7 - West Side Story (w/ Monet Hurst-Mendoza)

Cringe Benefits

English - September 14, 2020 09:00 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MB
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Previous Episode: 6 - Around the World in Eighty Days (w/ Laura Pittenger)

Next Episode: 8 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (w/ Becca Musser)

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