On Sunday, the ABC-TV news magazine 20/20 aired the hourlong special “Something’s Coming,” featuring interviews with the creators and performers of the new film version of West Side Story, ahead of the upcoming general release of this second screen adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical. During the broadcast, director Steven Spielberg talked about how the original cast recording of the stage show helped to inspire his career and how he set about reimagining what the Oscar-winning 1961 film adaptation had done. You can watch the full episode here, and you can watch that first segment of the episode below.
The broadcast also included interviews with the film’s leading performers Rachel Zegler (Maria), Ansel Elgort (Tony), and Ariana DeBose (Anita), as well as with screenwriter Tony Kushner, casting director Cindy Tolan, and the historians who consulted on the film. The second segment below features Zegler, who sent in her audition tape after a friend saw the open casting call on Twitter, one of 35,000 actors to do so.
Others interviewed for the program include Rita Moreno, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Anita in the 1961 film, and Chita Rivera, who created the role of Anita on Broadway, as well as show lyricist Stephen Sondheim in one of his final interviews. Below, the third segment from the broadcast includes Moreno talking about Latino representation on film.