West Side Story [Original Broadway Cast Recordimg] [B&N Exclusive]

by West Side Story [Original Broadway Cast Recording] [B&n Exclusive]

Overview

Classical composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein periodically had tried his hand at writing Broadway musicals, starting with On the Town (1944) and continuing with Wonderful Town, (1953), not to mention, less than a year earlier, Candide, a musically magnificent, dramatically unsuccessful effort. But none of these was as ambitious as West Side Story, a score that is infused with Bernstein's classical sensibility, even as it deliberately draws in influences from jazz and Latin music. A contemporary retelling of Romeo & Juliet set among New York street gangs, the show combines refined and vulgar elements, and Bernstein's music revels in the contrasts, veering from the hymn-like themes he provides for the lovers' ballads (they may be Italians on one side and Puerto Ricans on the other, but they're probably all Catholics, so the religious influence is something they have in common) to the jarring rhythms that accompany the continual "rumbles" of the gangs. Newcomer lyricist Stephen Sondheim traces the same contrast in his words. For the Romeo character, here called Tony, the mere name of his Juliet, here called Maria, has religious significance: "Say it loud and there's music playing," he sings in a song called "Maria," "Say it soft and it's almost like praying." In this song, as in their duets "Tonight" and "One Hand, One Heart," Tony and Maria are not just idealistic, but idealized, and Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence embody them well. On the other hand, Sondheim fills the language of their friends with a rough slang that sometimes alludes to common obscenity (e.g., "when the spit hits the fan") and sometimes pushes the limits of language allowable on a Broadway stage in the '50s ("bastard," "S.O.B."). When they're not cursing, these characters engage in biting criticism and sarcasm. "America," a song of dueling Puerto Rican girls, one who wants to go home and one who wants to stay in Manhattan (the fiery Anita, ably played by Chita Rivera), and "Gee, Officer Krupke!," a gang's taunting of a police officer, are not just typical comic songs in a Broadway musical. They are savagely witty, marking the introduction of a lyricist on a par with Lorenz Hart or Cole Porter, at the very least. That said, however, this isn't really a lyric-oriented show, or even a character-oriented one, oddly enough. It is notable that the album cover says, "West Side Story (based on a conception of Jerome Robbins)," not "based on a play by William Shakespeare." Robbins, the show's director/choreographer, has conceived it as a dance show, and there are extended instrumental passages on this album during which the stage actors would be dancing, although one only hears them shouting occasionally and snapping their fingers. Powerful as Bernstein's music is, and clever as Sondheim's lyrics are, West Side Story is largely about dancing, which means that only a portion of it can be appreciated on disc. That is enough, however, to mark it as a landmark among Broadway cast albums as well as Broadway musicals. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/04/2020
Label:	Barnes Noble Consign
UPC:	0194397617917
Rank:	8666

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Carol Lawrence   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
The Jets   Primary Artist
Mickey Calin   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Elizabeth Taylor   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
David Winters   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Carmen Gutierrez   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Larry Kert   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Tony Mordente   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Hank Brunjes   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Chita Rivera   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Shark Girls   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
The Sharks   Primary Artist
Reri Grist   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
New York Philharmonic   Primary Artist,Ensemble,Orchestra
Grover Dale   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Marilyn Cooper   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
The Orchestra   Primary Artist
Eddie Roll   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Leonard Bernstein   Primary Artist,Conductor,Orchestra
Ensemble   Primary Artist
West Side Story Cast Ensemble   Primary Artist,Choir/Chorus
Sid Ramin   Orchestra
Martin Charnin   Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Frank Green   Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Max Goberman   Director,Conductor,Music Direction,Musical Director,Musical Direction
Ronnie Lee   Vocals,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Frank Greene   Vocals
Art Smith   Vocals
Irwin Kostal   Orchestra
Arch Johnson   Vocals
Jamie Sanchez   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Ken Le Roy   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Lynn Ross   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Tommy Abbott   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Jerome Robbins   Director
Mickey Doling   Vocals
Erne Castaldo   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Gene Gavin   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Carole d'Andrea   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
William Bramley   Vocals
Al de Sio   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Marilyn d'Honau   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Julie Oser   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Lee Becker   Vocals
Liane Plane   Vocals,Lead Vocals
West Side Story Orchestra   Orchestra
West Side Story Pit Orchestra   Orchestra
John Harkins   Vocals
Lowell Harris   Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Wilma Curley   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Nanette Rosen   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
George Marcy   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Jay Norman   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Jane Norman   Vocals
William Bradley   Vocals
Carmen Guiterrez   Vocals
Larry Kent   Vocals
Jack Murray   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Noel Schwartz   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Michael Callan   Lead Vocals
Frances E. T. Davis   Vocals

Technical Credits

Sid Ramin   Orchestration
Martin Charnin   Cast,Liner Notes
Chita Rivera   Cast
Larry Kert   Cast
Fred Plaut   Engineer
Edward T. Graham   Engineer
Carol Lawrence   Cast
David Winters   Cast
Geoffrey Burgon   Composer
Didier C. Deutsch   Reissue Producer
John McClure   Producer
Leonard Bernstein   Composer,Orchestration
Peter Gennaro   Choreographer
Mark Wilder   Reissue Engineer
Joe Springer   Photography
Hank Brunjes   Cast
Mickey Calin   Cast
Goddard Lieberson   Producer
Irwin Kostal   Orchestration
Stephen Sondheim   Composer,Lyricist
Stephen Schwartz   Composer
Eddie Roll   Cast
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Grover Dale   Cast
Jamie Sanchez   Cast
Ken Le Roy   Cast
Howard Jeffrey   Assistant
Jerome Robbins   Concept
John Springer   Photography
Erne Castaldo   Cast
Gene Gavin   Cast
Carole d'Andrea   Cast
Ken Mandelbaum   Synopsis,Liner Notes
Al de Sio   Cast
Eleanor Becker   Editorial Production
Marilyn d'Honau   Cast
Julie Oser   Cast
Lee Becker   Cast
Tony Mordente   Cast
Robert E. Griffith   Arranger
Ronnie Lee   Cast
Howard H. Scott   Associate Producer
Nicholas Deutsch   Liner Notes
Mort Goode   Liner Notes
Harold Prince   Arranger
Lowell Harris   Cast
Frank Green   Cast
Wilma Curley   Cast
Nanette Rosen   Cast
Ken Fredette   Art Direction
Arthur Laurents   Book
George Marcy   Cast
Wallace Siebert   Assistant
Jean Rosenthal   Lighting
Jay Norman   Cast
Irene Sharaff   Costume Design
Syliva Drulie   Associate Producer
Jack Murray   Cast
Joy Gilbert Manfried   Product Manager
Don Hunstein   Photography
Noel Schwartz   Cast