"West Side Story" is one of the great films of all time. Premiering on October 18, 1961 at the Rivoli Theater in NewYork, it celebrates the 50th anniversary of its film debut this year. To mark the occasion, a special Blu-Ray edition of the film was recently released. Earlier this year, "West Side Story" was voted one of the top five favorite musical films of all time on an ABC-TV special entitled "Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time."

This article commemorates the 50th anniversary of the motion picture version of "West Side Story," providing background about the original conception of the Broadway stage musical. It then traces the creation of the motion picture version and outlines activities that focus on the "West Side Story" music and libretto that can be utilized with both vocal and instrumental music students.

The film version of "West Side Story" garnered 1 1 Academy Award nominations, winning 10. While the original 1957 Broadway musical was, in retrospect, innovative, some reviewers believe it may have been ahead of its time. A musical about gangs was very different from the typical musical comedies of the same era; by the end of Act I, two main characters are dead; another main character dies by the end of Act II. This was quite different from themes and characters found in the traditional musical comedy. Scott Miller, author of "From Assassins' to *West Side Story': The Director's Guide to Musical Theatre," observed that, "'West Side Story' is the American musical theatre's only great tragedy, a story in which a happy ending is not possible, a musical about hatred and prejudice, a musical that says that love cannot triumph over all. It is also a perfect blend of the many disciplines that make musical theatre. More than in most musicals, the book, music, lyrics, and staging come together as a perfectly unified whole, speaking with one voice."

Background: The Stage and Screen Versions

The four creators of "West Side Story" were Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim. "West Side Story" was originally conceived as "East Side Story" in 1949, and it was to be a conflict between Jewish and Catholic families. Instead, the creators decided to capitalize on the huge Puerto Rican immigration of the 1950s. The Sharks represent the Puerto Rican immigrant gang while the Jets were the New York gang, forming the main conflict in the musical. The conflict is increased when the New York character of Tony falls in love with a Puerto Rican woman, Maria.

The concept for "West Side Story" was to stage Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" as a ballet, an idea that legendary choreographer Jerome Robbins came up with in 1947. Robbins had worked with Leonard Bernstein on the musical "Wonderful Town" and thought Bernstein, Sondheim, and Laurent would be ideal for the music and libretto of the Romeo and Juliet musical. Bernstein, Robbins, and Laurents discussed this musical treatment between 1949 and 1955, yet the project remained on the back burner for several years.

On August 25, 1955, Bernstein and Laurents crossed paths. They discussed how they regretted that nothing had come of the Romeo project. They talked about gang wars between Chícanos and Caucasians in the Los Angeles area. Laurents was not comfortable with a city and people not part of his consciousness and suggested Manhattan, and the tension between Puerto Ricans and whites as the main theme.

Laurents was set as librettist but Bernstein was so occupied with conducting in New York and guest conducting elsewhere that he preferred to share the workload. Laurents saw Stephen Sondheim at a party and brought up the Romeo project. Sondheim wanted to be involved, yet he wanted to create both music and lyrics and was reluctant to accept the position as lyricist. Oscar Hammerstein, II, Sondheim's mentor, believed that Sondheim should not pass up the opportunity to work with Bernstein and Robbins.

The Laurents libretto was atypically brief compared to other musical libretti because so much of the story was told through dance and songs. All the main characters of "West Side Story" derived from Romeo and Juliet characters.

Miller maintains that, "The drama and power of "West Side Story" lies as firmly in the choreography as in the words and music. Though Bernstein's music, Sondheim's lyrics, and Laurents' dialogue are laid out carefully for anyone producing the show, Jerome Robbins' choreography is not."

Originally called "Gangway!," the title "West Side Story" was reinstated prior to the out-of-town tryout in Washington, D. C. staged on August 19, 1957. A Philadelphia tryout followed, and then the Broadway run began on September 26, 1957.

