The theme of two lovers thwarted by circumstances beyond their control, however, had long before been established in West… ", The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, Mônica e Cebolinha: No Mundo de Romeu e Julieta, In Fair Palestine: A Story of Romeo and Juliet, A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, List of compositions by Leonard Bernstein, Category:Compositions by Leonard Bernstein, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Cats: Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording, Les Misérables: The Complete Symphonic Recording, Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs Of Leiber And Stoller, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Side_Story&oldid=1013351933, Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare, Plays and musicals based on Romeo and Juliet, Articles with Italian-language sources (it), Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Spanish-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2019, Articles needing additional references from September 2017, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Action, A-Rab, Baby John, Big Deal, Gee-Tar, Mouthpiece, Snowboy, Tiger and Anybodys, Indio, Luis, Anxious, Nibbles, Juano, Toro and Moose, Rosalia, Consuelo, Teresita, Francisca, Estella and Marguerita, Doc, owner of the local drugstore/soda shop, Krupke, neighborhood cop and Schrank's right-hand man, Glad Hand, well meaning social worker in charge of the dance, "Prologue" – Orchestra, danced by Jets & Sharks, "The Dance at the Gym" – Orchestra, danced by Jets & Sharks, "The Rumble" – Orchestra, danced by Riff, Bernardo, Sharks & Jets, "Procession and Nightmare" – Tony, Maria & Ensemble. He liked it but decided to ask Abbott, his longtime mentor, for his opinion, and Abbott advised him to turn it down. The production was nominated for six Tony Awards including Best Musical in 1958,[3] but the award for Best Musical went to Meredith Willson's The Music Man; Robbins won the Tony Award for his choreography and Oliver Smith won for his scenic designs. [21] Originally, when considering the cast, Laurents wanted James Dean for the lead role of Tony, but the actor soon died. The Broadway revival began previews at the Palace Theatre on February 23, 2009, and opened on March 19, 2009. He is the author of Original Story By, his first autobiography, and The Rest of the Story. [5], There were problems with Oliver Smith's designs. 85–92: 'Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal: Orchestrating the Show', Learn how and when to remove this template message, Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast from Motion Picture or Television, Best Jazz Performance – Large Group (Instrumental), Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, Robert Flaherty Documentary Award (Television), Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Lead Role in a Musical, "Excerpts from Bernstein's West Side Log, see 1949 and 1955", "Leonard Bernstein by Humphrey Burton, Chapter 26", "West Side Story: 'We were all very young, "Dharon E. Jones Set to Take Over as Riff in West Side Story on Broadway", "'West Side Story' London Production, 1958", albemarle-london "Archive Page, 'West Side Story'", "Broadway s'addice ai «guerrieri della notte»", "A Song Like That: Collaborators Reconsider Spanish Lyrics in 'West Side Story'", "Cavenaugh, Scaglione, Olivo, Green and Akram to Lead Cast of 'West Side Story' Revival", "Billy Elliot, Norman Conquests, Hair, God of Carnage Are Tony Award Winners", "Nominations for 2009 Tony Awards Announced; Billy Elliot Earns 15 Nominations", "Gee, Officer Krupke, I Need Those Violins", "Broadway's 'West Side Story' Postpones Opening Night Following Leading Man's Onstage Knee Injury", "West Side Story Will Return to Broadway, Directed by Ivo van Hove", "Broadway League Extends Shutdown Until June 2021", "Theater Review; 'West Side Story': Staging At Its Best", Information from the WestSideStory.com "2002, " 'West Side Story' National Tour to Launch in October", "Grammy Award-Winning Smash Hit 'West Side Story' Launches National Tour at Detroit's Fisher Theatre", " 'West Side Story' 50th Anniversary Production", Information about the translation (in French only), Marco Zunino y Rossana Fernández Maldonado protagonizan Amor sin barreras, "Outstanding Classical Program in the Performing Arts – 1985", "Release of Steven Spielberg's West Side Story Movie Delayed Nearly a Year", "West Side Story: High school student cast as Maria in Spielberg remake", "PBreaking: 2020 Drama Desk Awards Nominations- The Full List! Robbins was involved with Bells Are Ringing, then Bernstein with Candide, and in January 1957 A Clearing in the Woods, Laurents' latest play, opened and quickly closed. Diesel is renamed Ice. Scenic and lighting design are by Jan Versweyveld, with costumes by An d'Huys. The sound of approaching police sirens is heard, and everyone scatters, except Tony, who stands in shock at what he has done. She appears on her fire escape, and the two profess their love for one another ("Tonight"). The Jets' leader, Riff, suggests setting up a rumble with the Sharks. [59] The original balletic, finger snapping choreography is replaced by swaggering, hip-hop and latin-influenced dancing. West Side Story is an upcoming American romantic musical drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Tony Kushner and choreography by Justin Peck. When Robbins opted to drop out, the three men went their separate ways, and the piece was shelved for almost five years. The Jets and Sharks form a procession, and together carry Tony away, with Maria the last one in the procession. [55], A Broadway revival of West Side Story began previews on December 10, 2019 and officially opened on February 20, 2020 at the Broadway Theatre. En español | Arthur Laurents, the original librettist for West Side Story, is bringing a new production of his landmark 1957 musical