West Side Story began as a Jewish-Catholic Romeo rewrite
Before Puerto Rican Sharks faced Polish-Irish Jets on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Jerome Robbins imagined East Side Story: Catholic Jets versus Jewish Emeralds around Easter and Passover. Shelved for nearly five years, the musical returned in 1955 after newspaper headlines about Chicano turf wars nudged the team toward Latin rhythm and mid-1950s gang rivalry.
Robbins first pitched Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents in 1949 on a contemporary Romeo and Juliet. Bernstein wanted opera; Robbins and Laurents preferred "lyric theater." Laurents drafted East Side Story, then realized it echoed tired Abie's Irish Rose themes. Robbins quit, and the project slept almost five years. In 1955, after Laurents met Stephen Sondheim through a shelved Serenade adaptation, Robbins pushed the trio back to the musical. Hollywood talk of juvenile gangs and Laurents's familiarity with Puerto Rican New York shifted the setting west and recast the lovers.
Bernstein focused on music and briefly invited Betty Comden and Adolph Green for lyrics; they chose Peter Pan instead. Oscar Hammerstein persuaded reluctant Sondheim to take lyrics only. Laurents cut Shakespearean parents and Rosaline, dropped Juliet's fake death, and invented slang such as "cut the frabba-jabba." "One Hand, One Heart" moved to the bridal shop so "Tonight" could fill the balcony; comic Officer Krupke relieved second-act tension. Material swapped with Candide: that duet once belonged to Cunegonde, and "Gee, Officer Krupke" music came from Candide's Venice scene.
By late spring 1957 every producer had refused the dark show; Cheryl Crawford withdrew after a failed backers' audition. Sondheim brought in Hal Prince, who ignored George Abbott's advice to decline. Robbins demanded eight weeks of dance rehearsal instead of four and hired Peter Gennaro. Larry Kert and Chita Rivera created Tony and Anita. The 1957 Broadway run lasted 732 performances, won two of six Tony nominations, and the 1961 film took ten Oscars including Best Picture. Spielberg's 2021 remake earned seven Oscar nominations and Supporting Actress.
Source: West Side Story
