West Side Story Tickets

West Side Story is not the first Broadway musical to try and recreate the American experience for the stage, but it is certainly the best known and most respected. The Jets and Sharks and the street-light crossed lovers Tony and Maria have taken the Broadway stage every few years since the 1957 debut, each time with a director and writers recreating the dramatic and magical experience that have made this show a staple on film and on community and high school stages throughout the country. West Side Story tickets for these professional productions are certainly, with no fault to the local theater enthusiasts and high school drama clubs, of a higher caliber and a must see, whether on another Broadway stage or on a national tour.

All this came from the inspiration to write a contemporary take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by Jerome Robbins. Robbins was a director, so he reached to writers and composers to develop the story. Initially, West Side Story was going to be a decidedly different take on conflict in the lower East Side of Manhattan. At first, it was to be a clash between Irish-American and Jewish families during the Easter and Passover. The concept was being developed in the 1950s, so the religious conflict still held true as a contemporary clash. However, eventually the story moved from the east side to the west side and replaced religion with race as the defining issue. Juvenile delinquents replaced the hierarchy of the family and soon all Arthur Laurents had to do was create a stage-appropriate language that sounded like the rough language of the streets.

The dialogue in place and the incredible score created by composer Leonard Bernstein and lyricist Stephen Sondheim ready to go, West Side Story simply had to wait for the writers, composer, and director to finish their time on other Broadway shows before finally debuting this thought to be impossible project at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1957, eight years after Robbins had the thought first pop into his head. The genius of the creative team was not alone responsible for the production. So was the timing. Producer Harold Prince met with doubters over the pop sound of the score and the violence on stage, but a year of gang violence between young gangs had created an interest in the culture of this violence and ultimately made this musical a reality and a success. Now it is unthinkable to suggest West Side Story tickets could have ever failed to be sold.