Poster for the musical West Side Story, Saul and Elaine Bass, New York, 1961
Must Know
In 1947, choreograph Jerome Robbins approached playwriter Arthur Laurents and conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein with the idea of creating a musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, which would focus on the love story of a Catholic boy and a Jewish girl. The story would take place in Lower East Side in New York, and tensions between the two ethnic groups opposing the relationship, would culminate during the celebration of Pesach and Easter. The idea was, however, put aside until 1955, when Laurents and Bernstein decided to change the characters and the story of the musical to a rivalry between American-Polish gangs and Puerto Rican immigrants, and they also changed the scenery to Upper West Side in New York. In contrast to the original story of Romeo and Juliet, the play ends with the murder of Tony (main character) and the anger of Maria (the other main character) because of the violence and the rivalry. Laurents, Bernstein, Robbins and playwright Steven Sondheim were all Jews of Eastern European descent and the feeling of alienation as immigrants was something familiar to them. In 1957, the musical had premiere on the Broadway, and it ran for three years, however without success. In 1961, the musical was adapted to a successful movie starred by Natalie Wood, and it won ten Oscars. Following the success of the movie, many new adaptations were created in many countries, among others in Israel.
