TRY-OUTS
News of the forthcoming West Side Story was announced via all the standard media outlets, including this modest single-page handbill that circulated the Washington area for the world premiere of the musical. Note that for this initial preview, Leonard Bernstein still shared co-lyricist credit with Stephen Sondheim, an issue that Mr. Bernstein reportedly resolved on the very next stop of the tour.
The cover of the playbill for the world premiere in Washington DC.
The nature of the cover photo indicates that it might have been intended strictly for publicity purposes, as it patently depicts a scene that neither occurs on stage nor is even suggested by an event in the show. Even being "outside the action," it was nevertheless the most prominent (and often the sole) image chosen to represent the show in this early time, and thus began its long and successful odyssey as the trademark photograph of the musical.
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