>> Janet McKinney:
Welcome to the Library
of Congress presentation
"West Side Story:
The Creation of a Classic."
My name is Janet McKinney,
and I am an archivist
in the Music Division.
I have had the privilege
of working
with the Bernstein Collection,
and the utmost privilege
of working with my colleagues,
Mark Horowitz and Cait Miller,
on all things musical theater.
Mark will first be sharing some
really fascinating insights
and original materials with
you regarding the genesis
of "West Side Story."
And then Cait will show
you how you can find some
of these collection
materials online,
so you can view them
anytime you like.
My role is to go over
the somewhat boring,
but very necessary, logistics
for today's presentation.
To start off, let's talk about
the view options in Zoom.
You all have the ability
to customize your own view.
But we highly recommend you
keep it on speaker view.
If you are not currently in
speaker view, there is a button
in the upper right-hand
corner to switch over.
You also enter the room with
your microphone muted for now.
We encourage you to leave
your comments and questions
in the chat at any time.
If it's a simple direct
question, we may be able
to answer you right away
within the chat feature.
But we do have time
for questions
after the presentation is over.
In which case, we may
verbally address your question
at that time.
In the chat, there
is a drop-down menu
of the participants,
where sending your chat
to everyone is most
likely the default.
If you are shy, you are
welcome to choose my name,
Janet McKinney, from
the drop-down menu,
and I will be the only one
to receive your question.
And we will get to as many
as we can during the Q&A.
If you are having any sort
of technical difficulties,
please send a direct
chat to my column --
to my colleague, Solomon.
By choosing Solomon
HaileSelassie
from the drop-down list in
the chat, you can also see him
in the gallery view as Solo.
And he will do his very
best to assist you.
Finally, this presentation
is being recorded.
We will not be sending
it out via email.
But it will be going up
on the Library's website
in a couple of weeks.
So, please do check the
Performing Arts Reading Room
website, as well as the Music
Division's Facebook page,
to see when it is released.
I think that's it.
Thank you for your
kind attention.
And without further ado, welcome
my colleague, Mark Horowitz.
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
Woah, I am Mark Horowitz.
I'm a senior music specialist
at the Library of Congress.
And for the past 25
years, among other things,
I've been the curator
of our vast Leonard
Bernstein Collection.
"West Side Story" is a
staggeringly important show.
It brought together
an extraordinary group
of talented people, particularly
director/choreographer Jerome
Robbins, who also
conceived the show;
librettist Arthur Laurents,
writing his first musical;
composer Leonard Bernstein; and
Stephen Sondheim as a lyricist
for his first Broadway show.
The show's designer
was Oliver Smith.
And it was produced
by Roger Stevens,
Bobby Griffith and
Harold Prince.
The show changed
people's understanding
of what a musical could
be, what it could be about,
how it could use dance to
tell its story, how daring
and difficult its music could
be, and the expected talent
of its cast members, even
how its sets would function.
The show has had four Broadway
revivals, one film and,
as we speak, a new film
version is in the can,
due to be released in a month.
And I've heard good
things about it.
We think of the show
as a classic.
It's easy to forget how
daring the show was,
how ahead of its time.
Our aim today is to give you
some sense of how it came about,
the history of the creation
of the show, and to share some
of the documentation
about it that's available
in the Music Division at the
Library of Congress, and,
in many cases, items
we've put online.
Most of what we'll
be discussing comes
from the Library's Leonard
Bernstein Collection,
estimated at about
400,000 items.
But we also have Arthur
Laurents Collection,
the Roger Stevens Collection,
the Hal Prince Collection,
and the Oliver Smith Collection.
All of which include materials
related to "West Side Story."
The Library has also been
promised the Stephen Sondheim
Collection as a bequest.
So, we are the home of
"West Side" I think.
What some of you may not know
is the show's birth pang --
birth pangs began several years
earlier than you might think,
possibly as early as 1947.
The original notion for the
show came from Jerome Robbins.
His idea was to do a
contemporary version
of Shakespeare's
"Romeo and Juliet."
Now, one of the overlooked,
but one of the best resources
for research in the
Bernstein Collection are the
130 scrapbooks.
One volume spans four
months, from June 1st
through October 3rd,
1957, and has 279 pages.
It includes the out-of-town
programs and articles written
by both Arthur Laurents
and Hal Prince.
And there's also a wonderful
interview with Jerome Robbins
that appeared in the August
1957 issue of Dance Magazine.
Asked, "What was the genesis
of this striking idea,"
Robbins answers, "I was
asked to read the part
of Romeo by an actor friend.
I was struck by the intensity of
adolescent feeling in the play.
I began to think of how
to transpose this violence
of emotion in the --
to the world today.
I began to explore possibilities
of making it come alive.
I looked for analogous
situations today."
Legend has it that that actor
friend was Montgomery Clift.
Having worked with
Bernstein before on the ballet
"Fancy Free" and the
musical "On the town,"
Robbins convinced Bernstein
to join him in the venture.
What many of you may not know is
the original notion would have
had the Romeo character and
his gang be Italian Catholics,
and Juliet and her
family would be Jewish.
Here, we have Bernstein's
annotated copy
of "Romeo and Juliet."
On the inside cover, Bernstein
has written an outline
for the show.
For act one/scene one,
he's written "street scene,
pushcarts, enter Romeo, or
Mulberry Street Festival,
or Easter equals Passover."
For act two/scene two, Lenny
provocatively posits "sex,
plan to escape to Mexico."
At the top of the very first
page of the play itself,
Bernstein writes as a reminder,
as a mantra, quote, "an out
and out plea for
racial tolerance."
Likely, that came later.
There are a few notes
scattered inside,
such as suggesting a song to
be titled "It's the Jews,"
Lenny ultimately wrote
a song with that title.
And the concept is whatever
bad things happen in the world,
people blame the Jews.
Here's an excerpt from
his lyric for that.
"When the rain forgets
to rain, it's the Jews.
When the sun dries up
the plane, it's the Jews.
When demand won't match
supply, it's the Jews.
But if prices go too high,
it's those foreign Jews."
Here we have an outline of
scenes by Jerome Robbins,
with notes in the margin
by Bernstein on the side.
You'll note next to the
where Robbins has "bridal,"
Bernstein writes "marriage,
dummies," clearly referring
to the mannequins that were
ultimately used when Tony
and Maria dress them
up, as part of the scene
where they marry each other.
One wonders if this
idea was Lenny's
or a note he made
during a discussion.
There's another scene
breakdown in Lenny's hand alone.
One of the things I find
interesting there is
that for act one/scene
four, the balcony scene,
Bernstein has proposed
two numbers; a Juliet solo
that adds Romeo and Tante,
and leads to another number
he described as "Farewell."
Tante means "aunt," which
grew out of the character
of the nurse in "Romeo
and Juliet,"
and eventually transformed into
Anita in "West Side Story."
We know that the solo
prposed in that spot
for Juliet will ultimately be
given to Romeo, or rather Tony,
as the song "Maria," and the
"Farewell" duet will
become "Tonight."
