The Broadway musical West Side Story first opened in 1957.
West Side Story premiered at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 26, 1957. The musical reimagines William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as a conflict between rival youth gangs in New York City, with the romance between Tony and Maria at its center.
The creative team included composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, book writer Arthur Laurents, and choreographer Jerome Robbins. Robbins’s choreography was especially important because the dancing carries dramatic meaning rather than serving merely as decoration.
The show was not an immediate commercial blockbuster, but it became one of the most influential American musicals. Its songs include “Tonight,” “Maria,” “Somewhere,” and “America.” The 1961 film adaptation won ten Academy Awards, helping make the musical familiar to audiences far beyond Broadway.