| - | Romeo & Juliet | West Side Story |
| Star-Crossed Lovers | Romeo & Juliet | Tony and Maria |
| Why Their Love is Forbidden | families are enemies and have been feuding for a long time | racial tension between the two gangs |
| The Parents | the parents are heavily involved with their children (especially the Capulets) | parents are never seen and rarely involved |
| Law and Justice | the Prince is neutral in his decisions and does not favour a certain side | Lieutenant Shrank is biased against the Puerto Ricans, and is more interested in his own interests |
| The Fiance | Paris is not a member of either side, though he supports the Capulets | Chino belongs to the same side as Maria |
| Setting | Italy, Renaissance/Medieval | New York, 1950's |
| Weapons | swords, rapiers, daggers | switchblades, guns, fists |
| Character Relations #1 | Juliet and Tybalt are cousins | Maria and Bernardo are siblings |
| Character Relations #2 | the Nurse is Juliet's nurse (i.e. a nanny) | Anita is Maria's best friend |
| Character Relations #3 | the Nurse and Tybalt don't really have much of a relationship (though the Nurse says that he was "the best friend [she has] ever had") | Anita is Bernardo's girlfriend |
| Opening Brawl | Sampson, Gregory and Abra fight a bit, Benvolio tries to stop the fight, but Tybalt ends up fighting him in the end | the Jets and Sharks run around and attack, throw paint and garbage, etc. at each other |
| "Hands" | "If I profane, with my unworthiest hand..." sonnet | Tony and Maria talk about the coldness of each others' hands |
| The Revelation | the Nurse tells both Romeo and Juliet that the other is from the rival family | Tony finds out that he's not really supposed to associate with Maria after Bernardo takes her away |
| After the Party | the infamous balcony scene - Romeo sneaks into the Capulet's orchard and catches Juliet confessing her love for him. They spout romantic poetry before they make their wedding plans | Tony meets Maria on her fire escape, and they sing "Tonight" |
| The Name Game | "What's Montague?..." "What's in a name?" | Maria and Tony ask each other what their names mean |
| The Double Duel | Tybalt has been looking for Romeo since the party, but the confrontation and outcome are the results of Fate | the rumble is organized by the two gangs, but the eventual outcome is unexpected |
| Abandonment and Betrayl | Juliet's Nurse encourages her to marry Paris and commit bigamy, instead of supporting her marriage to Romeo | Maria asks Anita to tell Doc that she will arrive later than expected, but Anita is harassed by the Jets and tells Doc that Maria was killed by Chino instead |
| Harassment of the Nurse/Anita | Mercutio taunts the Nurse with obscene jokes and such | the Jets physically and verbally harass Anita, eventually simulating a sexual harassment |
| The Ending | Romeo arrives at the tomb and poisons himself. Juliet wakes up moments later and commits suicide by stabbing herself with a dagger. The two families reconcile | Tony runs around outside, yelling for Chino to kill him too. Then he sees Maria, and Maria sees him. They run towards each other, but Chino arrives and shoots Tony. Tony dies in Maria's arms. The two gangs silently reconcile, and members of both help carry Tony's body |
