West Side Story Essay Examples

West Side Story was written in 1957 by Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. As the name suggests; it is set on the Upper West Side of New York in the mid-1950s. The musical is a contemporary take on...

West Side Story, written by Arthur Laurents, composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, is a gargantuan work within the world of musical theatre. Drawing inspiration from one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, this comes as little surprise. But which elements of West...

Contextual issues in the 20th century such as Stalin and McCarthyism impacted music immensely. 20th century music was a time where music branched from baroque and romantic to a ‘new classical’ being neoclassical and for many composers it would be difficult to have a particular...

Dance of the Knights is one of the most recognizable pieces in Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. The storyline really drives this scene and the music as during this part in the ballet we see the Capulets and Montagues are locked in conflict. This hostility and...

A famous composer who was born on August 25, 1918 in Lawrence Massachusetts and died on October 14th, 1990. As well as composing, he was an author, pianist, lecturer and TV personality. His most famous theatre works include On the Town, Wonderful Town, Candide, Mass,...

The song “América” which is going to be analysed in this essay belongs to West Side Story, an American musical drama film (1961) directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. This film is a Broadway musical adaptation which is inspired by Romeo and Juliet’s play...