In a career that spans six decades, director Steven Spielberg has worked in nearly every genre of cinema but until now he never created a musical featuring dance performances. It is just that much more remarkable that his West Side Story has become another celebrated achievement in his illustrious career. Featuring a young cast of mostly unknown actors, from a gritty screenplay penned by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tony Kushner, the film was unquestionably a very risky proposition for Mr. Spielberg and his team one that brought together seasoned veteran colleagues, including cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, along with relatively new additions like Tony Award-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell, and Oscar-winning production designer Adam Stockhausen.
From his childhood, Mr. Spielberg revered the original Broadway cast album of West Side Story, as well as the 1961 film adaptation directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Anyone bold enough to produce a contemporary film playing off the pedigree of the original 1957 stage production would be faced with challenges that even the bravest filmmaker would find intimidating. From an original score by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a book Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Anyone bold enough to produce a contemporary film playing off the pedigree of the original 1957 stage production would be faced with challenges that even the bravest filmmaker would find intimidating. From an original score by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a book written by Arthur Laurent(derived in part from
