WEST SIDE STORY

Steven Spielberg’s remake is a soaring take on a classic

It’s been a big year for musicals translated to film: “In the Heights” and “tick … tick … Boom!” made the transition successfully, largely through overwhelming intensity on the part of the cast and filmmakers. h This is to say that in both cases it didn’t feel like simply pointing cameras at a stage production. They felt like movies. h

Now comes another version of “West Side Story” (in theaters Friday), a true classic of the stage and screen. The 1961 adaptation won 10 Oscars, including one for Rita

Moreno, who appears in the new film. h It’s old-time show tunes and staging, acrobatic gang rumbles and fire-escape serenades. It’s what you think about when you think “Broadway musical.”

PHOTOS FROM 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS; ILLUSTRATION BY AUDREY TATE/USA TODAY NETWORK

Ansel Elgort as Tony and Rachel Zegler as Maria in “West Side Story.”