William Shakespeare -- Romeo and Juliet

How it all began.

Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins --
West Side Story ****

The libretto and lyrics of the original stage musical.

Shakespeare, Laurents, Sondheim, Bernstein, Robbins --
Romeo and Juliet / West Side Story

The source and the product in one volume, with an excellent essay by editor Norris Houghton.

Misha Berson -- Something's Coming, Something Good ***

Misha Berson‘s stated goal of presenting a full-length book for a general readership that surveys the masterwork "from a variety of angles" is expertly achieved in a book that is as entertaining as it is informative. Readers are treated to a thoroughly researched, expertly constructed collection of stories and information, an enjoyable journey from conception to cast recording and beyond. A well-constructed work that will be appreciated by maven and rookie alike.

Geoffrey Block -- Enchanted Evenings ***

Insightful and extensive analysis of fourteen musicals from the so-called Golden Era of Broadway.

Darcie Denkert -- A Fine Romance *

What looks like a standard-issue coffee-table book is in fact a wonderful account of the journey from Broadway to Hollywood for "West Side Story" and eleven other musical productions.

Keith Garebian -- The Making of West Side Story ***

The comprehensive backstage story of the events leading up to the Broadway production.

Otis L. Guernsey, Jr. (ed.)-- Broadway Song and Story **

A round-table conversation with the four original collaborators. Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim discuss their later work in subsequent chapters.

Scott Miller -- From Assassins to West Side Story ***

Must reading for serious musicians and casual readers alike.

Ethan Mordden -- Coming Up Roses ***

The masterwork shines brightly in this insightful and articulate chronicle of 1950s Broadway musicals.

Mark Rigney -- Deaf Side Story **

As if the musical did not present enough inherent challenges, this is the account of a company of young amateurs whose production called for one gang to be deaf, and portrayed by deaf actors. A unique and remarkable experience.

Mary E. Williams (ed.) -- Readings on West Side Story **

Essays and articles about the masterwork, including the scathing film review by Pauline Kael.

The Collaborators

LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Leonard Bernstein -- The Joy of Music *

Leonard Bernstein -- Findings**

Joan Peyser -- Bernstein

Updated edition includes additional material and posthumous tributes.

Nigel Simeone -- Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story ***

A scholarly study of the music of West Side Story is nested inside a thorough and well-presented account of the original production as a whole, from conception to cast recording. You already know some of what is offered, but the author’s meticulous research, new interviews and fresh insights make this book a genuine find.

musicalcriticism.com

ARTHUR LAURENTS

Arthur Laurents -- Original Story by ***

A candid memoir of Broadway and Hollywood.

Review from The Denver Post

Review from Book Magazine

Arthur Laurents -- Mainly on Directing

While he devotes a sizeable word count to the subject of directing, Arthur Laurents’ book appears to be mainly on disparaging former colleagues and collaborators. At age 91, he writes without having lost any of the bite that eventually became synonymous with his name, and some of the most respected figures in the business are under the gun in this sprawling Broadway-and-Hollywood collection of pot-shots. Nevertheless, the theater lover dogged enough to descend into the sludge of gossipy rhetoric and arguably pointless acrimony will ultimately be rewarded by the unvarnished reminiscences of a long-term lion of the Broadway theater, intelligent, witty, incidentally corrosive but never timid or unreliable.

HAROLD PRINCE

Harold Prince -- Contradictions

The 1974 autobiography of West Side Story  producer and frequent Sondheim collaborator.

JEROME ROBBINS

Christine Conrad -- Jerome Robbins, That Broadway Man, That Ballet Man

The life and works of the dance master

Deborah Jowitt -- Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance

A comprehensive account of the man and his achievements in theater and ballet.

Greg Lawrence -- Dance with Demons

An extensive biography of choreographer Jerome Robbins.

Review from BookPage

Amanda Vaill -- Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins

STEPHEN SONDHEIM
Stephen Banfield -- Sondheim's Broadway Musicals **

Sandor Goodhart (ed.) -- Reading Stephen Sondheim: A Collection of Critical Essays

Joanne Gordon -- Art Isn't Easy

Joanne Gordon -- Stephen Sondheim: A Casebook (Casebooks on Modern dramatists)

Mark Eden Horowitz -- Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions *

Meryle Secrest -- Stephen Sondheim, a Life

Stephen Sondheim -- Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) ***

The first volume of Mr. Sondheim’s ambitious undertaking includes notes, commentary, anecdotes, rehearsal and production photos, critiques, and, in the interest of thoroughness, the lyrics to songs cut from his shows. While the cut songs from later works may be familiar to fans of the Sondheim compilations, lyrics to several of the West Side Story cuts appear for the first time in this remarkable volume.

Craig Zadan -- Sondheim & Co. ***

Fiction

Irving Shulman -- West Side Story

A novelization.

Note: Some books 0n this list are not exclusively devoted to West Side Story.

Asterisks (*) indicate books on the Webmaster's top shelf.

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