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New Book: The Cambridge Companion to West Side Story
Posted January 14, 2025
The Cambridge Companion to West Side Story
Editors:
Paul R. Laird, University of Kansas
Elizabeth A. Wells, Mount Allison University, Canada
Contributors:
William A. Everett, Helen Smith, Phoebe Rumsey, John M. Clum, Steve Swayne, Laura MacDonald, Paul R. Laird, Katherine Baber, Jane Barnette, Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz, Erica K. Argyropoulos, Elizabeth A. Wells, Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins, Dustyn Martincich, Martin Nedbal, Emily Abrams Ansari, Anne Searcy, Gonzalo Fernández Monte, Aino Kukkonen
Date Published: January 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781108747752
Over sixty years after its opening night, West Side Story is perhaps the most famous and beloved of twentieth-century musicals and stands as a colossus of musical and dramatic achievement. It not only helped define a generation of musical theatre lovers but is among the handful of shows that have contributed to our understanding of American musical identity at mid-century. Bringing together contemporary scholars in music, theatre, dance, literature, and performance, this Companion explores this explosive 1950s remake of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and its portrayal of the raw passion, rivalries, jealousy and rage that doom the young lovers to their tragic fate. Organised thematically, chapters range from Broadway's history and precursors to West Side Story; the early careers of its creators; the show's score with emphasis on writing, production, and orchestrations; issues of class, colourism, and racism; New York's gang culture, and how the show's legacy can be found in popular culture throughout the world.
- A contemporary approach to a timeless work, and the first book written for students about this important musical
- Provides a rich multidisciplinary perspective on this important American artwork from an array of contemporary scholars
- Demonstrates how West Side Story has retained its popularity, significance, and resonance today
Contents:
Part I. Before 'West Side Story':
1. Performing social relevance in the American Musical before 'West Side Story' William A. Everett
2. Bernstein on Broadway Helen Smith
3. In anticipation of 'West Side Story': the confluence of styles, genres, and influences in the early choreography of Jerome Robbins Phoebe Rumsey
4. Arthur Laurents before 'West Side Story' John M. Clum
5. Sondheim the kid Steve Swayne
6. For a small fee in America: producing 'West Side Story' Laura MacDonald
Part II. The Work Itself and Its Context:
7. The score: creation, orchestration, unification, and analysis Paul R. Laird
8. Un-Gendering 'Somewhere': women's agency and redemption in 'West Side Story' Katherine Baber
9. Shakespeare in the city: adapting 'Romeo and Juliet' Jane Barnette
10. 'West Side Story' and the Hispanic problem Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz
11. 'West Side Story' and the intersections of class, colourism, and racism Erica K. Argyropoulos
12. The real gang history of New York Elizabeth A. Wells
Part III. The Legacy:
13. 'West Side Story' and the voice Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins
14. 'West Side Story'/suite: Jerome Robbins's Choreo-Directing on Broadway, Hollywood, and ballet stages Dustyn Martincich
15. Exoticism, race, and the Broadway musical in the 'City of Waltzes': Marcel Prawy's 1968 'West Side Story' production at the Vienna Volksoper Martin Nedbal
16. 'West Side Story' abroad as an American icon Emily Abrams Ansari, Anne Searcy, Paul R. Laird, Gonzalo Fernández Monte, Elizabeth Wells, and Aino Kukkonen