Timeline
Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein. Scene breakdown ca. 1949. Typescript with holograph annotations. Leonard Bernstein Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress (2) Used by permission of The Robbins Rights Trust.
6 January 1949
New York, NY
Jerome Robbins sets the West Side Story concept
in motion.
25 August 1955
Beverly Hills, CA
A meeting with Arthur Laurents produces another idea: two teen-age gangs as the warring factions, one of them newly-arrived Puerto Ricans, the other self-styled "Americans."
William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Boston Ginn and Co., 1940. Ed. by George Kittredge. Leonard Bernstein Collection, Music Division (1) By permission of The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc.
West Side Story creative team, 1957: (left to right) lyricist Steven Sondheim, author Arthur Laurents, co-producer Hal Prince, co-producer Robert Griffith (seated), composer Leonard Bernstein, and choreographer Jerome Robbins
14 November 1955
"A young lyricist named Stephen Sondheim came and sang us some of his songs today. What a talent! I think he's ideal for this project, as do we all. The collaboration grows."
-Leonard Bernstein
8 July 1957
Dance Rehearsal. Photos by Friedman-Abeles. Courtesy of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
New York, NY
Rehearsals begin.
The National Theatre in Washington D.C., 2008. Via Wikimedia Commons.
20 August 1957
Washington D.C.
West Side Story opens in Washington D.C.
West Side Story Playbill, 1958. Courtesy of the Playbill Vault.
26 September 1957
New York, NY
West Side Story opens on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre, runs for 732 performances.
1957
Original Broadway Cast Recording (Columbia CK 32603)
Tony Awards Dinner Program, 1958. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
13 April 1958
Tony Awards
Best Choreographer (Jerome Robbins)
Best Scenic Designer (Oliver Smith)
West Side Story movie poster, 1961.
18 OCTOBER 1961
United Artists motion picture released:
Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris
1961
Film Soundtrack Recording (Columbia OS 2070)