Leonard Bernstein, the show’s composer, and Jerome Robbins, its choreographer and director, had been collaborators since their very first Broadway show, On the Town of 1944. Bernstein wanted to present the material in operatic form, but Robbins and Laurents resisted the suggestion. And then we had the really tough problem of casting it, because the characters had to be able not only to sing but dance and act and be taken for teenagers. It was staged by Gerald Freedman with choreography re-mounted by Tom Abbott. [71][72] In 1961, a tour of Israel, Africa and the Near East was mounted. The production transferred to London's West End opening at the Prince Edward Theatre in October 1998, transferring to the Prince of Wales Theatre where it closed in January 2000. Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story is based on and built around music's most unsettling interval, the ‘Devil's Interval’. 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. Few composers capture their time and become the iconic voice of their age. [32] Robbins won the Tony Award for Best Choreographer, and Oliver Smith won the Tony for Best Scenic Designer. They dance together, forgetting the tension in the room, and fall in love, but Bernardo pulls his sister from Tony and sends her home. The Jets' leader, Riff, suggests setting up a rumble with the Sharks. In 1961, Bernstein prepared a suite of orchestral music from the show, titled Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Peace and quiet and open air Wait for us, somewhere. The members of the Sharks, from Puerto Rico, are taunted by the Jets, a white gang. The rhapsodic avowals of "Romeo and Juliet" are full of beauty and desperation, and the equivalent situation in "West Side Story" is much the same. [5] Eager to write his first musical, Laurents immediately agreed. The cast featured Matt Cavenaugh as Tony, Josefina Scaglione as Maria, and Karen Olivo as Anita. The production continued for over a year. [citation needed] From 1982–1984 a tour of South America, Israel and Europe was mounted with talent from New York with direction and choreography by Jay Norman and Lee Theodore, veterans of the original Broadway cast. As teacher and performer, he played an active role with the Tanglewood Festival from its founding in 1940 till his death, as well as with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute and Pacific Music Festival (both of which he helped found) and the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival. Laurents ultimately invented what sounded like real street talk but actually was not: "cut the frabba-jabba", for example. Fans of "West Side Story" are troubled by the recently announced Steven Spielberg/Tony Kushner adaptation. [100][101], The television show Curb Your Enthusiasm extensively referenced West Side Story in the 2009 season seven episode "Officer Krupke". It was staged at the outdoor plaza of Hong Kong Cultural Centre. As in Romeo and Juliet, the love between members of two rival groups in West Side Story leads to violent confrontations "and a tragic ending with an underlying message: Violence breeds violence, so make peace and learn to share turf. Tony kills Bernardo in a fit of rage, which in turn provokes an all-out fight like the fight in the Prologue. The 1957 musical West Side Story was a collaboration among composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, and choreographer Jerome Robbins. The items on display provide a rare window into this complex process. Somewhere, Somewhere . The girl has survived the Holocaust and emigrated from Israel; the conflict was to be centered around anti-Semitism of the Catholic "Jets" towards the Jewish "Emeralds" (a name that made its way into the script as a reference). Sondheim did not care for Laurents' opinion. West Side Story is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The Sharks arrive to discuss weapons to use in the rumble. The Jets get antsy while waiting for the Sharks inside Doc's drugstore. ROLE OF COMPOSERS/PERFORMERS He challenged the very idea of music by manipulating musical instruments to achieve new sounds. Rita Moreno (Anita) was the first Latina actress ever to win an Oscar. Robbins directed and choreographed, and it was co-choreographed by Peter Gennaro, with scenery by Oliver Smith. [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.
Sog Knives Pentagon, Fixed Blade, According To Rosaria, Who Was The Evil Eye Put On?, Grapefruit Seed Extract Testimonials, Art Of War 3 Cheat Codes For Android, How To Say Banana And Rice In Somali, Foil Printing Machine, Fungi In The Desert, Adverb Of Awe, Moonlight Resonance 3,