There is a three-page document,
"Suggestions for
Musical Numbers."
For act one/scene four to take
place at the candy or drugstore,
four possible numbers are
outlined, including "Druggist,"
Romeo's song on marriage,
or "How You Know When You're
in Love," "Druggist Always
Knew and Was Always Wrong,"
or "Advice on Never Taking
Advice," or a three-part number
"for Jews, Italians
and druggists in re:
tolerance, et cetera."
And then, for the
very end of the show,
there's this proposed
number, "Reprise of love music
for their last tender
whispered scene together,
soaring naturally at the
end to drown out the sound
of the scenery going off,
and the audience
blowing noses we hope.
In the final show, we will end
with a few halting unaccompanied
measures of "Somewhere,"
followed by seven
instrumental measures
that end on a pianissimo.
But there's definitely
some blowing of noses.
Here, we have yet another
outline of several pages.
Here, this is from page
three, and there are excerpts
from two scenes' descriptions.
The first is for the fight
at the end of act one.
Just reading it I
find it thrilling.
"The playing of the two gangs
gets slow, tense, cat-like.
Romeo doesn't respond,
cracks from Tybalt.
Romeo won't be baited.
But Mercutio, furious at this,
rises to the bait for Romeo.
Tybalt retorts.
Romeo tries to prevent the
fight and starts slowly.
Then becomes to chance of
dirty wop and dirty kike,
a violent tango with razors,
sticks, broken bottles.
In terrible blind fury,
Romeo picks up Mercutio's
razor and kills Tybalt.
Romeo is horrified
by what he has done.
A police whistle, he starts.
Another. A few voices,
more whistles.
He begins to run like
a trapped animal.
Curtain." Then, act two
begins at the Capulet's,
at their Passover Seder.
Tybalt, as the youngest
son, is, quote,
"not there to ask
the four questions,"
why is this night different
from all other nights?
This is brilliant writing.
We, the audience,
know what's happened,
and what the family
will soon discover.
In a later scene
breakdown, after the decision
to make the gangs Puerto
Rican versus Anglo,
Laurents describes the
scene thus, taking place
in Juliet's family's
crowded apartment.
Quote, "At opening of scene,
members of her family are
singing and playing guitar,
a gay happy Puerto
Rican type folk tune.
Juliet is busy dressing
for her date with Romeo.
Very faintly, police sirens
whistle in the background.
Schrank comes into
the apartment to say
that Bernardo has been
murdered by Romeo.
The family doesn't understand
English, and Juliet has
to translate the horrible news."
Schrank, by the way,
is the policeman.
As most of you know,
finally in "West Side Story,"
this ultimately becomes
the "I Feel Pretty" scene.
But in all iterations,
the second act opens
with something celebratory,
while we, the audience,
know the tragedy
that's already happened,
and how devastating it will be.
The collaborators had
abandoned the show
after deciding the
Jewish/Catholic notion
was unworkable.
I suspect they had a hard
time envisioning Jewish gangs.
But then Lenny went to Hollywood
to conduct on August 12th, 1955.
And while there, he and Laurents
saw an article in the paper
that inspired them
to rethink the show,
by having the two gangs be
Hispanics versus Anglos.
I can't swear that this
is the article they saw,
but I think it might be,
from the Los Angeles
Times, August 22nd, 1955.
"Six youths were
jailed for investigation
of murder here today in
the street fight death
of Robert C. Garcia, 20, at a
Saturday night teenage dance.
Police said Garcia, leader
of a local gang known
as the Junior Raiders, died
at San Bernardino County
Hospital following a fist fight
with Rudolph M. Sena, 19,
outside the Johnson
Community Hall."
There you have it,
gangs, murder,
and it even followed a dance.
There's one outline I want to
share, simply as a warning.
Various show titles were
considered over time.
One of them definitely
being "Gangway."
But as you'll see, this
early one has a, quote,
"working title" "Gang Bang."
I happened to show it
once to Arthur Laurents,
and asked him about it.
And his immediate response
was, "It was a joke.
We never considered it
seriously as a title."
So, beware that sometimes,
just because something is part
of an archival collection,
doesn't mean it's
what it appears to be.
There's a remarkable letter
from Jerome Robbins to Bernstein
and Arthur Laurents,
dated October 18th, 1955.
We have Bernstein's copy,
in which he's made some
notes in the margins.
In the first page,
Robbins argues
against their current outline,
which has the show
in three acts.
And he worries about how
the character Anita is
being portrayed.
Quote, "A typical downbeat
blues, torch-bearing,
second character, Julie of
'Showboat.'" And, ultimately,
they did make the character
younger and stronger.
The letter ends with two
fascinating paragraphs.
The first, "As for
the all over picture,
we're dead unless
the audience feels
that all the tragedy can
and could be averted.
That there's hope and a wish
for escape from the tragedy,
and attention built
on that desire.
We must always hold out
this tantalizing chance
of a positive ending.
Romeo and Juliet, particularly,
must feel this and
be sure of it.
It's another reason why I
dislike kvetchy Anita so much.
Let's not have anyone in the
show feel sorry for themselves."
And you'll see in the margin,
Bernstein's written
"all too true."
The penultimate paragraph in the
letter is "About the dancing.
It will never be well
incorporated into the show,
unless some of the
principles are dancers.
I can see easily why Romeo
and Juliet must be singers.
But Mercutio has to be a dancer,
maybe Anita, and for sure some
of the prominent gang members.
Otherwise, if any of the
dance sequences do take
over the stage, your principals
will move to the side,
and a terrible separation
happens.
Practically, it's easier to
rehearse with separate units.
But with all the experience I've
had, it's by far more beneficial
to the unity of the show to have
the principals do everything.
It's a sorry sight and
a backbreaking effort,
and usually an unsuccessful
one, to build the numbers
around some half-assed movements
of a principal who can't move.
Think it over."
And Bernstein writes
in underlined, "Right."
And as it happens, they did have
a much longer rehearsal period
that than was then typical,
I think two weeks longer.
What some of you may not know
is how extraordinary the casting
of "West Side Story" was.
Almost everyone in the
cast was a triple-threat:
singer, dancer and actor.
Heretofore, it was not unusual
to have separate dancing
chorus and singing chorus.
And rarely were the characters
particularly differentiated.
As long as we're speaking
of the casting of the show,
there are several pages
of Bernstein's notes
from the auditions.
Here's one page for example.
It includes several
things of interest.
There's a check next to Chita
Rivera as Anita, and one next
to Lee Becker as Anybodys,
next to which Bernstein
writes "Terrif."
Larry Kert was auditioning for
Bernardo, and Bernstein writes
"Great singer and
performer, but looks?
Read Riff better."
As for Carol Lawrence's
Maria, "Lovely soprano.
Not quite Maria.
Much realer with accent."
By the way, just below Larry
Kert, appears Anita Ellis,
who as it happens was
Kert's real-life sister.
