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West Side Story (Original Broadway Cast)
''West Side Story (Original Broadway Cast)'' is the 1957 recording of a Broadway production of the musical '' West Side Story''. Recorded 3 days after the show opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, the recording was released in October 1957 in both mono and stereo formats. In 1962, the album reached #5 on Billboard's Pop Album chart. It certified gold by the RIAA on January 12, 1962. The album was reissued in 1973 and made its first appearance on CD in 1986. A 1997 remastered edition was released coupled with an orchestral suite, '' Symphonic Dances from West Side Story'' recomposed and conducted by its original composer Leonard Bernstein and performed by the New York Philharmonic recorded at the Manhattan Center on March 6, 1961. The Stephen Sondheim Reference Guide. Accessed September 24, 2007. It was recorded at the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Broadway Theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of Broadway theaters, extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names. Many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also use the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional Theater (structure), theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End theatre, West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Something's Coming (song)
"Something's Coming" is a song from the 1957 musical ''West Side Story''. It was composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and is sung solo by the male lead character and tenor 'Tony'. The part of Tony was played by Larry Kert in the original Broadway production, Richard Beymer (voiced by Jimmy Bryant) in the 1961 film and Ansel Elgort in the 2021 film. Production In his work ''Leonard Bernstein'', Humphrey Burton explained: "When it was decided to add Tony’s first-act song "Something’s Coming," Bernstein and Sondheim raided the scene-setting page in Laurents's outline. "something’s coming," Laurents had written: "it may be around the corner, whistling down the river, twitching at the dance – who knows?" The lines were incorporated in the lyrics. "We raped Arthur’s play-writing," Bernstein said. "I’ve never seen anyone so encouraging, let alone generous, urging us, ‘Yes, take it, take it, make it a song.’"" Bernstein reported on the last ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin (November 24, 1934 – July 6, 2019) was an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director, and lyricist of the musical '' Annie.'' Life and career Charnin was born in New York City, the son of Birdie (Blakeman) and William Charnin, an opera singer. His family was Jewish. Charnin graduated from The High School of Music & Art and then from The Cooper Union, where he earned a BFA."Martin Charnin Biography". FilmReference.com, accessed July 11, 2012 Charnin began his theatrical career as a performer, appearing as "Big Deal", one of the Jets in the original production of '' West Side Story''. He played the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, and double bass * Woodwinds, such as the flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and occasional saxophone * Brass instruments, such as the French horn (commonly known as the "horn"), trumpet, trombone, cornet, and tuba, and sometimes euphonium * Percussion instruments, such as the timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, tam-tam and mallet percussion instruments Other instruments such as the piano, harpsichord, pipe organ, and celesta may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone as soloist instruments, as may the concert harp and, for performances of some modern compositions, electronic instruments, and guitars. A full-size Western orchestra may sometimes be called a or phil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Reri Grist
Reri Grist (born February 29, 1932) is an American coloratura soprano, one of the pioneer African-American singers to enjoy a major international career in opera. Life and career Reri Grist was born in New York City, grew up in the East River Housing Projects, attended the High School of Music & Art, majored in voice, and graduated with a BA in music from Queens College, City University of New York. In her early teens she performed on Broadway in small roles with Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, including Robert Ardrey's 1946 play '' Jeb''; and in musicals with Eartha Kitt while taking voice lessons with her teacher, Claire Gelda. Her first opera engagement was as Madame Herz in a concert performance of Mozart's ''Der Schauspieldirektor''. Her first staged "operatic" engagement was in 1956 as Cindy Lou (Micaela) in ''Carmen Jones'', Oscar Hammerstein's adaptation of Bizet's ''Carmen''. She was Consuelo in the original production of Leonard Bernstein's musical ''West Side Story'' in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
A Boy Like That
"A Boy Like That/I Have A Love" is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical ''West Side Story'', with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. In the musical, the song is sung by the characters Anita and Maria. For the original Broadway cast recording, the song was performed by Chita Rivera (Anita) and Carol Lawrence (Maria). In the 1961 film version the roles were played by Rita Moreno and Natalie Wood, but the songs were dubbed by Betty Wand and Marni Nixon (as both Anita and Maria). However, the repeat of the two stanzas, sung by Anita, along with Maria's counterpoint of her defense, was omitted because of the complexity of the song, as well as to avoid the repetition, which would have slowed down the pace of the film. In the 2021 film, the roles were played by Ariana DeBose and Rachel Zegler. In 2010, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Raúl Esparza performed the song at Broadway Backwards, an annual Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS showcase of show tunes sung by dif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Gee, Officer Krupke
