This Sunday (December 19, 2021) a special ABC “20/20” goes inside the “West Side Story” film, featuring an interview with director Steven Spielberg
The ABC 20/20 special “Something’s Coming: West Side Story” airs December 19 at 2PM ET. You can watch previous episodes at ABC and on Hulu. Also, check out the official podcast at ABCAudio. This edition originally aired 12/5/21 and is available on YouTube. Part one is linked above.
Official synopsis is from ABC.
ABC News presents a one-hour special that goes behind the scenes of the film adaptation of “West Side Story” and features an interview with director Steven Spielberg. Spielberg reflects on his fascination with the “West Side Story” original Broadway cast recording growing up and how it helped inspire his filmmaking career. Along with his hesitancy to make a musical until now, the relevance of the movie’s themes in today’s world, and how he adapted the iconic musical for the next generation.
“Something’s Coming: West Side Story” includes interviews with the film’s stars Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose; Rita Moreno, who opens up about her Oscar®-winning role as Anita in the 1961 version and her role in the new film written especially for her; Chita Rivera, who first played the role of Anita on Broadway; Tony Award®-winning Tony Kushner, who wrote the screenplay; Cindy Tolan, the film’s casting director on selecting rising stars for the iconic roles; and Puerto Rican historians that consulted on the film. It also features the last American television interview with Stephen Sondheim, legendary lyricist who wrote the lyrics for the original Broadway musical.
