| West Side Story |
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| compositions by leonard bernstein | |
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| 1957 musicals | |
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''West Side Story'' is a Musical written by Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (music), and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics), and was originally produced, choreographed, and directed by Jerome Robbins . ''West Side Story'' debuted on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theater on September 26 , 1957 and played 732 performances before going on tour - a very successful run for the time. The plot is loosely adapted from William Shakespeare 's '' Romeo And Juliet '', in that the best friend of a gang leader falls in love with the relative of a rival gang's leader. The dark theme, sophisticated music, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in English language musical theater, which had previously (with rare exceptions) tended toward light and fluffy themes. ''West Side Story'' is still produced frequently by local theaters and is occasionally produced by classical opera companies. Bernstein's score for the musical has been extremely popular. Some of the songs include "Something's Coming," " Maria ," "America," "Somewhere," "Tonight," "Gee, Officer Krupke," "I Feel Pretty," "One Hand, One Heart," and "Cool." Some music he wrote but did not use later became integrated into the Chichester Psalms . What's interesting is that the production made a commentary on racism in a time when public displays, or articulations of race issues (and many other issues that are commented on in the production), was uncommon in popular, mainstream, films and entertainment. Specifically contained in the song "America", what stands out is that the movie version (1961), plays the United States as the horrible place to live, versus the play version (1957), in which Puerto Rico is portrayed as a poorer choice to live. Some of the movie version lyrics: "Lots of new housing with more space, Lots of doors slamming in our face. I'll get a terrace apart-mant, Better get rid of your accent. Life can be bright in America, If you can fight in America. Life is alright in America, If you're all white in America. Here you are free and you have pride, Long as you stay on your own side. Free to be anything you choose, Free to wait tables and shine shoes." In 1984 , Bernstein decided to re-record the musical, conducting his own music for the first time. Generally known as the "operatic version" of ''West Side Story'', it stars Kiri Te Kanawa as Maria, José Carreras as Tony, Tatiana Troyanos as Anita, Kurt Ollman as Riff, and Marilyn Horne who sings "Somewhere" as an anonymous character. It won a Grammy award in 1985. The original 1957 stage production starred Larry Kert as Tony and Carol Lawrence as Maria. A 1980 Broadway revival starred Debbie Allen as Anita. A 1987 tour starred Jack Wagner as Tony. A 1995 tour starred Marcie Harriell as Maria and H.E. Greer as Tony. A 2002 tour starred Natasha Harper as Maria. George Chakiris , who won an Academy Award as Bernardo in the 1961 film version of ''West Side Story'', originated the role of Riff in the 1958 London stage premiere. DRAMATIS PERSONAE The Jets Riff, the leader
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