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On this day in 1957 "West Side Story" opened at Broadway's Winter Garden Theater for a run of 732 performances. Jerome Robbins first saw his modern "Romeo and Juliet" as a Jewish-Catholic conflict fought on New York City's east side; when the switch was made to Puerto Rican-'American' and the west side, Leonard Bernstein said he started to "hear rhythms and pulses" and "feel the form."
"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear—
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand
And, touching hers, make blessèd my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight,
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
--Romeo from "Romeo and Juliet" (Act 1, Scene 5)
william shakespeare
"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear—
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand
And, touching hers, make blessèd my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight,
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
--Romeo from "Romeo and Juliet" (Act 1, Scene 5)
william shakespeare