West Side Story

The Development of West Side Story

Choreographer Robbins initially conceived of a musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, set in the tenements of Manhattan's Lower East Side, with a Catholic Romeo in love with a Jewish Juliet. He enlisted Hollywood screenwriter Arthur Laurents to pen the libretto and conductor Leonard Bernstein to compose the score in 1949. After a few months of work, the trio realized that these themes had been covered in this way numerous times in the theater, and East Side Story was shelved.

A rise in violence from teenage street gangs engaged in turf wars on the Upper West Side of Manhattan reignited the trio's interest in adapting Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare's Montagues became the white working-class Jets; the Capulets were now the Sharks, Puerto Ricans who had recently migrated to New York; and the setting was the girded fire escapes and narrow alleyways of Hell's Kitchen. Robbins, Laurents, and Bernstein settled on Stephen Sondheim, a 25-year-old novice and protégé of Oscar Hammerstein II, to write the lyrics. Rechristened West Side Story, it was to be a serious examination of social pathologies and urban teenage angst, rather than a conventional musical comedy. The dark subject matter—depicted onstage were violence, a number of murders, and an attempted rape—discouraged many producers from supporting the work. However, Harold Prince, who would go on to direct and produce a number of Sondheim's most influential musicals, recognized the musical's potential and agreed to produce it with his partner, Robert Griffith.

In West Side Story, the Jets, led by Riff, and the Sharks, whose leader is Bernardo, get into minor but frequent scuffles over disputed neighborhood turf. Riff attempts to convince Tony, a former Jet, to rejoin the gang for an anticipated altercation with the Sharks at a school dance. Bernardo attends that same dance with his girlfriend, Anita, and his younger sister, Maria, who has recently arrived from Puerto Rico. For Maria and Tony, it is love at first sight, but considering the tensions between their rival groups, the couple has to conduct the relationship in secret. The gang members arrange to battle on the following night. Not wanting to see his friends or his girlfriend's brother injured, Tony attempts to stop the fight. However, in the ensuing melee, Bernardo accidentally kills Riff, and Tony, in a blind rage, stabs Bernardo. A contrite Tony is forgiven by Maria, who agrees to run away with him. Anita discovers their relationship and accuses Maria of disloyalty and foolishness; however, once she comes to understand the depth of their feelings for each other, she agrees to help the couple fee. However, before they are able to leave, Tony is shot by a Shark in retaliation for Bernardo's death. Devastated, Maria calls for an end to all the senseless violence.

...