Abby Wilde sits down with Monet Hurst-Mendoza to discuss the Broadway musical West Side Story.
When you're a theater kid, you're a theater kid all the way: this week, playwright and screenwriter Monet Hurst-Mendoza (The Kilroys, Law & Order: SVU) and I take a trip down memory lane in a redux of West Side Story. Turns out we have plenty to say about cultural misappropriation, truly terribly brownface, and some ham-fisted dramaturgical racism. All this plus Broadway politics in the 50s, Hollywood culture in the 60s, and why you shouldn't sleep with your brother's murderer.
Supplemental Links:
NPR: The Real-Life Drama Behind 'West Side Story' by Sara Fishko
NYTimes: Let West Side Story and its Stereotypes Die by Carina del Valle Schorske
The Hollywood Reporter: Steven Spielberg Met With Puerto Ricans About 'West Side Story' Concerns by Seth Abramovitch
Huffington Post: Rita Moreno’s Shocking Anecdote About Her ‘West Side Story’ Makeup by Carolina Moreno
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Guest: Monet Hurst-Mendoza
Twitter: @MonetSimone
Host/Producer: Abby Wilde
Twitter: @AbbyWilde
Instagram: @AbbyWilde