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West Side Story (2021) #1507
FILM
Disk
2h 36m An adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. |
| 2 |
West Side Stories - The Making of a Classic (2016) #961
DOCUMENTARY-MUSIC
Main
1 hour. BBC. West Side Story is one of the best-loved musicals of all time. A modern-day Romeo and Juliet, its timeless story and exhilarating dance and music continue to excite audiences around the globe. Songs such as Maria, Somewhere, Tonight and America have all become some of the biggest hits in showbusiness. And yet, West Side Story had an uneasy birth and was even turned away by producers when it was first put together in the 1950s by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents. Now, as the world prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of West Side Story in 2017, dancer Bruno Tonioli and broadcaster Suzy Klein go in search of the true stories behind the inception of this classic show. For the first time on television, they hear first-hand from those involved in the show when it opened on Broadway in September 1957, including Sondheim himself, producer Hal Prince and original cast members from both show and movie, including Chita Rivera Carol Lawrence and Rita Moreno. With the BBC Symphony Orchestra and specially cast singers, we re-live some of the wonderful music and, in the company of Suzy and Bruno, we discover how West Side Story placed the 1950s phenomena of racial tension and teenage gangs centre stage to create a hit that changed musical theatre forever. |
| 3 |
Bernstein – Stage and Screen (2015) #657
MUSIC
Main
2 hours. BBC Proms. John Wilson and his orchestra are an annual Proms highlight, bringing the glitz and glamour of old-time stage and screen to the Royal Albert Hall. The second of their two performances this year is all about Leonard Bernstein – America’s multitalented conductor, pianist and composer. He reinvented the musical with the anger, energy and feral beauty of West Side Story, his updated take on Romeo and Juliet. A starry cast of soloists including Proms favourite Julian Ovenden and the West End’s Louise Dearman join the John Wilson Orchestra and Maida Vale Singers for a tribute to the composer that includes Bernstein’s biggest hits as well as a selection of rarities. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e89v2m |
| 4 |
Imagine: Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy (2013) #770
DOCUMENTARY
Main
90mins. BBC. For generations of Jewish songwriters, the bright lights of Broadway have been a catalyst for transformation. New York's musical theatres offered a chance for those who had fled persecution and oppression to make it big in America. On Broadway, the idea of outsiders beating the odds could be dramatised in a uniquely American art form, with melodies derived from Jewish prayers inspiring catchy new songs that tens of millions around the world would come to embrace. imagine... looks at the unique role Jews have played in creating the modern American musical, from Porgy and Bess to West Side Story and Cabaret. Featuring performances by Broadway's most creative talents, plus a medley of amazing archive footage and interviews, the film explores the work of some of America's pre-eminent musical maestros - including Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Jule Styne. |
| 5 |
Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story (1985) #1520
DOCUMENTARY
Main,Disk
90 mins. A documentary which shows, in great detail, the making of the 1985 Bernstein-conducted recording of the entire score of "West Side Story", featuring operatic stars. |
| 6 |
West Side Story (1961) #513
FILM
Main
Directed by Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise. With Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn. Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy. |
| 7 |
West Side Story (1961) #1299
FILM
Special
Directed by Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise. With Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn. Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy. Courtesy of The Daily Mail. ** Turns out this is the AUDIO soundtrack - and there are doubts about whether that works... |