Rumor has it that the character
of Anita had been
named after her.
But perhaps that was for the
earlier version of the show.
Here, Bernstein has
written "Jewish quality."
Ellis and Kert had grown --
indeed grown up in an
Orthodox Jewish household.
Not seen on this page is Warren
Beatty's audition for Wiff --
Riff, sorry, where Bernstein
wrote, "Can't open jaw,
charming as hell, clean cut."
There have been comments
over the years
that people given
the most credit for
"West Side Story" were four
Jewish men: Robbins, Bernstein,
Laurents and Sondheim.
But there were others involved
who tend to looked over.
You'll note this article with
"two women" in small print,
and "they're starring in men's
roles" below in much larger.
That's the show stage manager,
was Ruth Mitchell, who would go
on to have one of the most
significant careers on Broadway,
mostly working with Hal Prince,
and the show's lighting
designer, Jean Rosenthal,
an inventive force
in her own right,
both in the Broadway
world and the dance world.
Ruth Mitchell was a
stage manager for Rodgers
and Hammerstein in the
1940s, and ended her career
in the '90s having become
a director and producer.
As some of you may
know, initially,
there were to be two
producers of the show:
Roger Stevens and
Cheryl Crawford.
Crawford had been one of the
founders of the Group Theatre,
followed by the American
Repertory Theatre,
followed by the Actor's Studio.
But things between Crawford
and the collaborators
began devolving.
There are carbons of two
very revealing letters
in the Library's Roger
Stevens Collection.
Interestingly, one is
addressed from Crawford
to Arthur Laurents, and the
other from Laurents to Crawford.
But they both indicate that
their letters are supposed
to be for, quote,
"their eyes alone."
Crawford's letter,
dated April 11th, 1957,
has various complaints
and suggestions.
She wants to show how the
neighborhood's deteriorated
over time, as some people
make enough money to move out.
The weak are unfortunately
left behind.
And new waves move in.
And she suggests more
backstory, such as for Chino.
"Suppose he's very homely.
So, in order to get a rep
to make a dent in the gang,
he's found a shady
way of making dough.
He's engaged to Maria because
he gave Bernardo the money
to bring Maria and her
mother up from Puerto Rico."
Laurents, in his response,
"I feel that, in general,
your suggestions tend
toward a social opera
about today's youth, with the
minor story of two lovers.
This is not the show
we intended to do.
And it is not the show that
I, at any rate, want to do."
He later adds, "It is character
we are, and should be, after.
Names, addresses,
financial statements,
parental situations are cliches,
and don't help an audience.
They never characterized
anybody.
And I am bored to
death with them.
I cheerfully leave them
to Paddy Chayefsky,
and that whole dreary,
old-fashioned garbage school.
No one wants to go to the
theater to see a kitchen sink.
A murder? Yes.
You say Tony's killing
is not inevitable?
Neither is Romeo's or Juliet's.
And I don't think it matters.
What does matter to me is
that the audience is convinced
of his desire to be killed.
That is character.
And that is more important
than all the sociological,
crotch-scratching facts
in the naturalistic world.
I apologize for my vehemence on
the subject of the naturalism.
But it is something I am sick
to death of in the theater,
and is one reason why I
wanted to do a musical."
I love that letter.
Not long after that, Cheryl
Crawford left the production
to be replaced by producers
Hal Prince and Robert Griffith.
There is one social aspect that
was considered in the show,
but ultimately not used,
the threat of nuclear war.
It was no accident that one of
the gangs was named the Jets.
Originally, the opening
number, which is now all dance,
was a long, complicated
sung number.
It included this, "Up to
the moon, gonna bomb it.
Up like a comet,
burn in the stars.
Up to the moon, gotta mission.
Nuclear fission,
blow it to Mars."
And one of the sections
of the dance
at the gym was titled
"Atom Bomb Mambo."
And Lenny sketched
out lyrics for it.
"Atom bomb, you'll
protect my dear country.
Atom bomb, keep my
daughter and son free.
When things look bad,
you'll look after my
dad and mom, atom bomb.
Hear the plea of my Mambo.
You're the best sweet
American bomb.
Atom bomb mambo.
Mushroom, va va voom.
Fallout warhead, what you said.
Neutron. Man, you're gone."
In the aforementioned
interview with Robbins,
he discusses his
research on the show,
and meeting with real gang
members stating, quote,
"I think they have a sense
of having been born into one
of the worst worlds possible.
Fallout hydrogen bombs.
You get the feeling that
they think they have
to live their lives
now without delay."
While nothing is ever explicitly
stated in the final show,
I think those ideas
had an impact
on how the show was written, and
the characters were conceived.
I certainly feel it in 'Cool.'
The original plan was for Comden
and Green to write the lyrics,
possibly in conjunction
with Bernstein.
When they proved
unavailable, Bernstein planned
to write the lyrics himself.
And, actually, did a
fair amount of writing.
Because of the extraordinary
demands of the show,
particularly all
the dance music,
and I suspect some
insecurity on Bernstein's part,
the decision was made to bring
in another lyricist
as collaborator.
The 25-year-old Stephen
Sondheim got the job.
This would be his
first Broadway show.
The first appearance of
Sondheim's name in one
of Bernstein's date books
is October 18th, 1955.
"Arthur and Steve
Sondheim here."
In some cases, Sondheim did
polishing of Bernstein lyrics.
In other cases, the lyrics
seem all or mostly Sondheim.
My sense of the latter
category include 'America,
'Officer Krupke,' and
'Something's Coming.'
In the former category, I
place 'Maria' and 'One'--
by the way, 'One' was originally
to be the love song
during the balcony scene,
but it was determined to
be not passionate enough,
and it was moved to
the wedding scene.
And 'Tonight' was extracted
and expanded from the quintet
for the balcony scene.
Bernstein was a brilliant
composer, conductor and teacher.
But I fear his lyric
writing tended not
to reach those same heights.
I believe 'Somewhere' was
a collaborative effort.
But there is a very different
early draft of a lyric
that I think was
entirely Bernstein's.
I suspect had this lyric been
maintained the song would never
have achieved the
popularity it has.
"Where his darkness gone?
Where has the shining dawn?
With bright Earth
are we living on.
Can it be heaven?
Heaven? What is this
music filling the air?
Don't you hear singing?
Some magic bird is
singing up there.
He is the sunbird
calling his lover,
singing his one word,
lover, lover, lover.
Here for evermore, we'll
find what life is for.
There's no after and no before.
Only now here and now,
heaven, heaven, heaven."
Ugh. Anyway, as long as we're
looking at Bernstein's hand,
it's rather remarkable
to remember
that he was writing some of
the music for "West Side Story"
at the same time he was
writing music for "Candide."
And while those two scores
could hardly be more different,
it turns out that some things
he originally conceived
for one wound up in the other.
One example is the song
'One Hand, One Heart.'
Bernstein originally
conceived it as a love duet
for Candide and Cunegonde.
It's a slow waltz.
