The Creation of West Side Story

This brave, brilliant musical tragedy, born into a world of musical comedy, took years to crystallize for its creators, then overcame daunting challenges just to get onstage. Famous buddies Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents were creating their Romeo and Juliet musical when Bernstein realized he was spreading himself too thin by also trying to write the lyrics. They tapped the unknown 25-year-old Stephen Sondheim, who completed the creative foursome with a soulfulness that would be rare in his body of work, and the bite that the daring project needed.

Handout to follow along with video