“West Side Story”
A Reason To Smile
With the Tony Awards happening on Sunday, we thought we’d turn to the Great White Way for inspiration for this week’s reason to smile.
When “West Side Story” premiered on Broadway, no one could have predicted its enduring popularity and cultural significance. Or maybe they could, since the production team was the best in the business.
Jerome Robbins conceived, directed, and choreographed the show, a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet.” Leonard Bernstein wrote the music with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, his Broadway debut. The book was by Arthur Laurents.
The musical was such a success with audiences that it was made into a movie just four years later. The 1961 film was an even bigger smash, winning ten Academy Awards, including a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Rita Moreno as Anita.
The soundtrack for the movie hit No. 1 on the album charts when it was released in May 1962 and stayed there for 54 weeks. It still holds the record for the most cumulative weeks at No 1.
Robbins’ innovative choreography, his incorporation of jazz, and use of dance as a central storytelling device are all evident in the song “America,” which features Moreno’s Anita.
The musical has been revived on Broadway multiple times, and the movie was remade 50 years after the original. Ariana DeBose won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar also for playing Anita. The 2021 version of “America” does a fantastic job of simultaneously paying homage to the original and modernizing it.
The song is as timely now as it was in 1957 — an exploration of the immigrant experience and the pursuit of the American Dream.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
Dan….thank you. Love it. Fond memories of seeing it on Broadway as a child, oh Anita, oh Maria, Oh Tony, Oh Officer Krupke, oh Sharks, Oh Jets. Sooooo good you all were. And so typical of life in the big city.
Not a huge fan of musicals but this is stunning! I remember the movie, as I lived nowhere near NYC. The music I can still hear in my head and not in a “brain worm” sort of way. What a great choice Mr Rather!