And for those of
you who read music,
it's midway on the second
page where "CAN" appears.
In Bernstein's original notion,
most of the measures would
be single held notes.
And there was even a
lyric that went with it.
It went "one hand, one
heart, your hand, my heart."
It was Sondheim who
asked Bernstein
to change some whole notes
into three-quarter notes,
so it became "make of
our hands one hand,
make of our hearts one heart."
I'd argue that the single
most important lyric line
from the show is for 'Maria.'
The line's "Say it soft and
it's almost like praying."
The song comes shortly
after Maria's brother
Bernardo pulls Maria
and Tony apart telling
her, "I told you,
there's only one thing they
want from a Puerto Rican girl."
"Say it loud and
there's music playing.
Say it soft and it's
almost like praying,"
tells the audience
everything they need to know
about the character
of Tony's love.
That it is deep and profound.
And, by the way, the song
'Maria' is another good example
of the collaboration
on the lyrics.
Before Sondheim's involvement,
it seems Bernstein had begun.
He had "Maria, I'll say
it and say it, Maria.
It whisks me like a song.
The sound of it is
strong and warm.
Maria, it's the sound
of an organ playing.
It's a sound like in church
when they're praying."
So, the religious notion
in these is Bernstein.
But I think where Sondheim's
refinements make it stronger
and clearer.
There's one other person
who should be mentioned
in any discussion of the
creation of "West Side Story,"
the set designer, Oliver Smith.
Smith designed for
dance and film,
and the original productions
of over 40 Broadway shows,
including "My Fair Lady,"
"The Sound of Music," "Hello,
Dolly" and "The Odd Couple."
Something of a chameleon as a
designer, Smith's designs for
"West Side Story" were usually
stark, with some exceptions.
But what's not clear in these
renderings is the architecture
and engineering behind
what he did.
However, the most struggling
and extraordinary scene change
happened in the transition
from the dress shop to
the dance at the gym.
And according to Sondheim,
what happened began
as fairly ordinary.
But it was out of
town in Washington
that Jerome Robbins
came up with a change
that made it extraordinary,
simply by adding streamers.
Maria ends the scene saying,
"Tonight is the real beginning
of my life as a young
lady of America."
She begins to whirl in the
dress as the shop flies off.
And, suddenly, a flood of gaily
colored streamers pours down.
And timed with Bernstein's
blaring brass intro of the dance
at the gym, it's an electric
and thrilling moment.
During the last few weeks of
"West Side Story's" creation,
through its out-of-town
tryout in Washington, D.C.,
there are a wonderful set
of letters from Bernstein
to his wife Felicia,
who at the time was
in South America
visiting her family.
These letters trace a
fascinating progression.
The first letter, undated,
quote, "The show, ah, yes,
I am depressed with it.
All the aspects of the score I
like best, the big poetic parts,
get criticized as operatic.
And there's concerted
move to chuck them.
What's the use?"
And underlined, "This
is the last show I do."
July 28th, "Home
tomorrow in time
for a run through of act one.
In a minute, it will be
August, and off to Washington.
And it will be -- people will
be looking at "West Side Story"
in public, and hearing my
poor little mashed up score.
All the things I love most in
it are slowly being dropped,
too operatic, this,
this and that.
They're also scared
of commercial --
and commercial success
means so much to them.
To me, too, I suppose.
But I still insist it can
be achieved with pride.
I shall keep fighting."
August 3rd, "We ran through
today for the first time.
The problems are many
and varied, overwhelming.
But we've got a show there,
and just possibly a great one.
I never sleep.
Everything gets rewritten
every day.
That's my life for the moment.
And, imagine, we open
two weeks from Monday."
August 8th, "I missed
you terribly yesterday.
We wrote a new song for
Tony that's a killer,
and it just wasn't the same
playing it first for you --
not playing it first for you.
It's really going to save
his character, a driving 2/4
in the great tradition, but,
of course, ------ up by me
with 3/4s and whatnot.
But it gives Tony balls
so that he doesn't emerge
as just a euphoric dreamer."
That song was "Something's
Coming."
And it was the last song
written for the show.
August 11th, "We
had our first run
through for people yesterday.
And it was a smash.
But I'm worried.
There is so much that
doesn't work for me.
But there is a great
show there."
August 15th, "Up
all night trying
to put together an
overture of sorts to carry
through until I do
a real good prelude.
Orchestra reading
all day yesterday.
It's real.
We have surprisingly good men
who can really play this
terribly difficult stuff,
except one or two of them.
And the orchestrations
have turned out brilliant.
I tell you, this show may
yet be worth all the agony.
As you can see, I'm
excited as hell.
Oh, so different from "Candide."
"West Side Story" began
out-of-town tryouts
in Washington, D.C. on
Monday, August 19th.
And here is Lenny in
the theater that night.
His final letter is
from August 28th.
"It's all too exciting.
I never dreamed it
could be like this.
Reviews such as one
would write for oneself."
Later he goes on.
"Of course -- of course, as
they say, it's only Washington,
not New York, don't
count chickens.
But it sure looks like a smash.
And all of our experiments
seem to have worked.
The book works, the tragedy
works, the ballets shine,
the music pulses and soars.
There's at least one
history-making set.
It's all too good to be true."
And, by the way,
according to Sondheim,
that history-making set was
under the highway,
the end of act one.
And Sondheim described it
with one word: spectacular.
"West Side Story"
opened on Broadway
on September 26th, 1957.
And that evening, Stephen
Sondheim handed a letter
to Bernstein that
reads, "Dear Lenny,
you know only too well how hard
it is for me to show gratitude
and affection, much less
to commit them to writing.
But, tonight, I feel I must.
'West Side Story' means much
more to me than a first show,
more even than the
privilege of collaborating
with you and Arthur and Jerry.
It marks the beginning of
what I hope will be a long
and enduring friendship.
Friendship is a thing I
give and receive rarely.
But, for what it's
worth, I want you to know,
you have it from me always.
I don't think I've ever told you
how fine I think the score is,
since I prefer kidding you about
the few moments I don't like,
to praising you for
the many I do.
'West Side Story' is a
big step forward for you,
as it is for Jerry
or Arthur or even me.
And in an odd way,
I feel proud of you.
Much as I want to write music,
I'm not sure I like the idea
of doing another
show without you.
I will, of course.
And I'll play it for you,
and you'll criticize it.
And I'll be hostile and
sarcastic about your criticism.
But I look forward
to that criticism.
And I hope you'll
give it freely.
My gratitude and affection,
and also my best wishes
and good luck for -- good luck
for our little divertissement.
May "West Side Story" mean
as much to the theater
and to people who see
it as it has to us.
Steve." It did and it does.
I want to close with
another quote
from that Robbins' interview.
He was asked, quote, "What
does 'West Side Story' say?"
Mr. Robbins looked solemn.
And he said, "The
story has a hopeful
as well as a tragic side.
The tragic denoument at the time
of her talk was in
a state of flux."
