Bernstein felt film of West Side Story was an ‘albatross’
‘He did mention it from time to time. It was a frustration. But you can’t really get to complain about having a gigantic success’
LEONARD BERNSTEIN felt that the film of West Side Story was an “albatross around his neck”, his daughter has said.
The musical, inspired by Romeo and Juliet and featuring warring gangs the Jets and the Sharks, includes songs such as I Feel Pretty, Tonight and Somewhere, written by Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
The original 1957 Broadway production was turned into a hit film, starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer, four years later and it won 10 Oscars including Best Picture.
However, Bernstein’s daughter Jamie said her father had mixed feelings about the musical’s success.
She told the Radio Times: “It became a sort of albatross around his neck.
“He had to work all the harder to get people to focus on his other works, especially his symphonic works.”
“He spent his whole life wishing he could write the great American opera … but many people will say that West Side Story is the great American opera.”
She gave her stamp of approval to Steven Spielberg’s new adaptation, which will be released in cinemas next month, saying: “[A] huge improvement is that the Sharks and all their relatives are actually [played by] Latinxs, mostly Puerto Ricans. That was not the case in the first film, and the peculiar orange make-up...was very problematic.”
Stephen Sondheim, the American composer behind West Side Story, has died aged 91. Sir Cameron Mackintosh, theatrical producer, said theatre had lost “one of its greatest geniuses” and the world “one of its greatest and most original writers”.