Gateway Scores: West Side Story

When the question came, “What was the score that really pushed you over the edge to get into this field?” I found myself at somewhat of a loss. My gosh, I thought, there are so many, and they all just blur together, I can’t think of any in particular. But no. There is one that stands out. I’m almost embarrassed to talk about it, because it goes so far back, to 1961. West Side Story – scored by Leonard Bernstein. Now, West Side Story wasn’t originally a film — it was a Broadway musical, based on a novel, in turn based on Romeo and Juliet. But it was a huge success when it came to…