to Broadway this spring.. The gang separates to find Tony and protect him. His plays include Claudia Lazlo, Home of the Brave, The Time of the Cuckoo, A Clearing in the Woods, Invitation to the March, The Enclave, Scream, Two Lives, The Radical Mystique, My Good Name, and Jolson Sings Again. Laurents ultimately invented what sounded like real street talk but actually was not: "cut the frabba-jabba", for example. [17], The show was nearly complete in the fall of 1956, but almost everyone on the creative team needed to fulfill other commitments first. When Bernardo pushes Tony, Riff punches him in Tony's defense. The Jets get antsy while waiting for the Sharks inside Doc's drugstore. He arrived in Hollywood to choreograph the dance sequences for the 1956 film The King and I, and he and Laurents began developing the musical while working on their respective projects, keeping in touch with Bernstein, who had returned to New York. When they first conceived the show in 1949, Robbins, Bernstein and Laurents set their story on the east side of Manhattan, and gave it the working title East Side Story. But the 91-year-old isn’t offering just another staging of the critically acclaimed script that won two Tony Awards and spawned the Oscar-winning 1961 film. Action has taken charge; he accepts Anybodys into the Jets and includes her in the search. [13] Sondheim converted long passages of dialogue, and sometimes just a simple phrase like "A boy like that would kill your brother", into lyrics. [66] A national tour of the 2009 Broadway revival began in October 2010 at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, and toured for two seasons. Blissfully unaware that the rumble has taken place with fatal consequences, Maria giddily sings to her friends Rosalia, Consuelo, Teresita, and Francisca that she is in love ("I Feel Pretty"). Laurents stated, "The musical theatre and cultural conventions of 1957 made it next to impossible for the characters to have authenticity. Bernstein had decided he needed to concentrate solely on the music, and he and Robbins had invited Betty Comden and Adolph Green to write the lyrics, but the team opted to work on Peter Pan instead. Ultimately, some of the cast were teenagers, some were 21, some were 30 but looked 16. [63] The Musical Theater of Lincoln Center and Richard Rodgers production opened at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, in June 1968 and closed in September 1968 after 89 performances. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. When a gang leader advises his cohorts to play it "Cool", the intolerable tension between an effort at control and the instinctive drives of these potential killers is stingingly graphic. The Sharks arrive to discuss weapons to use in the rumble. [citation needed] In 1977, a Spanish adaptation, Amor Sin Barreras, was produced in Mexico City by Alfonso Rosas Prigo and Ruben Boido, with direction by Ruben Boido, at the Hidalgo Theater. At the dance, after introductions, the teenagers begin to dance; soon a challenge dance is called ("Dance at the Gym"), during which Tony and Maria (who aren't taking part in the challenge dance) see each other across the room and are drawn to each other. [32] The other notable cast members in the original production were: Riff: Michael Callan, A-Rab: Tony Mordente, Big Deal: Martin Charnin, Gee-Tar: Tommy Abbott, Chino: Jamie Sanchez, Rosalia: Marilyn Cooper, Consuela [sic]: Reri Grist, Doc: Art Smith and Francisca: Elizabeth Taylor. Contrary to rumor, Sondheim did not write music for the show; his only contribution came on "Something's Coming", where he developed the main strain of the chorus from music Bernstein wrote for the verse.[28]. [108][109], From 1973 to 2004, Wild Side Story, a camp parody musical, based loosely on West Side Story and adapting parts of the musical's music and lyrics, was performed a total of more than 500 times in Miami Beach, Florida, Stockholm, Gran Canaria and Los Angeles. Another song, "Kid Stuff", was added and quickly removed during the Washington, D.C. tryout when Laurents convinced the others it was helping tip the balance of the show into typical musical comedy.[14]. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story is a 1957 musical composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. In 1947, Jerome Robbins approached Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents about collaborating on a contemporary musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. It was staged by Gerald Freedman with choreography re-mounted by Tom Abbott. "Gee, Officer Krupke" is moved before "Cool" and is sung by Riff instead of Action, and "Cool" is sung by Ice instead of Riff. Westside story is a modern musical representation of the classic story "Romeo and Juliet". As the walls of Maria's bedroom disappear, they find themselves in a dreamlike world of peace ("Somewhere"). [61], On March 12, 2020, the show suspended production, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, until June 1, 2021 at the earliest. He was outvoted on other issues: he felt the lyrics to "America" and "I Feel Pretty" were too witty for the characters singing them, but they stayed in the score and proved to be audience favorites. Before he goes, they dream of their wedding ("One Hand, One Heart"). They plan to run away together. The tomboy Anybodys, who stubbornly wishes that she could become a Jet, tells Tony to flee from the scene at the last moment and flees with the knives. Both de Guzman and Allen received Tony Award nominations as Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and the musical was nominated as Best Reproduction (Play or Musical). He is a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame, P.E.N., the Screenwriter’s Guild, the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences and is an emeritus member of the Council of the Dramatist Guild. [83] One writer noted: "The story appealed to society's undercurrent of rebellion from authority that surfaced in 1950s films like Rebel Without a Cause. They meet the rest of the gang. Maria works in a bridal shop with Anita, the girlfriend of her brother, Bernardo. 