1950s new york · musical theater · gang rivalry · tragic romance · jets and sharks · street culture · musical numbers · prejudice · youth drama · classic
Sunlight glares off the asphalt of a 1950s New York street. Cigarette smoke hangs in the air near Doc's drugstore, where Jet girls laugh over colas at the counter and Shark girls adjust gowns in the bridal shop window. Then a shout cuts through the afternoon calm—from a shadowed alley, Riff and Bernardo stand face-to-face, gangs flanking them, the tension thick enough to taste. The turf war is one spark from igniting.