MovieChat Forums > West Side Story (1961) Discussion > I saw the show on Broadway

I saw the show on Broadway

posted 8 years ago by Maddy-17
6 replies | jump to latest

West Side Story has a special place in my memories. This was my first Broadway show(saw it in 1959 on my 16th birthday). The original Tony was Larry Kert and the original Maria was Carol Lawrence. I didn't know that the story was based on Romeo and Juliet, and when Tony got shot I almost passed out..what a shock. I still remember the great music and dancing..all live..no dubbing. I have the movie on DVD and loved it too, but there is nothing like a live Broadway show.

[–] friendoffilm 8 years ago

You saw the original Broadway stage production of West Side Story, with Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence? That must've been cool.

What a birthday treat that must've been....and on your 16th birthday, yet!.

Both my younger sister and I were pre-teens when both original Broadway stage version and the film version of West Side Story came into existence, so neither of us got to see the film until we were considerably older.

My parents saw the original Broadway stage play of WSS here in Boston, which had Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert in it, plus they both saw the film version of West Side Story pretty much when it first came out.

My parents didn't consider West Side Story anything for kids, which is why my younger sister and I didn't get to see either the Broadway stage production, or the film version, until we were both older, although had either of us been invited to see it by friends, my parents wouldn't have objected to my going.

I got introduced to the Broadway stage version's music at day camp out in Tucson, AZ, back in the summer of 1962, prior to entering the sixth grade, and fell in love with the music and the story behind West Side Story from thereon in. One girl in the group I was with, who'd just received a copy of the LP soundtrack album to the original Broadway production of WSS for her birthday brought it to day camp one morning, and played it for the group. I loved it from the start. When I got home from day camp, I not only played my parents' copy of the LP soundtrack to the original Broadway production on their Hi-FI whenever I could, but, much to their distress, I liked to bang out some of the prominent songs of WSS on the piano.

When I first saw the movie version of West Side Story, at around Christmastime of 1968, as a high school Senior, at a now-defunct cinema north of Boston, and the town where my younger siblings and I grew up (my brother hadn't even been born when WSS was at the heyday of its freshness, newness and popularity.), I fell in love with it instantly. Four years later, after seeing it on TV in two parts, and being re-introduced to the film version on a six-week trip to Europe, when somebody in the group I was with had brought along a cassette tape of the sound track to the film version of West Side Story, which was played almost every evening, during free hours, my love for this great film was re-awakened.

To end kind of a long tale, West Side Story, to me, was one very rare musical that was successful on both stage and screen...and equally beautiful and exciting, to boot.

[–] Maddy-17 8 years ago

I also have the LP soundtrack and the CD. What fabulous music. I was also lucky to see Cabaret on Broadway with Joey Grey, Mame with Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur, Flower Drum Song, Hello, Dolly with the all african american cast(Pearl Bailey and
Cab Calloway) and Fiddler on the Roof(unfortunately not with Zero Mostel but Topol in the leading role. That was the last Broadway show I saw(1968). Living in the city made it easy to get to see these shows. I have all the soundtracks to those shows(both on LP and CD). Nothing like Broadway music and all those great MGM musicals from the 1950s(I have all of them on DVD.).Nothing can beat a song from George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern,Irving Berlin, Rogers and Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein, and the list goes on.

[–] boxerrebellion 8 years ago

I was fortunate enough to see a revival of The King and I in the mid-80s with Yul Brynner (not long before he died) at the Ford's in DC... I was in HEAVEN!

[–] boxerrebellion 8 years ago

I saw Pippin in '73, I think... with Ben Vereen and the guy from Greatest American Hero. I was in fifth grade and was mesmerized. So wish they had done a movie at the time.

[–] friendoffilm 8 years ago

I've seen a number of musicals, including West Side Story, on stage, as well as on screen, and have enjoyed them as much. Other musicals that I've seen both on stage and on screen are as follows:

Godspell: I saw Godspell on stage twice; once here in Boston and once in London, many years agp. and enjoyed it a great deal. The film version of Godepsll....not so much

My Fair Lady: The film version of MFL was okay, but I liked the stage version better.

Roar of the Greasepaint, Smell of the Crowd: This one I saw many years ago, but it never got made into a movie, for some strange reason. It was a good musical, though.

Hair: A fun musical, both on stage and on screen.

Oklahoma: My family and I saw the stage version here in Boston back in the early 1960's on stage, and it was really spectacular! The movie....eh...nothing to write home about. I saw a revival of the Broadway stage version of Oklahoma here in Boston in the spring of 2004, which was a very pared-down shell of itself, and a big disappointment. I should've read the reviews of it first.

I like the soundtracks to all these musicals. I was not particularly enthused about the more up-to-date Broadway revival of West Side Story, which I saw 5 years ago this past June, here in Boston, with my niece and sister-in-law. I largely enjoyed it due to the fact that West Side Story is West Side Story, but, unlike my then-8-year-old niece and my sister-in-law, I viewed this stage revival of WSS with a harder, more critical eye.

I would've liked to have seen "South Pacific" on stage and on screen, but never got the opportunity to do so, although I liked the soundtrack of this particular musical.

Having said all of the above, even though I'm usually not the most enthusiastic fan of musicals on film, West Side Story is an exception for me, due to its success on screen, as well as on stage, for all kinds of reasons that I've posted on this board, and on others..

[–] mark.waltz 8 years ago

I saw the revival at the Palace back in 2010 and loved it. The scene of the highway coming down to make way for the rumble scene was even more impressive than the turning of the barricade in "Les Miserables".

While I was not around for the original production (wish I was, no ageism about me), I did get to see Carol Lawrence in two other Sondheim musicals ("Do I Hear a Waltz?" and "Follies", as well as a play Off Broadway a few years ago) and Chita Rivera in a number of things, including her own one woman show where she talked about it in great deal and performed "America", as well as just a few weeks ago where Chita, at age 83, got to perform for the very first time at Carnagie Hall, and once again sang "America", as well as perform "Somewhere" as well. The original cast album of "West Side Story" remains one of my favorites, and when Larry Kert and Carol sing "Tonight", I get chills.

"Great theater makes you smile. Outstanding theater may make you weep."