West Side Story

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

“Jerry R. [Jerome Robbins] called today with a noble idea: a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, set in slums at the coincidence of Easter-Passover celebrations. Feelings running high between Jews and Catholics. Former: Capulets, latter: Montagues. … But it’s all much less important than the bigger idea of making a musical that tells a tragic story in musical comedy terms, using only musical comedy techniques, never falling into the ‘operatic’ trap.”
However, after an initial phase of intense work, the euphoria of this first entry on West Side Story in Leonard Bernstein’s logbook, dated 6 January 1949, was followed by doubts as to the viability of the idea. Six years were to pass before the composer took up the project again: “We’re fired again by the Romeo notion … and have come up with what I think is going to be it: two teenage gangs as the warring factions, one of them newly-arrived Puerto Ricans, the others self-styled ‘Americans.’”
Now joined by Stephen Sondheim, the team of writers met regularly as of October 1955, and the work was completed two years later. Starting on Broadway, the piece took the world by storm with songs like “Tonight,” “One hand, One heart” and “Maria”. The story of Maria and Tony, who pay for their love with their lives due to their membership of two rival youth gangs, remains tragically controversial to this day.

PICTURE GALLERY

Open picture gallery (41 pictures)