Mr. Robbins was not
quite sure how many
of the five leading
characters would die at the end.
But he was quite firm
about its upbeat motive.
Quote, "It says that the price
of prejudice is too
high to pay."
And that has remained true
through every iteration
of "West Side Story."
Thank you.
And now my colleague, Cait
Miller, will guide you in how
to see and discover some
of these original
materials yourselves.
>> Caitlin Miller:
Thank you so much, Mark.
Okay. I am going
to share my screen.
Okay. And I'll start
with my PowerPoint.
Great. Okay.
Yes, so, yes, my
name is Cait Miller.
And I am a reference librarian
in the Music Division.
I should start just by saying
I love musical theater.
So, I jump at the
chance to work with Mark
on any musical theater
project here,
including this webinar today.
So, thank you, everyone,
for joining us.
I know that many of you -- or
I'm assuming you're very eager
to start your -- get your
questions to us, and ask Mark
about all the wonderful stories
and materials he showed us.
And we're almost there.
But before we do,
I really wanted
to take a quick opportunity to
connect all of you with some
of the online resources that
provide you direct access to our
"West Side Story"
related material.
And I'm happy to
see some comments
in the chat during Mark's
presentation asking exactly how
to do that.
So, this is where you learn.
I will be -- we'll be
throwing some of those links
in the chat while I talk,
so you can follow along.
Or you can bookmark them for
later on after the webinar.
And, so, let's get started.
I'm going to move here.
The Library of Congress,
we really offer many
online resources related
to Leonard Bernstein
in particular.
And I could highlight
all of those.
But that would take me a while.
The good news is we have a
relatively new Research Guide,
that you see on the screen.
And let's go look
at it together live
on the internet,
and take a look.
The wonderful thing about this
new Research Guide is it really
pulls together all of those
different resources we have
into one place, where
you can find them all.
So, I wanted to share that
guide with you here today.
Generally speaking, the guide
addresses different types
of material in the
Music Division,
and some other divisions as
well, related to Bernstein.
And it begins with a description
of the Leonard Bernstein
Collection that Mark started
out his talk describing.
And if we scroll down
here, you'll find a link
to the Finding Aid to
the Bernstein Collection.
That is our document
that is going
to describe the entire
collection to you.
And you can see how
it's organized,
what types of materials
you're going to find,
and even keyword search
within the Finding Aid.
I'm going to focus on the
link above that, though,
to the Leonard Bernstein
Digital Collection.
And we're going to
click on that.
This is really the resource that
will allow you direct access
to digitized material from
the Bernstein Collection,
and including "West
Side Story" materials,
without even leaving your home.
So, let's take a
quick look at that.
Here, we're on the About
this Collection page
for the digital collection.
And one of the particularly
wonderful things
about this specific collection,
and we have Mark to thank
for this, is that if you scroll
down below the description
of the collection on this page,
you'll find a list
of canned searches.
And the canned searches
will take you to material
that has been pulled
together specific --
about specific people,
specific works
or topics in the collection.
So, I wanted to make
sure I pointed that out,
because it would
be easy to miss it
if you do not scroll
down all the way.
And if we scroll all the way
down to the W's on the list,
of course, there is a link to
"West Side Story" material here.
So, I'm going to
click on that link.
And I'll -- and you see
that we come to our list
of collection items related
to "West Side Story."
And my personal librarian tip
that I'll give, I like to look
at my list in the gallery mode.
You'll see more items
on a single page.
The other thing I really
like to do is I zoom
down to the very
bottom of the page.
And if I move all of you,
then I can maximize
my results per page,
just to reduce the clicking that
I need to do as I search around.
So, those are just
a couple of tips
for looking at the material.
But you'll see that we start
out with Music Sketches.
That's the first batch of
material you see in this
"West Side Story" canned search.
So, these are not going to
be links to final drafts
of the score or fair copies,
but sketch material,
yes, you'll find.
So, you can look for your
favorite -- your favorite piece.
Maybe it's -- we'll
click on "Maria."
I just want to show
you what it looks
like when you click
on a specific item.
Here, you can click on
the middle image here,
to see every single
page in the item.
You can select the page
you want to focus on.
And then you can zoom in to get
a really good look at those --
the notation, the markings.
If there's anything
that's erased,
the zoom is a really
wonderful tool
to investigate erase --
erased markings, too.
And you see the melody there for
the song we all know and love.
Also, for every single image
in the digital collection,
you can download a
JPEG or a TIFF file,
which is really wonderful.
You can take that
into the classroom,
or for your own study.
Okay? I'm going to -- oops.
I'm going to go back to the --
the results that
I was in before.
And I just wanted to show
you that if we keep going
down the page here, you'll find
that the canned search also
includes correspondence,
including that correspondence
between Bernstein and his wife,
Felicia, that Mark
was reading from.
It's fabulous.
And you can read it
all yourself online.
There are a few photographs,
more correspondence.
The casting notes and
audition notes are here,
as well as this link that my
cursor is circling right here
to a bunch of drafts
and outlines from early
on in the process,
which is just wonderful.
Mark used a lot of
images from that folder.
Yes, somebody drew on it.
Thank you.
And that -- and this
is where you can come
to access all the material,
and get a closer look.
Now, Mark also mentioned
the scrapbooks.
And someone specifically asked
about where you find
the scrapbooks online.
So, I will show you
really quickly.
Since we're already
in the Leonard Bernstein
Digital Collection right now,
a really quick easy thing
you can do is come to the top
of the page, and there
is a search bar here.
And in the drop-down menu,
it's actually this
collection is written.
So, you can search just
in the Leonard Bernstein
Digital Collection, which is --
makes your life a lot simpler.
If we type "scrapbook"
in and search,
then we will get the results
for the 130 scrapbooks
that are in the collection.
And you can go through and
find the scrapbook that's
of interest to you.
Mark mentioned specifically
the June 1st
to October 2nd, 1957 scrapbook.
So, you can do a
Control-F, find search,
to find the 1957 scrapbooks
if you want, and start digging
into those articles and
reviews and programs.
Okay. So, that is a
very, very short word
about the digital collection.
If you come back to the Research
Guide that we were looking
at the beginning, I just --
I encourage you to explore
it for yourself more.
You will find "West Side
Story" related material also
in the Digital Collections page.
There's an online exhibit from
an exhibit we put together
for the 50th anniversary
of the musical,
published scores and librettos.
You can link to catalog
record for the libretto for
"West Side Story," published
news -- published literature.
You can discover, you know,
books and dissertations
about the musical.
And Event Videos is a
really great page as well.
You can link to lectures
about Bernstein.
There is one lecture
about "West Side Story"
and interviews as well.
Especially recent events
from our centennial
celebration a couple
of years ago went online.
So, it's a fun resource
to look at.
Now, while it's broader in
scope, I will also just mention,
I think this audience
would like to know
about one other research guide.
If we come to our Performing
Arts Collections Research Guides
here, I'm just going to show
that we have a broader guide
to Musicals of Stage and
Screen: A Guide to Resources
at the Library of Congress.
