Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1438629
6 2 P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 2 Taking on West Side Story was daunting! It's quite scary to design something that's already the faorite film of so many, and one that set the standard for modern movie musicals. There's so much to live up to in Boris Leven's award- winning design, and so many ways to screw up. admit being more than a little worried! But Steven Spielberg's excitement was infectious and deeply inspiring. He wanted to start from scratch— creating an entirely new adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical rather than remaking the 1961 film. camera test in the summer of really opened my eyes. little section of a fire escape was built, as well as a bit of nita and ernardos apartment interior. Steven was trying the actors in front of camera together—to hear them sing and to see their chemistry. It was incredible! The energy from these performers, from the brandnew achel egler to roadway heayweights like riana eose, completely blew me away. The electricity of what we were about to make was stunningly clear! n our first conersations, Steen talked about shooting West Side Story on location as much as possible. He wanted there to be a visceral reality to the film. The ets and Sharks are fighting oer turf. It's real. He wanted to feel the streets and the place that's so much at the core of their struggle. That meant New York…but New York City has changed a lot in the past fifty years did a uick early scout package to show Steven what was still there and where things had changed. He was excited and decided to push forward. The next challenge for me was the schedule. Steen wanted to shoot in une of and was already deep in planning for The French Dispatch with es nderson. es was shooting from late fall of until early arch of , leaing a very short prep for such a large-build show. I was very lucky to bring aboard the brilliant Supervising rt irector eborah ensen. eb and hae known each other for almost twenty years. We've worked side by side on seeral films, including C r e a t i n g t h e U r b a n L a n d s c a p e o f W E S T S I D E S T O R Y B Y A D A M S T O C K H A U S E N , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R A A. ALLEY WITH MARIA'S FIRE ESCAPE. ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXIOS CHRYSIKOS. THIS SKETCH SHOWS THE STAGE PORTION OF THE ALLEY. BUILT IN THE CAPSYS SPACE AT STEINER STUDIOS IN BROOKLYN. NOT REALLY A STAGE BUT AN OLD NAVY YARD BUILDING AND THE ONLY SPACE WITH THE NEEDED HEIGHT. B. & C. ALLEY WITH MARIA'S FIRE ESCAPE. PRODUCTION STILLS. ALL PRODUCTION STILLS BY NIKO TAVERNISE. © 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS.