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WEST SIDE STORY is indeed one of the greatest Broadway musicals. Rarely has it been better-sung than on the glittering 1957 original cast album, now reissued on the Columbia Broadway Masterworks label.

The young, vibrant cast was made up mostly of unknown actors, who all went on to make big names for themselves on the stage. The musical launched the career of triple-threat Chita Rivera, as the fiery Anita. Carol Lawrence (SARATOGA, SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING) played Maria whilst the role of Tony was essayed by a young Larry Kert (COMPANY, FOLLIES).

The Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim score is simply gorgeous and includes "Maria", "One Hand One Heart", "Somewhere" and "The Jet Song". Chita Rivera adds her brassy belt to the showstopping "America"; Carol Lawrence's clarion soprano is perfectly showcased in "I Feel Pretty"; Larry Kert is the picture of youthful longing in "Something's Coming". Equally thrilling is the energetic "Quintet", which is a major highlight of the colorful score.

Chita Rivera went on to star in the equally-successful London production, and went on to appear in both the Broadway and London companies of BYE BYE BIRDIE. Other lauded Broadway appearances came in BAJOUR and her Tony-winning roles in THE RINK and KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. As of this review's writing, she's winning a whole new generation of fans in the 2003 revival of Maury Yeston's NINE.

WEST SIDE STORY continues to be recognised as one of Broadway's landmark musicals. This new remastered edition of the peerless 1957 production is a must-have in every cast album collection.

Recorded just days after WEST SIDE STORY opened on Broadway this original cast disc is one of the best from the golden days of Goddard Lieberson at Columbia Records. He knew exactly how to translate a stage musical to records. The prologue needed more excitement so he added the sonds of the gang members and had the orchestra increase the tempo. Not every note would fit (the Lp was very long for its day: 57 minutes!) so some trims were made here and there but done with such skill that they are hardly noticed. On the other hand, the entire "Somewhere" Ballet is heard here. It was not used in the movie.

Some people prefer the movie soundtrack for its beefier orchestrations. It too is a very fine recording of the score. But this is the first, the original. The way WEST SIDE STORY sounded when it premiered.

Sony's reissue sounds sensational: crisp, and clear with every orchestral texture. The bonus tracks are a symphonic suite of dances that Bernstein extracted for concert performances.

Although I have to admit to having had,and still having a mad crush on Richard Beymer(Tony), The OBC of West Side Story is far and above the movie recording.(Yes, I do know that it was dubbed). Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence are magical as Maria and Tony, and the rest of the cast is super,especially Chita Rivera as Anita.Many times over the years,when there was a Broadway funs raiser for PBS , you could count on Larry Kert to sing "Maria" as beautifully as when it was first recorded and performed over forty years ago. West Side Story has to represent the best example for using the ORIGINAL PERFORMERS(Sorry Richard!)instead of big Hollywood names. Bravo Bravo Bravo!

Although the idea of a modern ROMEO AND JULIET, set as a conflict between two gangs, one American and one Puerto Rican, is itself inspired, it is really Leonard Bernstein's score, enhanced by young Stephen Sondheim's lyrics, that makes WEST SIDE STORY special. In his excellent liner notes, Ken Mendelbaum suggests that the original 1957 cast of WEST SIDE STORY will never be surpassed, and listening to the original cast recording I am tempted to agree. What makes these singer-actors so ideal is the fact that their youthful vitality goes with voices that do full justice to Bernstein's brilliantly integrated and complex score, which, though sometimes "jazzy," is classically based and often operatic (the conflict in the score between jazz and opera represents the conflict in the story between violence and love). Larry Kert as Tony, for example, has a boyish yet wide-ranging tenor that deals effortlessly with the tricky rhythms of "Something's Coming" and the long lines of "Maria" (what a beautiful pianissimo at the close of this song!), "Tonight" (ditto), and the Bellini-esque "One Hand, One Heart." His sound is complemented by the perfect purity of Carol Lawrence's (Maria) soprano. As the been-around Anita, Chita Rivera (who became a star with this role) makes a strong impression in "(I Like to Be in) America" and "A Boy Like That," which is set against Maria's "aria," "I Have a Love," with potent results. Not only are the two "fight scenes" electrifying to hear, but the entire recording has a theatrical energy typical of all the cast albums produced for Columbia by Goddard Lieberson (GYPSY, starring Ethel Merman, is another that I'd highly recommend). And it is wonderful to have, as bonus tracks, Bernstein's own symphonic suite based on the show's dance music. This CD is a priority for any musical theatre-lover.

This recording is as jolting, energetic, electric, beautiful, and
moving as the original Broadway production it records undoubtedly was. The orchestrations - partially by bernstein himself - are nervy, edgy, jazzy, and exciting one minute, and serenely lovely the next doing wonderful justice to one of the great musical scores written for Broadway. The lyrics - the first Stephen Sondheim wrote that made it to Broadway - may have flaws, but contain seeds of the emotion and wit that would come to the forefront of his later works. And can anyone ever top this cast?
Will anybody ever sing "Maria," "Tonight," and especially "Something's Coming" with the honest emotion and clear, pure voice of Larry Kert? And although it's often difficult to understand what she's saying, will anyone have quite as beautiful a voice or be, in some way, quite as touching as Carol Lawrence as Maria? Will anyone ever sing "America" with as much vivaciousness and comic timing and "A Boy Like That" with as much power as Chita Rivera did when she played Anita, the role that made her a star? Will there ever be a group of Jets and Sharks who are as good at mixing boyish innocence with hardened toughness? It's also very interesting to hear the stage versions of "America," "Somewhere," and "A Boy Like That/I Have A Love" and note the stage placements of "Cool," "Gee, Officer Krupke" and "I Feel Pretty" and compare them with the versions and placements in the movie version. GET THIS!!!! YOu may love the movie already, but you just might find yourself loving this even more.

I was born six years after West Side Story premiered on Broadway, and I have only seen the movie version, so for me this CD is the next best thing to building a time machine to see the original stage production of the Jerome Robbins/Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim modern take on Romeo and Juliet.

While an original cast recording is no substitute for having seen West Side Story on the New York stage, hearing the cast (which included Larry Kert, Chita Rivera, and Carol Lawrence) gives 21st Century listeners an aural glimpse into the brilliance of composer Bernstein and lyricist Sondheim's musical constructs.

While I love the "standards" associated with West Side Story (Tonight, Maria, Somewhere), my favorite songs are Something's Coming, which reflects Tony's optimistic outlook as he looks to the future rather than to his past as a member of the Jets. The complicated quintet "Tonight" expresses the conflicting dreams and desires of the major characters and mixes the romantic aspects of the two pairs of lovers (Tony and Maria; Anita and Bernardo) as well as the hostility between the "American" Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks.

My favorite song, Gee Officer Krupke, is a sardonic ode to the cluelessness of adults as seen through the cynical eyes of teenage gang members. I remember this song vividly because when I was a member of the glee club at South Miami High, Gee Officer Krupke was in our repertoire for the first concert I performed in. Its wry humor never failed to make us laugh while we were learning it, and afterwards I wanted to hear the entire playlist from West Side Story.

Leonard Bernstein, more than any other 20th Century composer, bridged the somewhat artificial gap between "popular" and "classical" music. To wit: the transition from the Broadway show music (tracks 1-16) on this CD to the Symphonic Dances performed by the New York Philharmonic (tracks 17-25) is seamless. Columbia is to be congratulated on this inspired coupling.

Stephen Sondheim's lyrics--especially the insightful "America" and "Officer Krupke"--are brilliant. Perhaps surprisingly for social commentary of this nature, they have worn extremely well with time; they are just as apt now--not to mention downright funny--as they were back in the '50s.

In summary, this album is everything that good music should be, regardless of the category you may choose to place it in.

"West Side Story" was the very first Broadway musical I ever saw. I was an impressionable teen-ager...and what an indelible impression this show made on me. After seeing the show, I bought the vinyl album of the original cast recording. My treasured album traveled along with me through all the moves and significant changes I have made in my life. It was played so often and stored away for so long,(when turntables became obsolete), that it became warped and unplayable and, alas, had to be discarded.

I am thrilled to own this CD of the original cast recording of "West Side Story". The music and lyrics are committed to my memory and when I play it, I can still visualize the brilliant actors, the dream-like sets, the amazing costumes and that glorious choreography. As cast member Martin Charmin remarks in the liner notes...this show was "special". Leonard Bernstein's music and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics chronicle so well the raw emotions of real life...love, longing, heartache, fear, hate and compassion.

If you love the music of "West Side Story", even if it is because of your recollection of the film version, I urge you to buy this CD. Its divinely powerful and exciting orchestration and lyrics are sheer perfection. The symphonic bonus tracks by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Bernstein are a marvelous addition and finally, as part of your music library, you must have a permanent record of the late Larry Kert's gorgeous voice singing "Maria", "Tonight", "Something's Coming" and "One Hand, Heart". This CD is a gem....it truly is "special".

A combination of two of the most talented composers of the modern era (if not THE best modern composers), West Side Story could not have gone wrong. It hit Broadway and people scratched their heads, not sure of the proper reaction. Luckilly it was adapted as a movie, and will live on forever in that media form.

Compared to the movie though, the Original Cast is far superior, singing, acting, and dancing. A must have.

The music of West Side Story is so innovative that a story that could have been made very corny and heavy handed just is not not not. That said, the movie version of West Side Story at times definately borders on corniness. For me, one of the main things this recording has over the movie is the two leads' voices.
Richard Beymer, the movie Tony (that's him singing, isn't it?) has a lovely voice, but compared with Larry Kert, his performances come across as unimaginative. Larry Kert has a more raw, less accurate voice that makes me feel faint at times, like when it just explodes with the words "Maria, I've just met a girl named Maria" and you see that he has found something he loves with the same violence and passion with which he must have once loved being a Jet...Carol Lawrence's sings with a delicate, ethereal quality that I think matches perfectly with his voice. The straightforward, traditional-ish singing in the movie highlights the fact that the lyrics of the lovesongs are not the most clever. But here the leads' voices lift them up and make them magical, fairy-tale like.
Just in general...the Tonight Quintet has got to be one of the saddest songs I've ever heard.. hearing the Jets and Sharks singing about tearing each other apart while Maria and Tony are naively singing "tonight, tonight, I'll see my love tonight" god, I'm crying just thinking about it..