West Side Story was a landmark musical. When it premiered on Broadway in 1957, it showed how dancing, singing, acting, and design could merge into a single means of expression, a seamless unity. Whether it was completely new vision as a "concept musical," or the pinnacle of an already established tradition, it marked the most impressive body of choreography in a single show and was acclaimed as Leonard Bernstein's strongest work for the Broadway stage.
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The Making of West Side Story sparkles. It captures the strained atmosphere of auditions, the tortures of the tryouts, the disappointments and occasional triumphs. -- The Spires
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very helpful backstage story,
By
This review is from: Making of the Great Broadway Musical Mega-Hits: West Side Story (The Great Broadway Musicals) (Paperback)
As I was writing a term paper about Broadway musicals a few years ago, I found The Making of West Side Story very helpful to my research. The book tells about the creation of the idea by Jerome Robbins and the subsequent collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim. It tells of deep research into gang warfare, of grueling rehearsals with the oft-cold Robbins (in constrast to the gentler Bernstein), and of startled reactions to this unusual musical. It gives great insights into the motivations of the characters, the construction of the plot, and the choices of the lyrics and tunes. My only complaint is that this book gives no proper respect to the excellent movie version; it refuses to allow for the differences between the stage and the screen. (Note: I did see the 1979 Broadway revival, as well as high school productions, and have enjoyed the movie umpteen times.) Otherwise, The Making of West Side Story is highly recommended.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
inquiry into creative collaboration,
By Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Making of the Great Broadway Musical Mega-Hits: West Side Story (The Great Broadway Musicals) (Paperback)
This is an interesting account of how a team put together a provocative and innovative musical tragedy, bucking the trend of syrupy and simpler musicals for 1950s Broadway. Leonard Bernstein (for music), Stephen Sondheim (for lyrics) and Jerome Robbins (dance and direction) formed the nucleus, but there were also a playwrite, and other specialists and actors who all collaborated. The principals took a substantial risk in their budding careers and forged ahead confident of their inventiveness. The result is Broadway history, which opened the way to treating a myriad of other socially relevant subjects in later years. Though the music is what is remembered best now, it is truly a multi-media event that was pioneering in its time.I read this because I am writing teaching materials for business execs to study, as a case of effective, if unorthodox, management. That is only one of the many many levels n which it can be read. The author offers a wonderful panorama of the dance, music, and acting that was current - and changed by this musical tradegy - at the time. It appears that Garebian used only written sources to write this. As many of the participants were alive at least during the lat decade, this limits the account in unfortunate ways. But is it well written and a spur to read more elsewhere. If you are interested, I would recommend this. If not, go to the biographies of the participants. Nonetheless, it is a solid view into a unique collaboration.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very helpful backstage story,
By
This review is from: Making of the Great Broadway Musical Mega-Hits: West Side Story (The Great Broadway Musicals) (Paperback)
As I was writing a term paper about Broadway musicals a few years ago, I found The Making of West Side Story very helpful to my research. The book tells about the creation of the idea by Jerome Robbins and the subsequent collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim. It tells of deep research into gang warfare, of grueling rehearsals with the oft-cold Robbins (in constrast to the gentler Bernstein), and of startled reactions to this unusual musical. My only complaint about this book is that it gives no proper respect to the movie version; it refuses to allow for the differences between the stage and the screen. Otherwise, highly recommended.
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