando.

Rachel Zegler (theatrical motion picture debut) is charming and engaging as Maria. She has a beautiful voice. The casting of Zegler and Elgort is perfect.

Ariana DeBose (TV’s “Schmigadoon!,” 2021) is strong and impressive as Anita.

David Alvarez (TV’s “American Rust,” 2021) is dynamic as Bernardo.

Memorable in the huge cast: Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke), Corey Stoll (Lt. Schrank), Mike Faist (Riff), Josh Andres Rivera (Chino) and Iris Menas (Anybodys).

Rita Moreno will be nominated for another supporting actress Oscar for her role as Valentina. She may just win a second Oscar. Moreno brings a wealth of humanity to the role. She’s given one of the show’s signature songs, ”Somewhere,” and imbues the lyrics, “We’ll find there’s a way of forgiving,” with whole new meaning. It becomes an “Imagine” for racial peace.

“West Side Story” is an iconic musical and movie. In Spielberg’s and Kushner’s interpretation, it is even more so. Look for multiple Oscar nominations.

“West Side Story,”

MPAA rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Parents are urged to be cautious. Some material may be inappropriate for pre-teenagers.) for some strong violence, strong language, thematic content, suggestive material and brief smoking; Genre, Musical, Drama, Romance; Run time: 2 hr., 36 min. Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

Singer and songwriter Rachel Zegler, a Colombian-American, of Hackensack, N.J., was one of 30,000 to audition for the role of Maria in “West Side Story.” She first played the role in a Performing Arts School production at Bergen Performing Arts Center, N.J. Filming took place in Harlem, Brooklyn; Steiner Studios, Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City; Newark, Essex County, and Paterson, N.J., where an outdoor set was built.

At The Movies:

“West Side Story” was seen in the Dolby Theatre at AMC, AMC Center Valley 16, Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, Upper Saucon Township. Face masks are recommended for movie-goers.

Theatrical Movie Box Office,

Dec. 17 – 19: “Spider-Man: No Way Home” made it a whole new game at the box office in post coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic era, opening at No. 1 with $260.1 million, in 4,336 theaters, ending the one-week No. 1 run of “West Side Story,” which dropped to No. 3, with $3.6 million in 2,820 theaters, $18.2 million, two weeks. “Encanto” stayed in place at No. 2 with $6.4 million, in 3,525 theaters, $81.4 million, four weeks.

“Spider-Man,” the first movie to open after (or is it during?) the pandemic at more than $100 million domestically, became 2021’s top-grossing movie. Another $334.2 million was added in foreign theaters for a $587.2 million opening worldwide, making the third “Spider-Man” starring Tom Holland the third-biggest international debut behind the two most recent “Avengers” movies.

4. “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” dropped one place, $3.4 million, in 3,282 theaters, $117.2 million, five weeks. 5. “Nightmare Alley,” opened with $2.8 million, in 2,145 theaters. 6. “House of Gucci” dropped two places, $1.9 million, in 1,907 theaters, four weeks. 7. “Pushpa: The Rise – Part 1,” opened with $1.3 million, in 400 theaters. 8. “Eternals” dropped three places, $1.2 million, in 1,900 theaters, $163.6 million, seven weeks. 9. “Clifford the Big Red Dog” dropped two place, $404,068, in 1,248 theaters, $48.5 million, six weeks. 10. “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City” dropped four places, $316,480, in 719 theaters, $16.7 million, four weeks.

Box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Dec. 19 is subject to change.

More movie reviews: Paul Willistein reviews “Encanto,” “King Richard,” “Spencer,” “Belfast,” “‘Eternals,” ”The French Dispatch,” “Dune” and other recent movie releases on the Lehigh Valley Press website on the Focus page. There is also box office information and theatrical movie releases opening dates: www.lvpnews.com

Unreel,

Dec. 24:

“The Matrix Resurrections,”

R: Lana Wachowski directs Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jessica Henwick in the Science-Fiction Action film. One world. Two realities. No, it’s not fake news. It’s The Matrix.

“The King’s Man,”

R: Matthew Vaughn directs Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans and Harris Dickinson in the Action Comedy. The Kingsman agency battles a cabal plotting a war.

“The Tragedy of Macbeth,”

R: Joel Coen directs Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Alex Hassell and Bertie Carvel in the Drama. The Scottish play gets a re-do.

“Sing 2,”

PG: Garth Jennings directs the voice talents of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson and Tori Kelly and the Animation in the Musical Comedy.

“A Journal for Jordan,”

PG-13: Denzel Washington directs Michael B. Jordan, Tamara Tunie, Chanté Adams and Robert Wisdom in the Drama. A sergeant writes a journal for his son.

“American Underdog,”

PG: Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin direct Zachary Levi, Anna Paquin, Dennis Quaid and Adam Baldwin in the Biography Drama. It’s the story of NFL MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback, Kurt Warner.

Movie opening dates information from the Internet Movie Database as of Dec. 19 is subject to change.