Seven Arts Productions was the leading contender for film rights of "West Side Story," which they bought for $350,000 in July of 1958. The Mirish Company, comprised of four brothers, entered the scene to produce the film. They were instrumental in getting Jerome Robbins, choreographer of the original Broadway stage production, as director. Because he had little film experience having only choreographed the 1956 musical film "The King and I," they secured Robert Wise as a co-director. Wise had never directed a musical but was a big fan of them. He commissioned Ernest Lehman to adapt the show to the silver screen.

Lehman was famous for his screenplays, including Executive Suite, Sabrina, "The King and I," and "North by Northwest before" "West Side Story." He would later go on to write such blockbusters as "The Prize," "The Sound of Music," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," and "Hello, Dolly!"

For the film, the "Prologue" was filmed on location in Manhattan from 61st to 68th Street. Abandoned housing was located in this area in anticipation of the construction of Lincoln Center. A playground was used at 110th Street between Second and Third Avenues. Parts of Maria were also filmed on location. The rest of the film was shot on sets within seven soundstages at the Samuel Goldwin Studios in West Hollywood. The production company used the majority of the studio space from September 1960 until the film's completion in 1961. The opening of the film used aerial shots using bird-eyed views capturing New York City landmarks such as the Empire State Building, the United Nations, Columbia University, and Yankee Stadium. Robbins put shooting so behind because of his perfectionism and desire for multiple takes that he was released from his directorial duties in late October of 1960. Co-director Robert Wise invited Robbins to view footage done in his absence so that he could still provide feedback. They must have done something right; Miller explained that: "It wasn't until the release of the 1961 film version that the ['West Side Story'] finally captured the hearts of the public."

The Musical Score

Leonard Bernstein composed and conducted classical music, as well as musicals and operas. Bernstein not only composed the music for "West Side Story" (and lyrics, although unaudited) but also for the musicals "On the Town," "Wonderful Town," and "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue." He also composed the operas "Trouble in Tahiti," "Candide," and "A Quiet Place." Stephen Sondheim has been a prolific contributor to Broadway for numerous musicals as both composer and lyricist. Some of his most famous musicals include "Gypsy," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Anyone Can Whistle," "Do I Hear a Waltz?" (with Richard Rodgers), "Company," "Follies," "A Little Night Music," "Sweeney Todd," "Sunday in the Park with George," "Into the Woods," "Assassins," and "Passion."

What makes "West Side Story" so phenomenal? Many have argued that the songs in the jazz-influenced score are its strength. Most of the songs from "West Side Story" are considered standards and familiar to so many universally. Some of the most recognizable songs of any musical are found in the "West Side Story" score: "The Jet Song," "Something's Coming," "Maria," "I Have a Love," "One Hand, One Heart," "Somewhere," "Quintet," "Cool," "Gee, Officer Krupke," "A Boy Like That," and "I Feel Pretty." Certainly, the musical score greatly contributed to its status. Miller believes that: "Bernstein's music is heavily jazz inspired and, here and there, borderline rock."

An interesting fact about the film "West Side Story" is that several of the principal actors had their singing parts dubbed by professional singers, at the insistence of associate producer Saul Chaplin. Natalie Wood prerecorded the songs sung by Maria, yet in the final film, famous ghost singer Marni Nixon looped in the singing voice of Maria. Interestingly, Nixon also dubbed Rita Moreno's vocals in the song "Quintet." Betty Wand did the singing for Anita for the song "A Boy Like That" because of the very low register to very high range required by the song. Jim Bryant dubbed Richard Beymer's singing, and Russ Tamblyn's lead vocal in "The Jet Song" was done by Tucker Smith (who played "Ice" in the film). Nixon is also famous for doing the singing for Deborah Kerr in the 1956 movie musical "The King and I" and for Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 movie musical "My Fair Lady."

