Broadway 1957

West Side Story opened at the Winter Garden Theater in New York on September 26, 1957, after preview engagements in Washington DC and Philadelphia. Reviews were generally favorable and the show was well-received by audiences. However business slumped at one point and the producers, fearing the show would not play through a second summer, booked the National Tour, thus closing on Broadway in June of 1959 (prematurely, some thought, as business had already picked up even before the closing was announced). The demand for tickets and the success of the road company was enough for the producers to consider an unusual "Return Engagement" at the close of the tour. Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert, now billed above the title, re-opened the show at its original Winter Garden home, playing for another eight months in 1960. [Top row l-r: Carol Lawrence, Larry Kert, Chita Rivera. Second row l-r: Mickey Calin, Ken Le Roy, Lee Becker. Below: Jerome Robbins]

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