How Tony being a girl affects WSS: My Queer Manifesto
When someone first mentioned this concept to me, I wasn't sure if a female Tony would work for two reasons:
We already have Anybodys as a girl who breaks gender stereotypes, which the Jets don't approve of. (I know he's a trans man in the new film but in the original film and stage he’s a woman. Still very trans-coded though!)
Would it take away from the message of the story? Does making Tony and Maria a gay couple take away their importance as an interracial couple?
In the Broadway version... not really. The 2021 film goes really in-depth about white supremacy, gentrification, and immigration. Race and identity is a key part of the new story, and it wouldn’t stand without it. Making Tony a girl in that version wouldn't work because that’s not what it’s about.
The original show doesn't go in depth, which is one of its deepest flaws. Yes, the show talks about racism, but it only used it as a placeholder for a conflict, and many Latine and Hispanic people were immigrating to the US and living in New York. West Side Story was initially called East Side Story, about a Catholic boy and a Jewish girl, but the idea was scrapped because at that time a play came out with that same plotl. West Side Story wasn't using racism to talk about racism; it was using it because they needed a modern issue involving opposing sides and violence.
WSS is very flawed. It wasn't really made for Latine people, it was made for a general audience. People who wanted to see a show about star-crossed lovers.
Well... that applies to queer people too.
Here is how I picture the story with Antonia “Tony” Wyzek:
She's still one of the boys. Riff calls her "buddy boy" and they can goof around. Tony fits in with the Jets, whereas Anybodys is an outcast. This is because girls who are "one of the guys" usually fit in because they're what men want in a woman. She likes the things you do, but she's still hot in an effortless way! Many girls who are considered “one of the guys” have a lot of internalized misogyny because they’re appearing a certain way not for themselves, but for other people. (By the way, girls should be able to present masc, femme, or any in-between without outside judgement!)
Tony will start off being feminine, but not too feminine, because even though she left the Jets, she still cares about them and wants to present in a way that pleases other people.
At the beginning of the show, when she’s working at Doc’s, she could wear something like this:
It’s definitely feminine (the 50s were all about hourglass waists and pointy boobs?) but it’s functional. It would show that Tony feels more comfortable when not wearing skirts. A tiny peak at her self-expression without it being obvious.
The dance at the gym / Maria’s fire escape / Doc’s:
Tony doesn’t have much money, so she isn’t gonna be wearing something too glamorous. It’s girly but nondescript. The silhouette isn’t exaggerated, no frills and poofs. It’s sort of the bare minimum, how little effort she can put in while still being accepted.
This gym scene is also the first time we see Tony and Anybodys, which will show their dynamic as two queer people (because let’s face it, musical!Anybodys was super queer-coded). Tony and Anybodys have a bond because in some ways they want to be each other. Anybodys, who is authentically themself, wants to be part of a group. Tony, who has just left her group, still hasn’t found herself and is trying to find who that is. They both want what the other person has. Also, I feel like Anybodys is mostly useless in the original show, so this can give them some purpose.
At Doc’s Tony says the rumble should be a “fair fight” with only fists, which the Jets and Sharks agree on, but both go against that in the end when they bring knives to the rumble. Tony posesses stereotypically feminine qualities, such as kindness, gentleness, sincerity, and romanticism. She doesn’t belong in a gang. Having Tony be the only person wearing a dress in the scene physically shows the difference between her and her old friends.
ok but like what about maria?
While I’m specifically making Tony a lesbian, Maria’s sexuality can be less specific; she can be any time of wlw, however the hypothetical actress chooses to. In my vision, I see her as a lesbian because it would explain more why she doesn’t love Chino. Maria’s literally engaged to the guy and we barely see how she feels about it besides ambivalence and mild annoyance (which of course turns to hatred by the end). Since we’re changing the script as little as possible, it needs to be more obvious why she doesn’t love him. If Maria is played as a lesbian, you can play up the reluctance to be with him without changing the words.
The bridal shop / the rumble / Maria’s room / outside:
I think the song that would change the most is A Boy Like That/I Have a Love. Honestly, I would just swap every "boy" to "girl" and the pronouns too. Anita's problem with Tony is that she killed Bernardo; that she was apart of the white supremacist gang who hate her community. That problem in itself is related to racism and xenophobia, so Tony's gender wouldn't play a factor. I don't think Anita would care which gender Maria was attracted to, as long as they're Hispanic/Latine.
I Feel Pretty would change slightly too. Maria can’t mention Tony’s gender at all because the other girls think she’s talking about Chino. “Feel like running and dancing for joy/For I'm loved/By a pretty wonderful boy!” Can be changed to “Feel like finally taking control/For I'm loved/By a pretty wonderful soul!” Still rhymes and also changes her character a bit! You go Maria, take control! Go after what you want!
Back in the pants! Tony, now that she’s met Maria, she is awakened. She’s happier, more confident, etc etc. So she’s wearing something she feels confident in. There’s the feminine cut, but less pronounced compared to the first outfit. Not as masculine as Anybodys, but still more androgynous. This is the scene where she and Maria get to be silly and have a fake wedding, which gets serious when they kneel and vow their love for each other. This is the scene that captures their dynamic; fun, naiive, young love, but still real. It’s showcasing both of them as characters, so this outfit has to showcase who Tony truly is.
As for the rumble, that scene is also indicative if who Tony is. Someone who believes in love and wants to make peace, but will also fight for the people she loves (even if it means killing your girlfriend’s brother in a fit of rage).
The “Somewhere” sequence, in this version, would be interesting with Tony and Maria as lesbians because Somewhere is such a universal song. The lyrics are simple, but many people can relate to it; queer couples, interracial couples, interfaith couples. It doesn’t even have to be a couple. “A place for us” can be for a community. My life is nothing like Tony and Maria’s, but that song rings so true to me. During the ballet sequence, if there were different couples all dancing, it would physically show the universality of it.
When Tony is running through the streets, looking for Chino to kill her, Anybodys tries to help her, but she tells him to go away because she’s a girl (I can’t remember the exact line). This line can still stay. After falling in love with Maria, Tony naively believed that things will work out for them because she's an idealist. But it doesn't work out. When she's telling Anybodys, "You're a girl!" She's saying, "Girls like us can't get what we want. We don’t belong. It didn't work out for me and it won't work out for you."
