West Side Story is a musical based

West Side Story is a musical based on William Shakespeare's tragic love story, 'Romeo and Juliet'. It is set in the early 1950s, when gang warfare in big cities led to injuries and even death. West Side Story transformed the Montagues and Capulets of Shakespeare’s play into rival street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The Sharks were newly arrived Puerto Ricans, the Jets nativeborn New Yorker. The plot tells the story of Maria, a Puerto Rican whose brother Bernardo os the leader of the Sharks, and of Tony, a member of the Jets. As the opposing gangs battle in the streets of New York, these two fall in love. While attempting to stop a street fight, Tony inadvertently killsMaria’s brother Bernardo and is ultimately killed himself.
West Side Story featured the talents of a trio of theatrical legends. Leonard Bernstein, who composed the brilliant score, was a classical composer and the conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Stephen Sondheim, making his Broadway debut, relvealed a remarkable talen for writing lyrics. Among the hit songs of the play are “Tonight”, “Maria”, “America”,”Gee Officer Krupke,” and “ I feel pretty”. Jerome Robbins’electrifying choreography broke now ground for musical theatre in the 1950s. Before West Side Story, no one thought that dance could be as integral to a narrative as the mumic and the lyrics. But the dances in West Side Story are among the most thrilling elements of the play.
The play opened on Sep 26,1957. It ran for 734 perfomances, toured for ten months, and then returned to New York for an additional 246 perfomances. The classic motion picture staring Natalie Wood was released in 1961. It garnered ten Academy Awards, including ones for the Best Picture and Best Director. The play was successfully revived in New York in 1980 and then again in 1995, almost forty years after its premier performance.