West Side Story is a musical tragedy based on William Shakespeare’s timeless love story, Romeo and Juliet. It is set in the early 1950s, when gang warfare in big cities led to injuries and even death. West Side Story transformed the Montagues and Capulets of Shakespeare’s play into rival street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The Sharks were newly arrived Puerto Ricans, the Jets native born New Yorkers. The plot tells the story of Maria, a Puerto Rican whose brother Bernardo is the leader of the Sharks, and of Tony, a member of the Jets. As the opposing gangs battle in the streets of New York, these two fall in love. While attempting to stop a street fight, Tony inadvertently kills Maria’s brother Bernardo and is ultimately killed himself.