So, that's something I won't
spend too much time talking
about now, but I want
you to know about,
and know that you can come
here to dive deeper into more
of our musical theater
collections as well.
And, finally, I'll just click on
this Ask a Librarian link here.
I'm just going to end my
remarks by emphasizing
that you can contact
us via email,
using the Ask a Librarian
online forum
that you see in front of you.
If you have a question about
our collections, let us know.
Our reference librarians
are really eager and happy
to answer those questions
for you.
And if you reach a point in
your own research where you need
to plan a visit to the
Performing Arts Reading Room
to view materials from
the Bernstein Collection
or the Arthur Laurents
papers, or any other collection
that we have, you can also
email us to set that up.
The Performing Arts Reading Room
is open Monday through Saturday
by appointment right now.
So, contact us and we can
set that all up for you.
Okay. I think I am
going to stop there.
I am happy to answer more
questions about where
to find material, either
here in the webinar,
or you can contact me
after the webinar as well,
via Ask a Librarian if you want.
And let's get to questions.
I think that's what people
are probably most excited for.
Janet, do we have any
questions in the queue yet?
>> Janet McKinney:
So many questions.
Thank you, Mark and Cait.
That was very informative.
Despite working here
for many years,
I definitely learned
some new things
in listening to your
presentation.
So, thank you so much.
Cait, if you will stop
sharing your screen,
I can highlight both
you and Mark,
and we can get to
those questions.
First question, quickly,
I think,
Cait, you could handle it.
Someone was wondering if
you needed a library card
to access the materials.
I don't know if they
meant in person or online.
But you could probably
speak to that.
>> Caitlin Miller: Sure.
You do not need a reader card to
access our online collections.
Anything that I was showing
you, from our research guides,
to our digital collections
to the finding aids,
you can access from home.
You don't need to
register for anything.
If you do find that you
need to come to the Library
to consult material in the
Performing Arts Reading Room,
or another reading
room, then, yes,
you do need to get a
Reader Registration Card.
And we give you the links
to help you make that happen
when you connect with us
to schedule an appointment
to come in.
>> Janet McKinney: It appears
when the play was about Jews
and Catholics, more
of the parents
and the families were
going to be on the stage.
After they changed it to
race and not religion,
was there a version that
had parents on stage?
Or do you know anything
about that?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz: My
memory, from what I've seen is,
the largest scene with
the family was the version
where they were at
their Passover Seder,
where Maria's family.
And there you had the parents
and the family sitting
around the table.
But I don't -- I haven't seen
a script that has a full scene
with dialogue with other
family members involved.
>> Janet McKinney: Thank you.
We did also have
a couple questions
about the film version
of "West Side Story."
How involved were the big
contributors with the film?
I assume the creatives.
How involved were
they with the film?
And do the --
>> Caitlin Miller:
That's correct.
>> Janet McKinney: Library of
Congress archives, thank you,
have any materials
from Bernstein's
involvement in the movie?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz: You know,
it's funny, I have not seen
that much related to the movie.
My sense is that most of
the people involved were not
that involved with the film.
Robbins was originally
choreographing the film.
But he was going over
budget and over time.
And he was basically
fired at a certain point.
Sondheim wrote some changed
lyrics for the film that --
to sort of pass the censors.
I don't know of any involvement
with Laurents in the film.
I've also heard from
various sources, or read,
that the creators were not as
thrilled with the film as most
of the rest of us
seem to have been.
I had a conversation
once with Sondheim.
And he mentioned something
about things that were affecting
on stage, such as, you know,
150-pound person leapfrogging
over somebody else in sort
of a mock fight is
dramatic and thrilling.
And on the screen, it tends to
look a little silly, or can.
He criticized the fact
that the laundry hanging
from the clothesline
was color coordinated.
That they made the
film too pretty.
I think they were thrilled
by the success of the show.
Jamie Bernstein is
saying something,
and I just lost what
she's chatted.
But she would know
better than I.
And I have heard from people
who have seen the new film
by Spielberg that it
really is wonderful.
So, I'm incredibly
excited about that.
What I will say is there is a
huge amount of business papers
in the Bernstein Collection.
And I didn't touch
on those at all.
And there are boxes and boxes
that deal with every aspect
of "West Side Story"
from recordings
to productions and
legal matters.
So, there's a lot
there to be discovered.
But I didn't dig
into it for today.
>> Janet McKinney: All right.
We have a question regarding
Nigel Simeone's book.
Someone was wondering if
the letters concerning
"West Side Story"
are comprehensive
with respect to the show?
Or are there many more letters
in the Library's collections
that didn't make
it into the book?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
Fascinating question.
I would say, certainly,
they're not complete.
But I don't think it was
because of censoring.
And there are so many instances
where there may be a
side comment in a letter.
There are, you know, letters
to his brother, Burton,
or from his brother,
where, you know,
"West Side Story" will be
mentioned in a sentence
or a paragraph, that
kind of thing.
So, it's not comprehensive.
But I think Nigel did a
wonderful job at trying to get
to the meatiest things.
And given space limitations
and things like that.
So, it's more than a
wonderful introduction.
But there are certainly
more that can be discovered.
And I hope people
will -- will come.
>> Janet McKinney:
There was a question
about the color schemes.
At what point in the process
did the color scheme/color-coded
gangs emerge?
Whose idea was the color
scheme, Jets in blue and yellow,
Sharks in pink, red and purple?
I don't know if that
actually refers to the musical
or the stage or the film.
>> Mark Eden Horowitz: The short
answer is, this is embarrassing.
I have absolutely no idea.
I assume it was the
set designer.
I do know that in one
iteration of the show,
I believe the Jewish
gang, there was something
about the Emeralds, which
would have suggested green.
But I have not seen
any documentation
on the color schemes.
And I'm horribly embarrassed.
And forgive me.
>> Janet McKinney: You do not
need to be embarrassed, Mark.
You are a wealth of information.
This also might be --
Jerome Robbins is one
of the very few creative
people involved in the
"West Side Story" that --
whose collection we do not
have here at the Library.
Someone was wondering how
did Jerome Robbins come
up with the unique
style and body movements
of the Puerto Rican gang.
Are you able to speak to that?
Or should they contact someone
at New York Public Library?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
Contact someone else.
I -- except -- I will say
it just reminds me again
in a conversation with Sondheim,
he talked about the opening
of "West Side Story,"
and how effective it was.
And he described something
as what he said Jerome Robbins
called the sailing step,
where their arms were sort
of spread almost
like sails on a ship.
And that that represented
that they owned the streets.
And I just got the sense from
that that a lot of the images
that were used
in the choreography had
very specific meanings,
at least to Robbins, that we
may not always be aware of.
But I get the sense that
there's a fair amount
of intellectualism behind many
of the steps and movements.
>> Janet McKinney: Thank you.
Someone was wondering
when was the decision
for Maria to live at the end.
When was that decision made?
And perhaps how was it made?
