Why do you think the west side story artistic team had maria live at the end when shakespeare had juliet die?

Well Shakespeare's storys were very tragic.. all of them were. So, Juliet had to die so Romeo could die. Shakespeare made his each of his storys tragic for a reason. West side story isnt much of a tragic tale. Its more of a fun type movie. There was no reason Maria needed to die. If she needed to im sure she would have, but that is why Juliet had to die and Maria did not. :* 

Cis the correct answer