The "West Side Story" soundtrack was the best-selling U.S. album of the 1960s. It spent 54 weeks at #1 on Billboard's album charts and won a Grammy Award for "Best Sound Track Album Original Cast." Monush observed that the music of "West Side Story" appealed to both adults and teens. The soundtrack also created newfound interest in the Broadway cast album, which also leapt in sales and returned to the Billboard charts. Monush maintains that the "West Side Story" soundtrack held the number 1 position "longer than any other soundtrack album or album of any kind in recording history."

Score and Libretto Activities

The jazz-style music of "West Side Story" can undoubtedly enhance the vocal and instrumental music curriculum. A number of interesting activities are possible that treat the "West Side Story" score and libretto outlined below.

* Keeping score: Students listen carefully to the background score. Students identify what melodies they hear in the background score that Irwin Kostal and Sid Ramin so carefully utilized in various scenes in the film version (see Miller 1996 for further discussion).

* Identify the tune!: Using the film's overture and the closing title music, students identify the melodies they hear from the "West Side Story" score.

* Who's Really Singing?: Besides using ghost singers in "West Side Story," a number of musicals used the same approach. Students could investigate to see who really sang for the actors and actresses. A relevant tie-in is the MGM movie musical Singin' in the Rain, all about the emergence of talky films in the late 1920s, and the need for voice doubles for non-singing actors.

* Act it out!: Working with the Laurents libretto (script), students act out select scenes.

* Hit it!: Students perform "West Side Story" songs with piano or other accompaniment or a cappella or instrumental versions.

* And now for our feature presentation: Students view the film in class or at a special screening.

* Now on stage: Students see a stage production of the show.

* Write it down: Students write about their favorite song from "West Side Story" or some other aspect of the show or score.

* Rapping: Students discuss the show's score in cooperative groups. Each group could analyze a different song or compare different versions of the same song.

* Musical Analysis: Using Scott Miller's analysis of "West Side Story," teachers can help walk students through the music of "West Side Story." For example, Bernstein used many minor chords and the lowered third and seventh scale degrees, common to jazz and blues music. He also used "hemiola," setting a duple time melody against a triple time accompaniment, or three against four, etc. Bernstein also based his entire score on the tritone (the musical interval of a raised fourth). Bernstein, "to great advantage" according to Miller, uses the use of this dissonance that often indicates danger or evil. The tritone is used in almost every song of the "West Side Story" score, but especially in songs that reflect Tony and Maria's romance ("Maria," "Somewhere").

* Vocal versus Instrumental: In "West Side Story," in addition to the songs with lyrics, much instrumental music is used and could be analyzed by students. Thus, both vocal and instrumental music teachers and students can analyze the score.

* "Tonight" and Balcony Scene: "Tonight" is staged on a fire escape in "West Side Story." In "Romeo and Juliet," a balcony is used. Students could undertake a comparison of these two key scenes.

* "America": Students could investigate the Puerto Rican immigration wave in 1950s United States and analyze aspects of Puerto Rican culture, music, and dance.

* "Quintet": Students could analyze the "Quintet" song involving the Jets, the Sharks, Tony, Maria, and Anita. How does this song fulfill the role of a turning point in the story?

* Compare and Contrast: Students could compare various recordings of the "West Side Story" score, especially the Broadway cast, London cast, film soundtrack, the 1985 Bernstein studio recording, and The Songs of "West Side Story" recorded by popular recording artists such as Selena, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin, and Little Richard. Specific songs could be assigned to individuals or groups. Students could consider the key signature (are any songs in a different key?) and orchestration (is it similar or different? How so?) A few songs in the stage version are positioned differently in the film. Why was this done?

Conclusion

"West Side Story" is both one of the most popular movie musicals of all time and one of the most popular stage musicals in history. The stage and screen versions deserve attention within the music curriculum, especially in terms of the musical score.

Author affiliation:

Keith Mason, Ph.D. teaches world languages at New Providence High School in New Providence, New Jersey. Dr. Mason received eight Rising Star Awards for educational impact from the Paper Mill Playhouse for integrating his school's musicals into the high school curriculum. He has authored several articles about using musicals in the interdisciplinary curriculum.