Stephen sondheim musicals in order
West Side Story
by Rick Pender
The West Side Story creative team: lyricist Stephen Sondheim, book writer Arthur Laurents, co-producer Hal Prince, co-producer Robert Griffith, composer Leonard Bernstein, and diretor/choreographer Jerome Robbins.
WEST SIDE STORY was Stephen Sondheim’s first foray on a Broadway stage in He was just 27 when it opened. Already eager to start his Broadway career as a composer and a lyricist, he was convinced by his mentor Oscar Hammerstein to debut as the show’s lyricist, the junior member of a team comprised of three well known artists: composer Leonard Bernstein, director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, and playwright Arthur Laurents. Together they created an innovative musical transposing the framework and action of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to s New York City. Instead of feuding families, West Side Story’s star-crossed lovers, Tony and Maria, are connected to warring street gangs — the Jets (white teens) and the Sharks (Puerto Rican List songs west side story!