When Broadway legend Jerome Robbins conceived the idea of making a musical based on Romeo and Juliet within the context of contemporary New York City gangs, he approached librettist Arthur Laurents with the idea.

The two then joined forces with musical genius Leonard Bernstein to create the now-legendary West Side Story. Making his broadway debut, a 27 year old Stephen Sondheim provided the lyrics.

The show had diffucult birth pangs, losing a producer along the way, but when it opened at New York's Winter Garden Theatre on September 26, 1957, it changed the face of musical theatre forever. The next stop was to head west to make the film version.

West Side Story was first performed on Broadway Sep 26th 1957 and ran for 732 performances.