West Side Story opened to great acclaim on September 26, 1957 at the Winter Garden, where it played 732 performances, and was subsequently revived several times on Broadway and around the country. Though there are many recorded versions of the percussive score available, the original cast album, with its fresh, spontaneous performances, remains the standard by which all others are measured.

TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Film and Broadway Score

Rated 11/11 Music and 11/11 Sound by Michael Fremer (Analog Planet)

Featured in Vinyl Gourmet Audiophile TOP 100
 

• 2LP 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl
• Pressed & Plated at RTI, USA
• Cut From Original 3-Track Tapes
• Cut by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound
• Stoughton Printing old style tip-on Gatefold Cover
• Includes rare photos from original recording sessions

Cut from the original 3-track tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. Legendary 1957 stereo recording spread across 2LPs for the first time. Produced by Goddard Lieberson and recorded by Fred Plaut and Edward T. Graham at Columbia 30th Street Studio. Stoughton old style tip-on gatefold jacket includes rare photos from the original recording sessions and 2LP 180-gram vinyl pressed and plated at RTI.

Much has been written about West Side Story, which began as a transmogrification of Romeo and Juliet as a feud between the Jews and Gentiles living on the East side in modern-day New York, only to morph into a confrontation between two street gangs, one American the other Puerto Rican, on the upper West side of the city. Initially, Leonard Bernstein, its composer, was to have written both music and lyrics, but Stephen Sondheim was eventually brought in to handle the latter. With Arthur Laurents contributing the book, and Jerome Robbins devising the staging, the show opened to great acclaim on September 26, 1957 at the Winter Garden, where it played 732 performances, and was subsequently revived several times on Broadway and around the country. But it was the film version, made three years later with Natalie Wood as Maria, that ensured its popularity worldwide. Though there are many recorded versions of the percussive score available, the original cast album, with its fresh, spontaneous performances, remains the standard by which all others are measured.

Track Listing:

LP 1 Side A
1. Prologue - West Side Story Ensemble
2. Jet Song - Mickey Calin
3. Something's Coming - Larry Kert
4. The Dance At the Gym -West Side Story Ensemble
5. Maria - Larry Kert

LP 1 Side B
1. Tonight - Larry Kert, Carol Lawrence
2. America - Chita Rivera, Marilyn Cooper
3. Cool - Mickey Calin
4. One Hand, One Heart - Larry Kert, Carol Lawrence

LP 2 Side C
1. Tonight (Quintet & Chorus) - Chita Rivera, Larry Kert, Carol Lawrence, Mickey Calin, Ken Le Roy
2. The Rumble - West Side Story Ensemble
3. I Feel Pretty - Carol Lawrence, Marilyn Cooper, Elizabeth Taylor, Carmen Gutierrez
4. Somewhere (ballet) - Larry Kert, Reri Grist, Carol Lawrence

LP 2 Side D
1. Gee, Officer Krupke - Grover Dale, Eddie Roll, Hank Brunjes, David Winters, Tony Mordente
2. A Boy Like That / I Have A Love - Chita Rivera, Carol Lawrence
3. Finale - Larry Kert, Carol Lawrence

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