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Further, since their Romeo musical then involved a conflict between Jewish and Catholic gangs, Laurents earlier work made him seem the perfect choice to write the libretto.
It is widely known that West Side Story (WSS) is based directly on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (R&J). Far less well known is the fact that Shakespeare based his play (1594) on other material, particularly a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke entitled The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562).
Laurents's work in radio and film during World War II was an excellent apprenticeship for a budding playwright and screenwriter. He also had the good fortune to be based in New York City. His first stage play, Home of the Brave , was produced in 1945.
- Music Division, Library of Congress
- Arthur Laurents Papers, circa 1900-2011
But West Side Story, perhaps one of the most famous adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, exposed audiences to gang violence on the streets of New York. If Shakespeare’s lovers are star-crossed and ill-fated, Tony and Maria are also tragically so.
The playwright and screenwriter Arthur Laurents wrote the books for two true classics of musical theatre, West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959), and directed the hit musical La Cage aux...
- Tom Vallance
Arthur Laurents. “Emotions precede thought, emotions determine thought; plays are emotions.”. This was the guiding principle of American playwright, screenwriter, and stage director Arthur Laurents ( b. Brooklyn, NY, 14 July 1917; d. New York, NY, 5 May 2011 ), whose remarkable career spanned seven decades.
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The groundbreaking musical West Side Story—re-envisioning Romeo and Juliet in the gang-ridden New York of its day—defined a theatrical generation and launched the career of its lyricist Stephen Sondheim. A much-heralded revival is currently playing on Broadway, directed by Arthur Laurents with a score by Leonard Bernstein.
