Album cover of Symphonic Dances From West Side Story; Symphonic Suite From On The Waterfront by Leonard Bernstein; New York Philharmonic with a scene from the rooftop dance

I Feel a Song Coming On…

American History, Photography and Art

I confess. I like Musicals.

Well Camelot and West Side Story and maybe The Sound of Music;
of the three, my favorite is West Side Story.

Everything about West Side Story is great.

The Hollywood Reporter said in its 1961 review:

West Side Story is a magnificent show, a milestone in movie musicals, a box-office smash. It is so good that superlatives are superfluous. Let it be noted that the film musical, the one dramatic form that is purely American and purely Hollywood, has never been done better.

Here is my favorite dance sequence from what I consider the most brilliant musical ever filmed.

 

Bright red cover art for West Side Story: The Original Sound Track Recording by Leonard Bernstein; Stephen Sondheim
West Side Story: The Original Sound Track Recording
by Leonard Bernstein; Stephen Sondheim

Cover art found on the Internet Archives and presented here for educational purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

23 thoughts on “I Feel a Song Coming On…”

  2. I like musicals, too. Some really corny ones by today’s standard (Calamity Jane is one of my favorites). Camelot was great and so was the Sound of Music. I’m ashamed to say I never saw West Side Story. Some day I’m going to have remedy that.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I understand West Side Story is being remade. The racial discussion is timely.

      When I think about it, West Side Story reflects a culture of adults who used the arts to discuss questions of justice.

      12 Angry men comes to mind.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Angry_Men_(1957_film)

      When I was younger I dismissed the older generation based on what I saw as it’s failures.

      But they did a damned good job of holding themselves accountable for those failures.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. So true. I watched 12 Angry Men as well, I’m a classic film buff. Surprisingly there were quite a few films that raised awareness to social injustice. To Kill A Mockingbird comes to mind . I recently heard that a particular school district in New England is trying to ban that book from the schools libraries, A required reading for high school students when I was in school.

        Liked by 1 person

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