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West Side Story

West Side Story
West Side 001.jpg
Original cast recording
Music Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics Stephen Sondheim
Book Arthur Laurents
Basis Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Productions 1957 Broadway
1958 West End
1959 US Tour
1960 Broadway return
1961 Film
1980 Broadway revival
1997 UK Tour and West End revival
2008 West End revival and UK Tour
2009 Broadway revival and US Tour
2013 UK Tour

West Side Story is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and conception and choreography by Jerome Robbins. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.

The story is set in the Upper West Side neighborhood in New York City in the mid-1950s, an ethnic, blue-collar neighborhood (in the early 1960s much of the neighborhood would be cleared in an urban renewal project for the Lincoln Center, changing the neighborhood's character). The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The members of the Sharks, from Puerto Rico, are taunted by the Jets, a white gang. The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theatre. Bernstein's score for the musical includes "Something's Coming", "Maria", "America", "Somewhere", "Tonight", "Jet Song", "I Feel Pretty", "A Boy Like That", "One Hand, One Heart", "Gee, Officer Krupke", and "Cool".


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Wikipedia

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