Unit 4 - Historical Context of Performance
Historical Context of West side story In 1949, dancer and choreographer Jerome Robbins suggested to composer Leonard Bernstein that they join forces on a modern musical version of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.The writer Arthur Laurents was called into work on the libretto. The stage version of West Side Story opened in previews/tryouts on August 20, 1957, in Washington D.C. Following this and another preview engagement in Philadelphia, the musical opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theater, September 26, 1957 . The original 1957 Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins and produced by Robert E. Griffith and Harold Prince , marked Sondheim's Broadway debut. It ran for 732 performances before going on tour. The play was influenced by Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet) is this huge divide between the Americans and Puerto-Ricans. that back in post-World War Two New York, mo