"Gee, Officer Krupke" is a comedy number from the 1957 musical ''West Side Story''. The song was composed by Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) and Leonard Bernstein (music), and was featured in the Broadway musical and subsequent 1961 and 2021 films. Music The song is sung by members of the street gang the Jets, who poke fun at the gruff Police Sergeant Krupke by singing about the societal forces that led them to join a gang. Following a theme used throughout the musical, the song begins with a tritone on the word ''Dear'', held longer to signify its importance. Lyrically, the song features four seven-line verses, each filled with puns and wordplay. Each verse culminates with an interjection (e.g., "Golly Moses", "Leapin' lizards"), followed by the final line. The tune was originally composed for an unused song for the Venice scene in ''Candide'' where the lyrics, by John Latouche, ended with the line, "Where does it get you in the end?" Censorship The last line of the song (performed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Somewhere (song)
"Somewhere", sometimes referred to as "Somewhere (There's a Place for Us)" or simply "There's a Place for Us", is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical ''West Side Story'' that was made into films in 1961 and 2021. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. In a 1998 interview for a documentary on Bernstein, Sondheim expressed dissatisfaction with his lyrics for the song, going so far as to call them "embarrassing". He stated that he did not like the fact that in the opening line, the stressed note falls on the word "a" - in his view, the least significant word. In West Side Story Stage musical In the stage musical, the song appears in the second act of the show during the Somewhere Ballet. It is performed by an off-stage soprano singer and is later reprised by the entire company. In the original Broadway production, "Somewhere" was sung by Reri Grist who played the role of Consuelo. At the end of the show, when Tony is shot, Maria sings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
I Feel Pretty
"I Feel Pretty" is a song written by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein from the 1957 musical ''West Side Story''. Production ''The New York Times'' explained that "Mr. Sondheim…has said he was never particularly fond of his lyrics in 'West Side Story,' especially 'I Feel Pretty, later expressing that "The idea of the song is so simple". The original stage version of the lyrics was changed in the making of the 1961 movie version of ''West Side Story'' because of a change in the setting of the scene. While the scene took place at night in the original, it was during the day in the movie. Therefore, the lyric 'I feel pretty and witty and bright/And I pity/Any girl who isn't me tonight' changed to 'I feel pretty, and witty and gay/And I pity/Any girl who isn't me today'. The lyrics were changed back to their original form for the 2021 film version. The song was cut from the 2019 Broadway revival in order to streamline the plot and condense it to a 90-minute intermissionles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Tonight Quintet
The "Tonight Quintet" is a number from the musical ''West Side Story'' (1957), with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Carol J. Oja has written that, "with the 'Tonight' quintet, Bernstein once again created a masterpiece of ensemble, one that rivals the best of such moments in European opera." Her remark echoes the earlier view of Will Crutchfield. In his review of the 1984 studio performance of ''West Side Story'', which was conducted by Bernstein himself, Crutchfield wrote that the release of the recording "is above all an occasion for celebrating one of the great operas of our century. ... This idea is hotly resisted, but the best argument for it is here on the records in the music itself. I can see no reason why the 'Tonight' ensemble should not be compared to the quartet from ''Rigoletto''." Based on the duet between Maria and Tony earlier in the musical, "Tonight", the five parts of the quintet are sung by the Jets, the Sharks, Tony, Maria, and Ani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
One Hand, One Heart
"One Hand, One Heart" is a song from the musical ''West Side Story'' by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. It is a duet sung between Maria and Tony while they have a make-believe wedding, as seen in the stage version and 1961 film, while in the 2021 film, they sing it as they pledge their love to one another inside a church at The Cloisters as part of their date. Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence introduced it in the 1957 Broadway production. __TOC__ Analysis The tune was originally composed for an unused song in ''Candide'', called "One". The original tune comprised just a single dotted note per bar, which Sondheim was loath to write lyrics for, as he would have to write all single syllable words, so he wrote lyrics making fun of the tune to persuade Bernstein to give him the extra notes. Sondheim later wrote of the final product: Philip Brophy analysis the song's context within the musical: Notable recordings * Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence – for the album '' West Side ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Cool (West Side Story Song)
"Cool" is a song from the 1957 musical ''West Side Story''. Leonard Bernstein composed the music and Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics. This was the first song they wrote together, and Sondheim later recollects that Bernstein must have written the opening line ("Boy, boy, crazy boy") since he himself was not prone to writing melismatically. This song is known for its fugal treatment of a jazz figure, described by one writer as "possibly the most complex instrumental music heard on Broadway to date". In the 1957 musical, the song is performed by Riff as he advises the Jets to stay cool before entering the Rumble. This is however changed in the 1961 and 2021 film adaptations. Summary in the 1961 film In the aftermath of the rumble and Riff ( Russ Tamblyn)’s death, the Jets reconvene to hide from the police. When talk turns to taking the fight to the Sharks, Ice ( Tucker Smith) takes charge, warning them all to keep their grief and anger in check if they don’t want police atte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
