Editing West Side Story (section)

===Genesis===
In 1949, [[Jerome Robbins]] approached Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents about collaborating on a contemporary musical adaptation of ''Romeo and Juliet''.<ref name=Long /> He proposed that the plot focus on the conflict between an Irish Catholic family and a Jewish family living on the [[Lower East Side]] of [[Manhattan]],<ref name=Long>{{cite book|last=Long|first=Robert Emmet|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rKxJiOAb6LAC&pg=PA96|chapter=West Side Story|title=Broadway, The Golden Years: Jerome Robbins and The Great Choreographer-Directors, 1940 to the Present|location=New York, London|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2001|isbn=0-8264-1462-1|page=96|access-date=January 12, 2022|archive-date=January 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112013454/https://books.google.com/books?id=rKxJiOAb6LAC&pg=PA96|url-status=live}}</ref> during the Easter–[[Passover]] season. The girl has survived the [[Holocaust]] and emigrated from Israel; the conflict was to be centered on [[antisemitism]] of the Catholic "Jets" towards the Jewish "Emeralds" (a name that made its way into the script as a reference).<ref name="Bernstein">[http://www.leonardbernstein.com/studio/element.asp?FeatID=8&AssetID=24 Information from a Leonard Bernstein.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325072207/http://www.leonardbernstein.com/studio/element.asp?FeatID=8&AssetID=24 |date=March 25, 2012}}</ref> Eager to write his first musical, Laurents immediately agreed. Bernstein wanted to present the material in operatic form, but Robbins and Laurents resisted the suggestion. They described the project as "lyric theater", and Laurents wrote a first draft he called ''East Side Story''. Only after he completed it did the group realize it was little more than a musicalization of themes that had already been covered in plays like ''[[Abie's Irish Rose]]''. When Robbins opted to drop out, the three men went their separate ways, and the piece was shelved for almost five years.{{sfn|Laurents|2000|pp=329–330}}<ref>[http://www.westsidestory.com/archives_excerpts.php "Excerpts from Bernstein's West Side Log, see 1949 and 1955"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917184804/http://www.westsidestory.com/archives_excerpts.php |date=September 17, 2011}}, WestSideStory.com, originally published in 1957, accessed August 18, 2011</ref>

In 1955, theatrical producer [[Martin Gabel]] was working on a stage adaptation of the [[James M. Cain]] novel ''[[Serenade (novel)|Serenade]]'', about an opera singer who comes to the realization he is homosexual, and he invited Laurents to write the book. Laurents accepted and suggested Bernstein and Robbins join the creative team. Robbins felt that if the three were going to join forces, they should return to ''East Side Story'', and Bernstein agreed. Laurents, however, was committed to Gabel, who introduced him to the young composer/lyricist [[Stephen Sondheim]]. Sondheim auditioned by playing the score for ''[[Saturday Night (musical)|Saturday Night]]'', his musical that was scheduled to open in the fall. Laurents liked the lyrics but was not impressed with the music. Sondheim did not care for Laurents' opinion. ''Serenade'' ultimately was shelved.{{sfn|Laurents|2000|p=334}}

Laurents was soon hired to write the screenplay for a [[remake]] of the 1934 [[Greta Garbo]] film ''[[The Painted Veil (1934 film)|The Painted Veil]]'' for [[Ava Gardner]]. While in Hollywood, he contacted Bernstein, who was in town conducting at the [[Hollywood Bowl]]. The two met at [[The Beverly Hills Hotel]], and the conversation turned to juvenile delinquent gangs, a fairly recent social phenomenon that had received major coverage on the front pages of the morning newspapers due to a [[Chicano]] turf war. Bernstein suggested they rework ''East Side Story'' and set it in Los Angeles, but Laurents felt he was more familiar with [[Puerto Ricans in the United States]] and [[Harlem]] than he was with [[Mexican Americans]] and [[Olvera Street]]. The two contacted Robbins, who was enthusiastic about a musical with a Latin beat. He arrived in Hollywood to choreograph the dance sequences for the 1956 film ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'', and he and Laurents began developing the musical while working on their respective projects, keeping in touch with Bernstein, who had returned to New York. When the producer of ''The Painted Veil'' replaced Gardner with [[Eleanor Parker]] and asked Laurents to revise his script with her in mind, he backed out of the film, freeing him to devote all his time to the stage musical.{{sfn|Laurents|2000|pp=336–343}} Bernstein and Laurents, who had been [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted]] for alleged communist activities, worked with Robbins even though he had cooperated with the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]].<ref>[[John Rockwell|Rockwell, John]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/books/review/Rockwell.t.html "American Bodies"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308105509/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/books/review/Rockwell.t.html |date=March 8, 2021}}, ''The New York Times'', December 31, 2006. Retrieved August 12, 2019</ref>