Tomorrow (Thursday) Steven Spielberg's remake of the iconic musical "The Story of the Suburbs" will hit theaters.
This is one of the most intriguing films of the year, considered a film that will stand out during the Hollywood awards season.
Exactly 60 years have passed since the first film adaptation of "The Story of the Suburbs," which originally appeared as a Broadway musical in 1957.
The musical is actually a modern adaptation of one of William Shakespeare's world-famous tragedies, "Romeo and Juliet."
The plot of the musical takes place in a New York neighborhood in the 1950s that is suffering from a gang war.
Against this background, an impossible love story develops between the Puerto Rican Maria, whose brother and friends belong to the "Sharks" gang, and Tony, a guy of Polish descent whose friends belong to the rival gang, the "Jet".
Tony is played by Ansel Algrot, who starred in Star Trek and Baby Driver.
Maria is played by the rising actress Rachel Zagler in her first significant role.
Zagler was also cast to star in the lead role in Disney's live-action adaptation of "Snow White," in which Gal Gadot will play her mother, the evil witch.
The Broadway musical was a huge success and garnered three Tony Awards.
Particularly memorable are the songs composed by the songwriters Leonard Bernstein and Steven Sondheim, who passed away about two weeks ago.
Released in 1961, starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beimer, it won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Rita Moreno.
Moreno played in the film the character of Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend (Maria's brother) and Maria's close soda wife.
Moreno, who will celebrate her 90th birthday on Saturday, is also playing in the new adaptation.
She plays a character written especially for her: Valentina, the owner of the store where Tony works.
She is also a co-producer on the project.
Rita Moreno in the new film,
Moreno was the first woman of Hispanic descent to win an Oscar, and the first to win four prestigious awards from the cultural industry: Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony.
She is also the youngest woman to do so, at the age of 45. In 2009, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2015 she was awarded a Canadian Center Award for her contribution to American culture, along with a host of Lifetime Achievement Awards.
While promoting the film, Moreno said: "I'm closing a circle. It's unbelievable what an extraordinary experience and what a tremendous project. No one knows how to play on the heartstrings of an audience like Steven Spielberg. I always remember how my heart melted when I watched ET, "And he's amazing to do it again this time. He squeezes every drop of emotion and drama. He knows how to do it well, and his way is to just get the actors to perform effortlessly."
According to her, working with her on the Spielberg set made her dig into the depths of the soul.
"I refrained from giving it all at once," she said, "it was a kind of restrained intensity that I was never asked to produce. A Hispanic actress is usually perceived as someone full of erupting passion. For that I will always be grateful to Stephen."
She further said that Spielberg made a wise choice when he chose her to serve as a co-producer.
"Only a Hispanic woman can understand from her experience the social struggle at the heart of the plot," she said. "We had many conversations on the subject and he asked me to tell the other young actors what I experienced myself. I even danced with them 'America' behind the camera. .
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