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

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Famous quotes containing the word characters:

    “The Nature of Familiar Letters, written, as it were, to the Moment, while the Heart is agitated by Hopes and Fears, on Events undecided, must plead an Excuse for the Bulk of a Collection of this Kind. Mere Facts and Characters might be comprised in a much smaller Compass: But, would they be equally interesting?”
    —Samuel Richardson (1689–1761)

    “Children pay little attention to their parent’s teachings, but reproduce their characters faithfully.”
    —Mason Cooley (b. 1927)

    “Though they be mad and dead as nails,
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    —Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)