1 on the Billboard chart for a record 54 weeks. Tony arrives to see Maria and she initially pounds on his chest with rage, but she still loves him. [25] The pre-Broadway run in Washington, D.C. was a critical and commercial success, although none of the reviews mentioned Sondheim, listed as co-lyricist, who was overshadowed by the better-known Bernstein. There he met Sondheim, who had heard that East Side Story, now retitled West Side Story, was back on track. The show lampoons the musical's tragic love story, and also lip-synching and drag shows. Far less well known is the fact that Shakespeare based his play (1594) on other material, particularly a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke entitled The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562). Anybodys arrives and tells the Jets that she has been spying on the Puerto Ricans; she has discovered that Chino has a gun and is looking for Tony. Gradually, all the members of both gangs assemble on either side of Tony's body, showing that the feud is over. Tony kills Bernardo in a fit of rage, which in turn provokes an all-out fight like the fight in the Prologue. Laurents maintains that Robbins’s credit for the conception of West Side Story was a case of overreaching. The musical also made points in its description of troubled youth and the devastating effects of poverty and racism. As a result, by opening night on Broadway, none of his collaborators were talking to him. [97][98] Kushner reportedly kept the story closer to the original Broadway musical than the 1961 film, stating that "[T]here are aspects of urban life in '57, '58, '59 that weren't touched on in the 1961 movie that we are focusing on. He has also written radio episodes for “Hollywood Playhouse,” “Assignment Home” (Variety Radio Award, 1945), “The Thin Man,” “Army Service Force Presents,” “The Man Behind the Gun,” and “This is Your FBI.”. she yells. The playwright and screenwriter Arthur Laurents wrote the books for two true classics of musical theatre, West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959), and … Arthur Laurents' book remains as powerful, poignant and timely as ever. Maria confesses to Anita that she is not in love with Chino. [8], Laurents was soon hired to write the screenplay for a remake of the 1934 Greta Garbo film The Painted Veil for Ava Gardner. He was 93. [2] The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang's leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. [37], A UK national tour started in 1997 and starred David Habbin as Tony, Katie Knight Adams as Maria and Anna-Jane Casey as Anita. Robbins directed and choreographed, and it was co-choreographed by Peter Gennaro, with scenery by Oliver Smith. [citation needed] The Japanese Takarazuka Revue has performed the show twice. It closed September 28, 1985. The cast includes Shereen Pimentel as Maria, Isaac Cole Powell as Tony, Amar Ramasar as Bernardo, Thomas Jay Ryan as Lt. Schrank and Yesenia Ayala as Anita, who is also set to appear in the upcoming film remake. The idea of introducing Spanish into 1957's "West Side Story" in a significant way originated with Laurents' longtime partner Tom Hatcher (who died … [9] Bernstein and Laurents, who had been blacklisted for alleged communist activities, worked with Robbins even though he had cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Though Bernardo taunts and provokes Tony, ridiculing his attempt to make peace, Tony keeps his composure. [81], The creators' innovations in dance, music and theatrical style drew enthusiastic reactions from the critics. Gualberto Castro played the part of Tony; Maria Medina was Maria; among other cast members was Macaria. The most obvious is the scene at the very end when Maria is … The production subsequently toured the UK for a second time.[38]. Some were wonderful singers but couldn't dance very well, or vice versa ... and if they could do both, they couldn't act. His painted backdrops were stunning, but the sets were, for the most part, either shabby looking or too stylized. [32] Carol Lawrence received the 1958 Theatre World Award. Sondheim auditioned by playing the score for Saturday Night, his musical that was scheduled to open in the fall. [35] David Holliday, who had been playing Gladhand since the London opening, took over as Tony. [33] The production closed on June 27, 1959, after 732 performances. Arthur Laurents is the author of musical plays such as West Side Story, Gypsy, Anyone Can Whistle, Do I Hear A Waltz?, Hallelujah Baby! [69], The musical has also been adapted to be performed as Deaf Side Story using both English and American Sign Language, with deaf Sharks and hearing Jets. [110], This article is about the stage musical. [107] In the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett, two feuding noble families are named Selachii and Venturi, the scientific names for "sharks" and "jets". Unlike other 1950s musicals, West Side Story's original performers were unknowns, not stars. Typical was John Chapman's review in the New York Daily News on September 27, 1957, headed: "West Side Story a Splendid and Super-Modern Musical Drama". [53] The revival sold 1,074,462 tickets on Broadway over the course of nearly two years[54] and was a financial success. It featured Christian Bautista as Tony, Karylle and Joanna Ampil as Maria. This is a bold new kind of musical theatre – a juke-box Manhattan opera. [51] In July 2010, the producers reduced the size of the orchestra, replacing five musicians with an off-stage synthesizer. Later, in the mid-1950s, Laurents and Bernstein met at a hotel in LA. [1] It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. 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