Do you know anything
about that decision?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
From what I've heard,
it happened very late.
It may have even
happened in Washington.
Clearly, they -- that
article in Dance Magazine,
they still hadn't made
the definite decision.
My sense is that they
felt it was unnecessary.
And there's a famous -- at
least in one of the books,
talks about that the
creators believed
that even though Maria
lives physically,
she's emotionally dead.
And that that was enough, that
was sufficient for the audience,
and for the -- that the tragedy
was complete without having
to have her physically
die on stage.
And I think that
was a right choice.
>> Janet McKinney: All right.
You spoke earlier about
"West Side Story" being the
creation of four Jewish guys.
Someone was wondering if
you thought that there --
at least two of them
were gay, one bisexual.
Do you think that had
any effect on their --
on the creation of the show over
the -- their Jewish identity?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
What I think,
and it's always a tricky thing,
but I think it always helps
to be a writer and a creator,
when one has a sense
of being an outsider.
You view the world
differently I think.
And I think you're able
to be more sympathetic
to a wider variety of
characters and situations.
So, in an odd way -- and I'd
say that could have been --
could be true for
being Jewish as well.
Although, again,
it was so prevalent
in the theater in the time.
But I think it does -- I
think it -- if you're Black,
or any minority, people who
are creative, I think it tends
to help their creativity,
because of their perspective.
That's an entirely
personal opinion.
But there you have it.
>> Janet McKinney: Thank you.
Someone was wondering about
extra lyrics in the Jet song
that are never sung in the
movie or the stage show,
but appears in the cast
recording of the 1957 version.
Do you know anything
about those extra lyrics?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
There's a huge amount of lyrics
for the opening that
were cut entirely.
The whole opening
sequence was sung,
and went on for pages
and pages and pages.
And my understanding was it
just became too complicated
and too difficult.
And the collaborators agreed
that it would work better
just as a dance number.
That the lyrics were
distracting and unnecessary.
But it's something
like a 15-page song.
And, again, I read a
brief excerpt from it.
But they talk about
taking a trip to the moon,
and there's back and forth
between the different Jets.
It's not great.
Again, I believe the
right decision was made.
>> Janet McKinney: All right.
Let's see.
I'm not sure if I understand
this question entirely.
So, if Miles could give
further information,
if it's not clear for Mark.
Miles was wondering how does
the Spanish version play
in the Spanish-speaking
countries, i.e.,
even the Anglos are
conversing and singing
in the language of
the new arrivals.
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
I'm not sure I know --
I understand or know either.
My -- For the version,
the last Broadway version,
not the one that -- the one
that was done, I forget,
five years ago, something
like that,
Lin-Manuel Miranda was
translating some of the lyrics
that were being sung
by the Sharks,
by the Puerto Ricans,
into Spanish.
And, apparently, over time, they
became less and less and less.
It does remind me that
one of the famous stories
about the show was that during
a rehearsal or out of town,
something like that, a friend
of Sondheim's watched the show,
and made a comment to him
about "I Feel Pretty."
And that, you know, it made
the character of Maria sound
like somebody who could
be in an Noel Coward play,
"I feel stunning and entrancing,
feel like running
and dancing for joy."
And that's just not
the character of Maria.
And he wanted to change it.
And the collaborators
wouldn't let him.
In my mind, I always sort of
assumed or did the translation
in my head that "I Feel
Pretty" was actually being sung
in Spanish in Maria's head.
And, we -- the audience were
hearing the English translation.
So, it never bothered me.
But I can certainly
see the perspective.
But as for how it's received
in Latin American
countries, I don't know.
>> Janet McKinney: There
was a question about an aria
at the end of "West
Side Story" for Maria.
I understand that there
was supposed to be an aria
at the end, but there
wasn't time to write it.
So, Laurents' outline of
what it should cover was used
as Maria's final speech.
Is there material that
backs up this story?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
My understanding was there is no
additional material that I found
that this was going to
be a musical number.
I think they talked about it.
I think they assumed they
would probably do it.
But they could never come up
with something that made sense,
that wasn't -- didn't
just feel inappropriate.
And I think, reasonably
early on, decided not to try
and have an aria at the end.
I will say that, if you remember
in the letters from Bernstein
to Felicia, he talks about all
the "big operatic moments I
like best, they want to cut,"
the number 'A Boy Like That
and I Have a Love' was much
longer in an earlier version
of Lenny's, and was
much more operatic.
And Tony does join
in that number.
And he has high C's.
And we actually -- for
the 50th anniversary
of "West Side Story"
we did a concert here,
where we included that.
And as much as I adore Lenny,
I think the collaborators
were right.
It was overwrought
and over the top.
And it didn't work.
I think it's a much stronger
show not as operatic.
Leave that to "Candide."
>> Janet McKinney: I
believe Stacey was wondering
about Carol Lawrence's
critical reception.
Do you know much about
how she was received
by the public and/or
by critics at the time?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz: I've
just always assumed wonderfully.
I know -- it's funny,
several years ago,
Carol Lawrence came
to visit the Library.
And we spent some time
looking through the collection.
But one of the things,
the Library's Prints
and Photographs Division has
the archives for Look Magazine.
And it turned out that they
had planned a whole spread just
on her during the time that
she was in "West Side Story."
And there were something
like 85 photographs taken,
including production
shots of her in the show.
And, for whatever
reason, I don't know,
there was a Cuban missile
crisis or something like that,
the article never happened.
But Carol Lawrence came, and was
actually able to get prints then
of some of these photos that
she'd never seen before.
But I think the fact that they
were planning this huge spread
just on her in relation
to the show suggests
that everything was -- you know,
I can't imagine why they
wouldn't be euphoric.
She was beautiful, with
a magnificent voice,
and a great dancer, and
everything one could ask for.
>> Janet McKinney: Thank you.
Let's see, where was I?
Someone is wondering if Cait
could tell us are there any
other collection items on
or about women designers,
or women in the American
theater?
Perhaps you've highlighted
some in the Musicals LibGuide?
>> Caitlin Miller: Yes.
If you go to the Musicals
LibGuide, and you look
at the Theater section,
we do link to,
I can think of off the top of
my head, the Peggy Clark papers,
who was a designer, a
lighting designer who worked
on "On the Town" actually.
And that's who jumps
out in my mind.
You can link to the
Finding Aid, and read all
about that collection there.
Yes. So, go to the
Musicals Research Guide
that we linked to,
and find more there.
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
I want to add to that.
The Peggy Clark Collection is
magnificent and underutilized.
So, if there are
researchers out there looking
for a doctoral thesis
or dissertation subject,
or something, please take
advantage of Peggy Clark,
because she's just waiting for
somebody to enjoy her treasures.
>> Janet McKinney: I agree.
She's my hero.
Maybe also Sylvia Fine.
I am about to work on the
papers of Dana Suisse,
and I'm very excited about that.
Mark, there was a big
conversation earlier,
maybe not a big conversation,
but a kind of stilted
conversation about the use
of the phrase "Krup
you" in the musical.
