WEST SIDE STORY: a MUSICAL/BROADWAY PLAY/ DJ /RARE 1958

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WEST SIDE STORY: a MUSICAL/BROADWAY PLAY/ DJ /RARE 1958 WEST SIDE STORY. A MUSICAL (BASED ON A CONCEPTION OF JEROME ROBBINS. BOOK BY ARTHUR LAURENTS. MUSIC BY LEONARD BERNSTEIN. LYRICS BY STEPHEN SONDHEIM. ENTIRE PRODUCTION DIRECTED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY JEROME ROBBINS. New York: Random House, 1958. First Edition, Fourth Printing. Very Scarce.A solid early printing of this rare First Edition of one of the great musicals of the mid-20th century. This book is the fourth printing, in the same year as the first printing. The book is in excellent condition with almost no wear. The Dust Jacket has wear and fading, and it is price-clipped on the upper corner of the front foldin; with the date 3/58 on the folding. Published more than 50 years ago, comparable copies of this book sell for between $100 and $200+. Such a nice copy is not likely to come up for sale again soon on ebay. From the Dust Jacket: "About the Authors. Arthur Laurents is the author of four produced plays, numerous radio scripts and several motion pictures, as well as the book of West Side Story. Mr. Laurents' previous plays are Home of the Brave, The Bird Cage, The Time of the Cuckoo (which became the mover Summertime) and A Clearing in the Woods. West Side Story is his first musical project. Leonard Bernstein wrote the scores, two ballets, incidental music for two Broadway plays, and the score for the film ON the Waterfront. Mr. Bernstein has worked with most of the world's major symphony orchestras. He was recently named conductor of the New York Philharmonic. West Side Story is the third Broadway musical to spring from an idea of Jerome Robbins, the others being On the Town and Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'! For West Side Story, he also contributed the choreography and directed the over all production. Mr. Robbins has staged shows for television, and also staged the Broadway hit, Bells are Ringing. He is co-editor of the new York City Ballet. Stephen Sondheim makes his debut as a Broadway lyricist with West Side Story. He has written television scripts, among them those for The Last Word, he also composed the background music for the play, Girls of Summer. Mr. Sondheim majored in music at Williams College, where he was awarded a Hutchinson Prize for further study."From the first act: "5:00 pm. The street. A suggestion of city streets and alleyways; a brick wall. The opening is musical: half-danced, half-mimed, with occasional phrases of dialogue. it is primarily a condensation of the growing rivalry between two teenage gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, each of which has its own prideful uniform. The boys--sideburned, long haired--are vital, restless, sardonic; The Sharks are Puerto Ricans, the jets an anthology of what is called American. The action begins with the Jets in possession of the area: owning, enjoying, living their "home." Their leader is Riff: glowing, driving, intelligent, slightly wacky..."According to wikipedia: " West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents , music by Leonard Bernstein , lyrics by Stephen Sondheim , and choreography by Jerome Robbins . The musical is an adaptation of William Shakespeare 's play Romeo and Juliet .Set in New York City in the mid-1950s, the musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The members of the Sharks from Puerto Rico are taunted by the Jets, a white working-class group. [1 ] The young protagonist, Tony, one of the Jets, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theatre . Bernstein's score for the musical has become extremely popular; it includes "Something's Coming", " Maria ", " America ", " Somewhere ", " Tonight ", "Jet Song", "I Feel Pretty", " A Boy Like That ", "One Hand, One Heart", "Gee, Officer Krupke" and " Cool ".The original 1957 Broadway production, directed and choreo... read more

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