Leonard bernstein biography west side story

Musical by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents; premiered in 1957

This article is about the stage musical. For other uses, see West Side Story (disambiguation).

"Jet Song" redirects here.

For the song by Paul McCartney and Wings, see Jet (song).

West Side Story is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents.

Leonard bernstein biography west side story 1961 film

Inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, the story is set in the mid-1950s in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, then a multiracial, blue-collar neighborhood. The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.

The Sharks, who are recent migrants from Puerto Rico, and the Jets, who are white, vie for dominance of the neighborhood, and the police try to keep order.^[1] The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best fr