whereas the Tony-and-Maria bit from the Quintet version of "Tonight" is such a lovely reworking of Juliet's intensely erotic "Gallop apace" speech: I'm so glad they chose to go with that instead.

Me too, and I agree. It's very important in R&J that Juliet doesn't dream just of flowers and kisses; she longs to have sex with the man she loves. And Tonight has the same drive and urgency.

Tony:
He's a restless young tough who started the Jets with Riff; he's smart enough to know he has to try to get away from that life, but the old instincts are still there. I'd love to see him cast as a broken-nosed young hood, as astonished as anyone else that he's fallen so completely for this Puerto Rican girl and she for him.

In other words, Tony as the young Marlon Brando? Yes, that would be a refreshing and entirely plausible interpretation.