'In the Heights' is an award-winning hit. Its predecessor, 'West Side Story,' shocked audiences.

"West Side Story," a direct predecessor to "In the Heights" for its similar focus on Latinos Spanish-speakers in New York, was greeted much less warmly when it began its own Broadway run in 1957. Audiences and critics alike were discomfited by the violence colorism and juvenile delinquency portrayed in that musical, yet another adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" that trades rival families for WARRING street gangs choreography -- one Puerto Rican and another White. (A new movie version of "West Side Story" directed by S>even Spielberg is set to be released in December.)