Who originally wrote West Side Story?
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Who originally wrote West Side Story?
Stephen SondheimWest Side Story / LyricistStephen Joshua Sondheim was an American composer, songwriter and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim was credited for having “reinvented the American Wikipedia
How did West Side Story originate?
The original idea for “West Side Story” dates back to 1949 when Jerome Robbins conceived of a musical update of “Romeo & Juliet.” Originally set on the New York’s East Side, and conceived as a societal war between Jews and Gentiles, “West Side Story” eventually morphed into a tale of two street gangs, the mostly Puerto …
When was West Side Story first written?
Conceived in 1949, West Side Story has a serious message that pleads for racial tolerance, delivered in unforgettable song and dance.
What is the historical context of West Side Story?
A timeless and timely experience When “West Side Story” premiered in the 60s, the historical context was clear: U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico migrated to New York City in exponential numbers after World War II, causing a shift in cultural norms in Manhattan.
What was West Side Story originally called?
It was originally going to be an ‘East Side Story’ Looking through the news headlines of the day, one jumped out at them: the rise of teen gangs. So ‘East Side Story’ moved across town to become West Side Story—a story focused on clashes between gangs of white Americans and newly immigrated Puerto Ricans.
Why was West Side Story influential?
When West Side Story debuted on Broadway in September 1957, the show immediately gained fame for its bold artistic vision and unflinching engagement with social concerns of the day: racial unrest, urban gang violence, immigration and altercations with the police.
What is the message of West Side Story?
Why they’ve succeeded as well as they have here is simple: They realize the core message of West Side Story is that in world racked by racism, nativism, impossible division, poverty and a lack of hope, there is still the possibility that maybe, just maybe, love can prevail.
Why was West Side Story innovative?
Narrative dances had appeared in musicals for many years, but the bold innovation of West Side Story is that it uses dance to tell most of the story. The whole conflict between the warring gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, is set up in the opening, through choreography.
Why did Spielberg make West Side Story?
I have been able to fulfill that dream and keep that promise that I made to myself; you must make ‘West Side Story. ‘ “Divisions between unlike-minded people is as old as time itself. And the divisions between the Sharks and the Jets in 1957, which inspired the musical were profound.
Why did Spielberg directed West Side Story?
Spielberg went on to emphasize that sharing West Side Story with his children was important for him, too and it’s clear that his enduring love for the source material is what helped make his adaptation such a roaring success.
Is West Side Story based on true events?
That said, West Side Story isn’t based on a true story. Even though West Side Story has been associated with a modern and American telling of Romeo and Juliet for decades, Tony Kushner, who worked on the screenplay of the 2021 flick, thinks differently.
What influenced West Side Story?
Story Sources. It is widely known that West Side Story (WSS) is based directly on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (R&J). 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).
What is the genre style of West Side Story?
A Classic Musical, But Is The Music Classical? West Side Story is classical music, but it isn’t opera by any means. It is musical theater done in an elaborate manner, musically very rich, and that’s what makes it classical.
What did Stephen Sondheim have to do with West Side Story?
Sondheim said he was working on music for a different show, and not looking for another job, when he was asked to be the lyricist on the original 1957 Broadway musical for “West Side Story,” a Romeo and Juliet story set in the slums of old Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Why was West Side Story groundbreaking?
What Shakespeare inspired West Side Story?
Without a doubt, American composer Leonard Bernstein’s most significant contribution to the world of Shakespeare was West Side Story, the 1957 smash Broadway hit adaptation of Romeo and Juliet written and created by Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Bernstein.
What is the history of West Side Story?
See Article History. West Side Story, theatre music by American composer Leonard Bernstein that premiered August 19, 1957, in Washington, D.C., before moving to Broadway for a second opening on September 26, 1957. The musical is a 20th-century American adaptation of the Shakespearean tale of Romeo and Juliet.
Who wrote West Side Story musical?
West Side Story. West Side Story is a musical with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
Is West Side Story based on Romeo and Juliet?
West Side Story is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was inspired by William Shakespeare ‘s play Romeo and Juliet . The story is set in the mid 1950s in the Upper West Side of New York City, then a multiracial, blue-collar neighborhood.
How did Broadway change with West Side Story?
On Sept. 26, 1957, Broadway changed forever when the curtain went up on “West Side Story.” The artistic innovations popped immediately: Instead of an overture, the orchestra played Leonard Bernstein’s jagged musical phrases, punctuated by actors snapping their fingers.