Five Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes

This column is dedicated to Stephen Joshua Sondheim (March 22, 1930 – Nov. 26, 2021). In American musical theater, there are two eras: Before Sondheim and After Sondheim.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY WALT DISNEY STUDIO MOTION PICTURES Ansel Elgort (Tony), Rachel Zegler (Maria), “West Side Story.”

A Christmas morning fire tore through a Bucks County family’s home, killing a father and two of his school-aged children and leaving their Quakertown community grieving.

The blaze was reported around 1:20 a.m. Saturday along Essex Court in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. The twin home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, an official with the Bucks County Fire Marshal’s Office said.

Bucks County Coroner Meredith Buck said 41-year-old Eric King and two children were found deceased.

The boys attended Richland Elementary School, according to a post on the Quakertown School District’s website. The school district identified the children who died as Liam, a fifth-grader, and Patrick, a third-grader.

Photo supplied to NBC10

The mother and her 13-year-old child escaped the fire and were treated at the hospital for burns and smoke inhalation, the official said.

“This news is devastating for the District community and the Quakertown area at large,” the district said. “Eric and Kristin are very active in the community, and the kind of people who make this a special place to live and attend school. The School District sends its heartfelt sympathy to the King family and their many friends and relatives.”

Firefighters managed to get the fire under control around 2:30 p.m.

The blaze left the King home badly damaged.

The fire appeared to begin in the area around the family’s Christmas tree and its lighting, the official said. The investigation into the official cause of the deadly fire, however, continued.

A neighboring home was also damaged by the fire, but everyone made it out of that home OK.

The school district was in the process of setting up a hotline to support the grieving community.

Copyright © 2021 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.

A father and two children died in a house fire early Christmas morning in Quakertown, authorities said, in a blaze believed to have begun in the area of the family’s Christmas tree.

The mother of the children and a third child escaped the house and suffered minor burns. Two dogs also died.

There were smoke detectors in the home, but they were not working, fire officials said.

The cause of the fire in the two-and-a-half story double home on Essex Court, off East Broad Street, to the east of Quakertown’s downtown area, remains under investigation. But it began in the area of the Christmas tree in the living room, Fire Marshal Doug Wilhelm told lehighvalleylive.com early Saturday afternoon.

County Coroner Meredith Buck identified the adult who died as Eric King, 41. Records show King and his wife bought the home in November 2007.

Buck has yet to identify the children, who both were boys. She said the coroner’s office responded about 3:15 a.m. and will effort to determine the cause and manner of the deaths. Autopsies won’t happen until early in the new week, she said.

Wilhelm said the boys who perished were 7 and 11 years old and were King’s children. One was found with his father in a bedroom while the other was discovered in a hallway, Wilhelm said.

The boys’ mother and an older brother escaped the home, but could not get back inside to help rescue the others, he said. When the first firefighters arrived, the blaze was too intense to enter the home to search for those trapped inside, Wilhelm added.

The mother and the surviving child suffered minor burns, were treated at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township and released, Wilhelm said.

Smoke detectors sounded in the other half of the double home and the two residents living there escaped unharmed through the rear of the house, Wilhelm said. There was significant fire damage to the second floor and attic of that part of the structure, Wilhelm said.

The fire was reported at 1:22 a.m. and under control by 2:34 a.m., Wilhelm said. Fire crews remained until about 7 a.m., Wilhelm said.

Borough police Chief Scott McElree told CBS 3 out of Philadelphia that investigators were probing holiday decorations as they sought a cause of the fire.

“Right now it’s our understanding that we’re looking at the Christmas tree that may have ignited as a result of Christmas lights on that Christmas tree,” McElree told the television station.

It is not known if the Christmas tree lights were on when the fire began, Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm was assisted in his investigation by a Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal and the county fire marshal’s office, he said.

It has been many years since there was a fatal fire in the borough, he said.

Seven other fire departments assisted Quakertown firefighters at the scene, Buck said.

A GoFundMe by early Saturday afternoon had raised more than $150,000 to support the serving family members.

The organizer said in the post, “Eric and Kristin were high school sweethearts and the happiest people you will have ever met. They were always smiling and full of positive spirits, you just couldn’t help but to love them.

The three boys, Eric and Kristin were all a huge part of the Quakertown Youth Baseball Association and spent their days and nights at the baseball fields.

“The Quakertown community will be deeply impacted by this great loss.”

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription.

Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.

She dribbles, takes two steps forward and drains the full-court Hail Mary.

And the crowd — her third-grade class — goes wild.

In a viral video, a teacher at Holy Trinity School in Washington D.C. knocked down a playground desperation jumper after promising her students hot chocolate if she made it.

The teacher is Kathleen Fitzpatrick and this wasn’t her first time shooting a basketball.

Fitzpatrick is a former Rutgers women’s basketball player. She was a redshirt senior in the 2017-18 season, appearing in 31 games and starting in 16.

That wasn’t lost on Rutgers, which, like so many of the rest of us, celebrated Fitzpatrick’s newfound hero status with her children.

