Phonograph record:West Side Story

Hot on the heels of his Broadway success with "Candide" (1956), Leonard Bernstein teamed up with writer Arthur Laurent, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, and choreographer Jerome Robbins to create an American masterpiece. Tackling tough social issues, "West Side Story" shattered conventional assumptions about successful musical theater. Borrowing the theme of star-crossed lovers from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," the team created a more topical drama about racial tensions and gang violence in New York City. The first act stunned audiences by ending with a murder set to Bernstein's dynamic score. A shot rang out, followed by sudden silence pierced by a wailing siren. Bernstein's jazzy music highlights the show's drama, pounding out the rhythms of passion, frustration, and rage. West Side Story opened on Broadway on September 26, 1957, to unanimously rave reviews. Three years later, the lavish movie version directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, and Russ Tamblin won an astounding 10 Academy Awards - a feat surpassed by only two other films in history. This 1960 soundtrack became the fifth-best-selling album of all time.