Show Synopsis:
Two teenage gangs on the West Side of New York -- the Puerto Rican Sharks and the white Jets -- plan a rumble for dominance on the streets. Riff, the leader of the Jets, convinces his friend Tony to come to the school dance where the rumble will be challenged, although Tony left the Jets awhile ago. At the dance, Tony meets and begins to fall for Maria, a Puerto Rican girl whose family wants her to marry Chino, a member of the Sharks. Maria's brother Bernardo pushes them away from each other, but Tony romances Maria from outside her apartment. Maria asks Tony to stop the rumble, and though Tony tries, Bernardo kills Riff and Tony kills Bernardo in retaliation. Chino relays this to Maria, who plans on running away with Tony. Maria tells her sister Anita how much she loves Tony, and Anita agrees to tell Tony to wait for Maria to run away with him. When Anita is berated by the Jets, she tells them that Chino has shot Maria out of spite. Tony asks Chino to shoot him so that he does not have to live without Maria and he dies in Maria's arms. The gangs end the feud and assemble together to take away Tony's body.
Character:
Tony, a handsome Polish teenager who is struggling to find happiness and where he should be in life.
Song Context:
Riff convinces Tony to come to the dance to show his support for the Jets, although Tony has distanced himself from the gang. Tony starts looking forward to the future, which includes the dance, which might hold the person or thing that could make him happy.
Fun Facts:
1. This musical was loosely based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
2. Stephen Sondheim was only credited for his lyrical work on West Side Story but actually assisted Bernstein with composing the basic lines of this song.
3. Sondheim has noted that the lyrics in this song may appear quite poetic, but he was aiming to express the views of ?an inarticulate, excited young man."
"Could be!
Who knows?
There's something due any day.
I will know right away,
Soon as it shows.
It may come cannonballing down through the sky,
Gleam in its eye,
Bright as a rose!
Who knows?
It's only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,
Under a tree.
I got a feeling there's a miracle due,
Gonna come true,
Coming to me!
Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something's coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Something's coming, I don't know what it is,
But it is
Gonna be great!
With a click, with a shock,
Phone'll jingle, door'll knock,
Open the latch!
Something's coming, don't know when, but it's soon;
Catch the moon,
One-handed catch!
Around the corner,
Or whistling down the river,
Come on deliver
To me!
Will it be? Yes, it will.
Maybe just by holding still,
It'll be there!
Come on, something, come on in, don't be shy,
Meet a guy,
Pull up a chair!
The air is humming,
And something great is coming!
Who knows?
It's only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,
Maybe tonight."