“We knew that follow-through looked familiar,” the team wrote on social media. “Ms. Fitz was a Scarlet Knight!”

“I just launched it, and it went in,” Fitzpatrick said during an interview Thursday on ESPN’s SportsCenter. She jokingly called the shot one of the most terrifying of her career.

“Because 8- and 9-year-olds will never let it down,” she said. “It was just the excitement, the cheering, I have to make this.”

In the video, Fitzpatrick’s students chanted, “Make it, make it,” after a boy dressed in a reindeer costume brought her the ball. As it swished in, the children screamed and jumped up and down. Fitzpatrick pumped her arms in victory.

On Instagram, Holy Trinity said it was overwhelmed by the outpouring the video had garnered.

The school said it felt “blessed that Ms. Fitz gave us permission to share this video, which has brought a smile to so many people all over the world.”

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Riley Yates may be reached at ryates@njadvancemedia.com.

From Seton Hall University:

The Village of South Orange has hired Jayme Ganey as Director of the Community Care & Justice program.

An initiative of Village President Sheena Collum, Community & Justice is a collaboration between South Orange, Seton Hall University and Essex County which seeks to “reimagine” traditional models of public safety through the larger lens of public health and wellness. The CC&J model emphasizes crisis prevention and protecting and elevating the community’s most vulnerable members – and its youth.

Ganey delivers organizational and strategic planning advice to various executive, board, and management teams and leads change management initiatives concentrated on cultural competence and diversity, equity and inclusion. Ten years ago, Ms. Ganey says she “followed her heart” to make a shift to the social services arena, leveraging her corporate program development and management experience to serve others.

Ms. Ganey comes to the Community Care & Justice program to replace Social Work Professor Juan Rios, who was given nearly a year off from Seton Hall to help launch the program along with Village Trustee Donna Coallier, chair of the Village’s Health and Public Safety Committee.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Jayme Ganey to the Community Care & Justice team,” said Coallier. “She brings a strength and depth of experience that we in South Orange will greatly benefit from as we rollout the next stages in our program development. Having said that, we thank Dr. Rios for all his leadership and strategic vision in building out the structure of our program.”

In October, the Community Care & Justice Outreach Team began providing supportive counseling and case management services to community members impacted by issues such as mental health, substance use, domestic violence, sexual assault, homelessness and elder concerns. Led by Seton Hall Professor Kristin Miller, LCSW, Assistant Director Megan O’Brien, MSW and three social work interns, the Outreach Team is receiving referrals for service from the South Orange Police Department and the Rescue Squad.

“I’m excited to be a part of Community Care and Justice,” said Ganey, who will continue working with Family Connections, Inc. in addition to her role with CC&J. “And I look forward to working within the community to make those words – community, care and justice – be more than just part of a name. They are values, like compassion, that we will work to further weave into the fabric of daily living here in South Orange.”

Ms. Ganey has served as a trainer and speaker for a wide range of audiences ranging from university students to executive level board members. Ms. Ganey creates and delivers programming focused on social service systems and community advocacy, cultural competency, crisis intervention, Mental Health First Aid, and trauma informed care to a network that includes organizational leaders, community members, clinicians, and peer counselors. Ms. Ganey has ten years of experience in social service program development and delivery in both adult mental health services and the Children’s System of Care, including caregiver support services, in-home and in-community therapeutic assessment and case management services, and community support services. She has been trained in Mental Health First Aid, Motivational Interviewing, Attachment Self-Regulation and Competence, and the Nurtured Heart approach.

Ganey is also a former journalist, having served as an editorial manager at Diversity Inc, a publication and corporate management service focused on education around the business benefits of diversity; and as an editor, internship manager and freelance writer at Essence Magazine, where she won National Association of Black Journalism Awards for articles focused on health education and advocacy, and corporate ranking of workplace diversity.

In South Orange, Ganey will oversee program services and execution against mission and goals; develop and execute grant sourcing processes to secure sufficient ongoing services funding; oversee program communication strategy and delivery; and develop cultural competency programming addressing racial, socioeconomic and other demographic diversity within the community.

In addition to offering individuals and families assistive counseling, case management and connection with supportive services, Community Care & Justice has also begun offering community-based programming as part of its programming dedicated to racial justice. Initiatives have included:

• An 8-week Social Justice Activation collaboration at Seton Hall led by Dr. Jamila T. Davis and Professor Juan Rios, guiding participants through social services development curriculum and awarding two teams with seed money to implement needed community-based services;
• A wellness series launch offering youth anxiety management, suicide prevention and other relevant mental health topics;
• The Peace and Community Justice speaker series launch featuring civil rights icon Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. in conversation with community youth activists and students;
• A showcase for community members and SOPD of an immersive virtual reality platform through which a participant can “embody” an avatar encountering racism;
• The FISLL Program, where CC&J is teaming with former NBA superstar Allan Houston to provide leadership development curriculum to five South Orange police officers and five South Orange youth.