West Side Story is a tour de force of American music; its popularity is evergreen. Arguably Bernstein’s greatest work, it has taken its place as a masterpiece, not only in the context of Broadway musicals, but also as an icon in the larger musical life of the nation. But, its genesis was not spontaneous. The composer drew upon his successful experience in writing for the stage, as well as his deep engagement with the inspiring nature of New York City—a feeling for the place that only a native could have. While he astonished all with his amazing talents in almost every musical endeavor—he shirked at nothing—it is in musical theatre that he seemed naturally to flourish. He simply understood the genre and its demands.
He had plunged in early, writing for student productions at Harvard, and working with a cabaret group (that included Judy Holiday) while at student at the Curtis Institute. At the age of twenty-six his ballet Fancy Free was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera and On the Town opened on Broadway. Wonderful Town, Peter Pan, Facsimile, Candide, and, of course, West Side Story, followed in succession. Later works, like his still-controversial multimedia theatre piece, Mass (1971), and the unsuccessful musical, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, some critics point to as evidence of a weakening sense of his audience and times. But his masterpiece is clearly West Side Story, and has stood the test of time as a document of the Big Apple in the fifties.
It’s a masterful blend of pop sociology, bebop and Latin jazz, and a fantastic integration of dance. Bernstein had “big” ears for the jazz idiom—and came up with a score that rather better makes the case for “symphonic jazz” than did ever Gershwin or Copland. He simply had an innate feel for dance and for jazz rhythms and harmonies to which few “legit” composers could ever aspire. The “Symphonic Dances” were gleaned from the score of the musical in 1960 by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, who had collaborated on the orchestration of the original show, working from Bernstein’s piano sketches. They were masters at their craft, and the score of the whole musical reflects it. In the suite one will hear the soaring “Somewhere,” a mambo and a cha-cha, the ultra cool “Cool,” and the gripping “Rumble” music, as this synopsis of a time-shifted Romeo and Juliet reaches its inexorable tragic conclusion.
–Wm. E. Runyan
© 2026 William E. Runyan