West Side Story - Characters

Characters

Male Jets

  • Riff, quick-tempered but zany leader of the Jets
  • Tony, former joint-leader of the Jets, gone straight. Riff's best friend.
  • Ice/ Diesel, second-in-command of the Jets. Ice was a character created for the movie, but has been adopted in later stage productions.
  • Action, the most quick-tempered member of the Jets, always ready for a fight. Takes over as leader after Riff's death.
  • A-Rab, a happy-go-lucky Jet who is beaten up by the Sharks in the opening sequence
  • Baby John, the youngest Jet, A-Rab's best friend
  • Snowboy
  • Joyboy
  • Big Deal
  • Tiger
  • Mouthpiece
  • Gee-Tar

Male Sharks

  • Bernardo, Maria's brother, leader of the Sharks
  • Chino, Maria's hot-tempered suitor, Bernardo's best friend
  • Pepe, second-in-command of the Sharks
  • Indio
  • Loco
  • Jauno
  • Luiz
  • Rocco/Anxious
  • Toro
  • Nibbles/Del Campo
  • Chile

Female Jets

  • Graziella, Riff's girlfriend (Ice / Diesel's girlfriend in some productions)
  • Velma, Ice's girlfriend (Riff's girlfriend in some productions)
  • Minnie, Baby John's girlfriend
  • Clarice, Action's girlfriend
  • Pauline, A-Rab's girlfriend
  • Anybodys, a tagalong tomboy, eventually accepted into the gang and falls in love with Action

Female Sharks

  • Maria, Puerto Rican ingenue; Bernardo's sister
  • Anita, saucy friend of Maria and girlfriend of Bernardo, though they seem poorly matched
  • Rosalia, argues with Anita in "America"; Indio's girlfriend
  • Consuela, Pepe's girlfriend
  • Teresita, Loco's girlfriend
  • Francisca, Jauno's girlfriend
  • Estella, Luiz's girlfriend
  • Margarita, Toro's girlfriend

Adults

  • Officer Krupke, an agressive but inept cop
  • Doc, a weary old candy store owner
  • Glad Hand, the inept chaperone at the dance
  • Detective Schrank, a racist police lieutenant

Read more about this topic:  West Side Story

Famous quotes containing the word characters:

    “The major men
    That is different. They are characters beyond
    Reality, composed thereof. They are
    The fictive man created out of men.
    They are men but artificial men.”
    —Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)

    “Socialist writers are made of sterner stuff than those who only let their characters steeplechase through trouble in order to come out first in the happy ending of moral uplift.”
    —Christina Stead (1902–1983)

    “A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.”
    —Clifford Irving (b. 1930)