FUN FACT: Prior to her role as Maria in WEST SIDE STORY (1961) Natalie Wood had never sang professionally. Her work on SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS (1961) the film she shot before this, prevented her from getting adequate rehearsal time. She still persevered and was determined to actually sing the songs, but in post production the musical director and Robert Wise threw out not only Natalie's tracks, but Rita's as well. Natalie was replaced by famed soprano, Marni Nixon, and for "A Boy Like That", Rita was replaced by Betty Wand. So when you're critiquing the performances, know that you are critiquing singers who were locked into a performance that was already laid down in terms of pacing, with little room for broad inflections or changes in tempo. They were trying to match a performance, and the lip sync. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bs14itWg1JuqaGg.html

In the new movie doc’s wife was the original Anita west side story 1961

Ive already seen her in the movie but she had me crying again

It’s really not fair. No one should be allowed to be SO talented and stunning. It’s just too much 😂

@@hamdialihassan1586 FRRRRR like save some for the rest of us

She is literally a triple threat

So another words the actress had more of a build up to make this scene even more powerful. She had that advantage over Rita Moreno.

Even better, they were dubbed by the same person, Marni Nixon.

are u sure rita moreno was dubbed, I know natalie wood was edit: rita was only dubbed for this song by Betty Wand but she sang everything else.

@@jessehutson768 yea, in the 2021 version

Just the idea in my head that bith if them are shouting at each inherent but nothing is coming out and in the back room these two woman are singing rounds around each other with no context is hilarious.

@@jessehutson768 they said in the interview that this was the only song COMPLETELY live from start to finish. Everything else was live, with dubs to improve quality/fix any missed notes

I don’t think that powerful emotion would have been possible without them singing it live. Arian is really crying through that song. The anger underneath it all is real. The scene is a masterpiece all its own.

Neither did Natalie Wood!

@@mammac4333 Right. Marnie Nixon sang for Natalie Wood.

@@mammac4333 Yeaaah but the difference is Rita still sung in the 1961 movie while all of Natalie Wood's songs were completely dubbed by Nixon.

@@asavides except when she’s holding Tony at the end and sings to him, that is Natalie!

Rita sang the solo part of the song , Betty ward took over when the duet started

It wasn't the only one! One Hand, One Heart, Somewhere and La Borinqueña were also completely live. Then parts of Maria, America (and I'm not sure if any other one) were live as well. But this song still completely takes it away, it's amazing ;)

Something’s Coming was sung live aswell

Somewhere is completely live and it’s the first and only take while Rita was sick.

You had no idea they were not singing. Come on! You read about it. You sound very silly. You did not feel the emotion. Not one person knew that the actor was not singing a certain part. Just stop it!

@@kcorpora1 You’re misreading it and, PS: chill. You don’t know what @Lana read. I haven’t read a thing about, nor have I seen, the 2021 film. The clips just happened to appear on my YT feed today. Stop making broad assumptions about other people you know nothing about. It’s you who’s being silly and mean. Just stop it!

@@CAwildflowers who are you?

I think she meant the new version 😅 she was glad with Tonight not being disappointing where she heard Rachel for the first time ever.

@@KhailSOLO Ah okay. From her reaction, I assumed that it was her first time seeing the original clip

@@KhailSOLO Maybe she never saw the first movie and only knows the original Broadway musical

There should've been more physical strength, more of an accent in some parts of the words when Maria was singing. Meaning more emphasizes on certain words rather than going soft, when she's trying to get the message across.

She was in Hamilton?! Who was she? Edit: just remembered that she was “The Bullet” in Hamilton! Awesome performance!

Yes that’s so important to know. The current WSS has much more vocal integrity than from the principal actors from 1961.

Yes, marni nixon literally dueted herself in the older version because she dubbed Maria and Anita for the higher version

The only notes of Anita that Marni covered were a few short, high phrases in the “Tonight” Quintet. The reason: they were a bit too high for Rita to sing comfortably, and on the day that the dubbing took place, Betty Wand had a cold. Do they asked Marni to take those high spots, and she obliged!

@@GraciesMom what? What does it matter if they were dubbed? It changes nothing. It is a movie, not a concert.

@@kcorpora1 if that’s what you value in a movie, that the actor’s did not do their own singing, then there’s no problem. However the pure talent it takes to not only act but to also sing their songs in real time makes it much more interesting….and is also more much more honest. For me personally it’s much more appealing … it elucidates the pure talent it takes to do a live recording. Also If you’re the person dubbing you don’t get the pay and recognition that the “A” list actor gets.

She dubbed Deborah Kerr in The King and I too as far as I know xx very talented woman xx

Yes!! She’s my great aunt and she also played Sister Sophia in sound of music :)

She came to my university and did a master class nearly 30 years ago. I was an instrumentalist not a singer, but it was great. That was one event that our professors encouraged everyone to go to!

