Save the Date: West Side Story on Stage

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 31 May 2023 > Pedagogy

West Side Story will return to Châtelet in Paris this autumn. Reservations are now open for schools performances and workshops. The musical comedy by Bernstein, Sondheim and Robbins is a reworking of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with the Capulets and Montagues being replaced by rival gangs  in New York. Reservations are now open for a … Continue reading “Save the Date: West Side Story on Stage”

Assessing musicals with 4e euro

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 19 January 2023 > Pedagogy

Our challenge last year was to get 4e students interested in musicals! As we couldn’t take them abroad on an exchange, we felt like taking “a bit of abroad” to them, through musicals. You can read what we planned to do here, and below you’ll find our conclusions about what worked and what didn’t. Though … Continue reading “Assessing musicals with 4e euro”

And the Oscar Winners Are…

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 28 March 2022 > What's On

The 2022 Oscar ceremony was memorable… But what about the winning films? Several of our favourite films of the last year came away with awards. And CODA beat off some favourites to take Best Picture. New Zealand director Jane Campion was the first woman to be nominated twice for Best Director, and this time she … Continue reading “And the Oscar Winners Are…”

West Side Story 2021

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 24 November 2021 > Ready to Use

Sixty years after Robert Wise’s award-winning movie, Steven Spielberg’s much awaited remake of West Side Story aims at a much more authentic portrayal of the Puerto Rican protagonists in this Romeo and Juliet-inspired tale of star-crossed lovers in NYC.  We here offer one worksheet but two articles of different levels (B1, B2) so you can … Continue reading “West Side Story 2021”

“West Side Story” is Back!

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 18 November 2021 > What's On

West Side Story – the stage musical and the film – is already a classic. Steven Spielberg wants to make it a more authentic classic for the 21st century. After many delays due to COVID, it’s finally arriving in cinemas. The Bernstein-Sondheim musical was an immediate hit on Broadway in 1957. When Robert Wise adapted … Continue reading ““West Side Story” is Back!”

Musical New York Taken to New Heights

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 24 June 2021 > What's On

A musical about Latino communities in New York – it’s not Steven Spielberg’s long-awaited remake of West Side Story but In the Heights – by Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda. It’s all singing, rapping and dancing and screams “summer”! It’s a feelgood story about a Manhattan neighbourhood threatened with gentrification, and the aspirations of the … Continue reading “Musical New York Taken to New Heights”

West Side Story Free for Classes

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 24 February 2021 > Pedagogy

The educational TV channel Lumni is offering the Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise film of West Side Story free to stream for collège and lycée classes.  The film of the musical comedy by Bernstein, Sondheim and Robbins is a reworking of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with the Capulets and Montagues being replaced by rival gangs  … Continue reading “West Side Story Free for Classes”

Staging Emotions: West Side Story

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 28 April 2020 >

An online class about West Side Story would be great for students studying Shine Bright LLCE File 13 “Staging Emotions”,  or the film West Side Story, which is on the list of oeuvres intégrales for LLCE Première. Or any class interested in musicals, Puerto Rico or Romeo and Juliet. “Amour et rêve américain : quand la … Continue reading “Staging Emotions: West Side Story”