When P. Martin's mother has dubbed Jaeger and his friends as Jaeger and The Jets, she is referring to one of the two gangs in Leonard Bernstein's musical West Side Story, which is based on Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. The other gang was The Sharks. These NYC west side teenage gangs represented the rivalry between two ethnic groups, the white blue collar workers (The Jets) and the Puerto Ricans (The Sharks).
Like Romeo and Juliet, Tony from The Jets (representing Romeo from Shakespeare's Capulet family) falls in love with Bernardo's sister Maria (Juliet from Shakespeare's Montague family). Bernardo is the head of The Sharks. Because these two "families" are at war with each other, Tony and Maria's love and dream of living a wedded life together are doomed to end in tragedy, which is what happened in Romeo and Juliet.
West Side Story takes place in New York City during the 1950's, and the original Broadway production was in 1957. The lyrics are by Stephen Sondheim, and it was this musical that launched his career.
Welcome to MarMooWorks Story Line, where I encourage you to become a Muse of MarMooWorks. Each week, I will begin a story, using one sentence, and I invite you, the readers, to add to the story. Be on the lookout for fun and unusual words, images, and literary devices. Be sure to keep in mind that once a character has been introduced, he/she/it remains in the story and has a purpose.
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