Marni Nixon is a legend!

@@mymakeupnonsense How wonderful that she was your great aunt. I'm sure you meant to say that she played Sister Sophia in the movie version of TSOM. Julie Andrews was Maria! In her later years she also played the Mother Abbess in a stage version, which was posted on YT.

also the 2021 version doesn’t have white people in brownface

@@lonniegabbie Yes! How could I forget? It’s nice to finally have some real latinx representation! (Also I love your avatar/The Owl House!)

@@citizenerased1439 yes! 💛

@@citizenerased1439 Exactly! Rita Moreno is Puerto Rican and she HATED having to wear that dark of makeup.

I liked the original version of “Cool” better with the Jets. Didn’t like the duet and choices they made to integrate that song. Also, the original Jets actors were better singers. Everything else from the new version was great.

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway are good singers in Les Miserables too.

@@dianaaljadeff2983 compared to Barks, they are not solid. Jackman can generally sustain 8 shows a week (starting with his run as the original Australian Gaston back in the 90s, through his run in Sunset Boulevard, and currently in the revival of The Music Man). That said, his technique is rocky. He's even said himself that all he really knows how to do is basically do an impression of his teacher (rather than learning and training the body mechanisms and really giving us his own sound). On top of that, Valjean is not an easy role for baris. You should really be solid in what you're doing. Les Mis is not an easy score and it just gets harder when the tessitura and dynamics aren't ones that you're most comfortable with. Lower tenors/baritenors seem to have a real sweet spot with this role especially. Jackman is a baritone and clearly struggled. Hathaway, while capable, would not be able to sing Fantine on stage. Her control over her mechanisms (breath and laryngeal) aren't solid enough for her to be able to process her character's emotions /and/ sing the score well at the same time. Based on the tremolo, it seems like a breath control problem. I'm not her teacher, I couldn't tell you for sure. She would have really benefitted from pre-recording in-studio, using that track as something to have a baseline to sing along with on set, and possibly re-record post shooting. So much has to go so right (borderline perfect) to record vocals live in a movie musical that it's /generally/ not worth it. Like with most artistic things, it's okay to break the rules, you just have to know how, why, and when. The whole point of doing a film version of a musical is to create the ultimate, the most ideal performance possible at that time to preserve for posterity. Granted, that has to be tempered by the need to make /some/ profit (it /is/ a business). If that means having film actors on screen and dubbing them with people who really know how to sing and can sing the score, fine. I'm sure we would all prefer for the actors to do their own singing, but not if they can't sing the score well. An example, would you rather listen to the movie soundtrack of Les Mis or any of the stage-cast recordings? I go for the stage ones every time (original London, Broadway, or the 10th anniversary in particular). No question. However, if we're talking about stage vs movie for Chicago, I really enjoy the quality of the movie cast of Chicago.

That’s a really interesting piece of history I wasn’t expecting to learn today 😂😅 thank you.

@@KhailSOLO You’re welcome. It’s one of my hobbies learning about movie history and the backstory how those films were made.

You left out the best part! When Julie won her golden globe for MP she thanked Jack Warner. She has the best/cheekiest sense of humor 🤣

All this means nothing. That is what they had to do back those days. Do not compare modern to 60 years ago. To be honest, this Anita could have been used by many other talented puerto Rican actors. She got the part and great. Back in 1961 when there were not many puerto Ricans acting and singing, the producers found the talent they needed. If a singer needed to be brought in, that is what they had to do.

@@kcorpora1 There were plenty of talented actors who could have done the part. It was a huge snub at the time that they chose Rita over Chita Rivera who originated the role on Broadway. Rita was slightly more well known and that’s why they chose her. But regardless, Rita was fantastic. The really problematic role in that movie is maria being played by a white women who couldn’t sing. There were absolutely talented women who had a Hispanic background who could have played the role. They wanted natalie’s star power and back then they truly didn’t care about equity or authenticity in casting. We’ve come a long way since then as the current film was cast with relatively unknown actors, chosen for their enormous talents instead of their star power.

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I wish there had been a duet of some sort between Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose, it'd be LEGENDARY - one Anita singing with another

She plays doc :)

You say it like Les Miserables invented live singing in movies. The only thing LesMis did was record ALL THE SONGS live, but mixing live and pre-recorded vocals in musicals, especially in key emotional moments (as West Side Story and Tick Tick Boom did) is extremely common since the 60's. Watch Barbra singing My Man live in Funny Girl and A Star is Born or Bette Middler singing all of her songs live in Gypsy. Not a rare thing.

Well said!!! 😊

I suggested this once

Coming on Friday :)

@@SongsFromASuitcase WOOOO! Cant wait :)

Lol...You read that, now you know.

Yes by Marni Nixon(1930-2016)