Whose idea was that phrase?
Did they ever consider
using the "F" word instead?
Could you just tell us --
tell us more about "Krup you."
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
I know that Sondheim
wanted to use the "F" word.
And he wanted to be the
first lyricist on Broadway
to use the "F" word in a lyric.
And who talked him out of it?
Or why or how?
It seems a pretty obvious
choice or decision.
Somebody told me that it
would have prevented the song
to get radio play.
Although I don't know that that
-- of all the songs in the show
that that one was one that would
have gotten much radio play
at the time.
But it was his hope.
But I think it was sort
of an unrealistic one.
I guess what surprises me is,
to the best of my knowledge,
it's not been used in any
subsequent productions.
And I'm not sure if the creators
or Sondheim has been
asked and said no, or not.
I'll be curious --
actually, I'll be curious
to see what happens
in the movie.
>> Janet McKinney: So, I have
been trying to keep up with all
of the questions in the chat.
If I have missed your question,
if you just want to copy
and paste it over again,
and we can address it.
Otherwise, I will remind you
that this presentation
today was recorded.
And we are going to be placing
it on the Library's website.
It'll take a couple of weeks.
It goes into post production,
and they'll add closed
captioning and all that.
So, you can look for it
on the Performing Arts
Reading Room web page,
as well as the Music
Division's Facebook page.
>> Caitlin Miller: Janet,
I did get one question
directly earlier.
>> Janet McKinney: Sure.
>> Caitlin Miller:
And this is tied
to the language question
from before.
And I think it might
be the same person.
Someone asked, "What are
the more exotic non-English
languages "West Side Story"
has been performed in?
I mean, I'm aware of many.
I don't know how I would decide
what the most exotic one is.
But maybe, Mark, do you
have something off the top
of your head?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz: I don't.
I do know in the collection,
there are several scripts
for different language versions.
And some of them were
quite surprising.
You know, I think Hungarian
and stuff like that.
But I really can't
answer intelligently
about what the foreign
productions sound like.
I believe the show has
been very popular in Japan.
But I don't know if it was
actually performed there
in Japanese, or with surtitles.
And perhaps somebody
in the side does know.
Oh, we do have the -- what's
his name's collection.
>> Caitlin Miller: Lars Schmidt.
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
Lars Schmidt Collection,
which has a small
online presence.
And he produced "West
Side Story" several times
in Scandinavia.
And there's a lot of material
about that in that collection.
So, if you're interested in
foreign language productions
and versions of "West
Side Story,"
the Lars Schmidt Collection that
we have is a great resource.
>> Janet McKinney:
Someone is wondering, Mark,
if you could speak more about
the song 'One Hand, One Heart,
and James Agee's book, include
lost lyrics for "Candide."
When he died working
on "Candide,"
his numbers went to
"West Side Story."
When Sondheim was given the
tune that became 'One Hand,
One Heart' he asked to
change the whole notes
to triplets, as you spoke about.
I believe this lyric is
the lost Agee lyrics,
the whole note ones.
Do you know anything about that?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz: I'm not
sure I understand the collection
-- the question.
I do know that the early
version was actually recorded by
and released commercially
by the singer whose other nom
de plume was Darlene Edwards,
and Jo Stafford.
Jo Stafford recorded
the early version.
So, I don't know if that helps
or answers the question at all.
But --
>> Janet McKinney: I may
have butchered it as well.
Someone who was wondering
if, for the Spielberg version
of the film, did he refer
to materials here
in our collections.
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
Not directly.
A lot of material has --
you know, I suspect
material has been shared
that comes from the collection.
But no one involved with
the film actually came
to the Library to
do research here.
It certainly has
happened with other things
and other productions.
And if I -- there's been
talk for quite a while
of a biopic about Bernstein.
And the screenwriter for
that has come and spent time
at the Library, going
through the collection
in preparation for that.
But none of the creators
for the film
of "West Side Story" actually
came here to do research.
I will say that there's about
to be "tick...tick...Boom!"
by Jonathan Larson on Netflix.
And the creators of that did
come here, and spent a lot
of time in the Jonathan
Larson Collection for that,
including Lin-Manuel Miranda.
And, so, we're very
excited about that.
So, it happens.
>> Janet McKinney: Going back
a moment, what was the name
of the song that
Joe Stafford sang?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
It was just --
it's what became 'One
Hand, One Heart.'
And at that time was
just titled 'One.'
And it was the one
that [sings] "one hand,
one heart, your hand, my heart."
>> Janet McKinney: All right.
And as a final question, Mark,
this is right up your alley.
"West Side Story" is
popular, of course,
but how do you think it is
ranked among Mr. Sondheim's
lyrical works for
other productions?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz:
I know he's embarrassed
about parts of it.
But I feel much more positively
about it than I think he does.
He refers to 'Somewhere'
as the "a" song.
He's somewhat embarrassed
that it, [sings] "there's a,"
and at the big leap,
the high note lands
on the least consequential
word, "a."
And that he couldn't come up
with anything better than that.
I think it's perfectly
fine and makes sense.
There was definitely
tension between he and Lenny.
And Lenny tended to like I
think what Sondheim refers
to as "purple" lyrics.
And some of those
stayed in the show.
In 'Tonight,' [sings] "the
world was just an address,
a place for us to live in,
no better than all right."
I think there are some
lyrics that are --
don't live up to what
we expected the Sondheim
standard now.
And I said before
about his embarrassment
about the 'I Feel Pretty'
being inappropriate for Maria.
But I think the best of
them are spectacular.
And, certainly, 'Something's
Coming' and 'Gee,
Officer Krupke' is Brilliant.
And I know 'America' is somewhat
controversial these days.
But I think it's for
reasons that, to my mind,
are somewhat misunderstood
and a little unfair.
But --
Compared to other lyrics at the
time, and by other lyricists,
I think you can't go
wrong with Sondheim.
>> Janet McKinney: Agreed.
Well, thank you, Mark,
for sharing your huge,
huge wealth of knowledge,
your expertise.
I know you've spent many, many
years working with Bernstein,
and all of his collection
materials.
So, thank you.
And thank you, Cait,
for sharing with us how
to find those materials at home.
I have placed the Ask a
Librarian link in the chat.
So, if there's any questions
that, I apologize, I missed,
you can just place them there.
And we will definitely
get back to you.
And, Mark, yes?
>> Mark Eden Horowitz: I just
-- I wanted to add one thing,
which is I think, at least
at one point, I don't know
if they're still there,
all three of Bernstein's
children have been
attending this.
And I just want to
thank them personally
for the Bernstein Collection.
It is truly one of the great
treasures of the Library.
And it's among -- I think it
well may be the most heavily
used collection in
the Music Division.
If not, it's in the top three.
And it's an endless source
of research and information.
And I bless them
every day for it.
So, thank you.
>> Janet McKinney: We thank you
and the American
people thank you.
All right, everyone,
have a wonderful evening.
Thank you for coming.