Sometimes even one of the greatest musicals of all time can have its flaws. And in West Side Story's case, the flaw comes at the end of Act 1. For some strange reason, the creative team seemed to want to end Act 1 after the Rumble, when both Riff and Bernado are dead.
Clearly, this is an anti-climax. Were it not for the brilliant dance sequences and music, the audience would be thoughougly turned off by such an ending. Surely common sense says, that Act 1 should end with the iconic emsemble number Tonight, in which the Jets, Sharks, Tony and Maria are all invovled. It is the perfect cliff hanger to suspend audiences' disbelief. Who will win the rumble? Will Tony stop the fight? Will he and Maria find happiness? The audience is left to wonder.
Then Act II can begin with the Rumble. It adds perfect suspense to the situation, and when this has been done in some versions of West Side I know of, it has worked very well indeed.
I still can't figure out why Bernstein, Sondheim, and Laurents could allow Act I to end where it did. As someone did say, who wants to see a show where the audience are left with two dead bodies on stage at the end of the act? I forget who said that, but the point is well made.
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