West Side Story Suite

In 1995 – almost forty years after his great musical West Side Story opened on Broadway – Jerome Robbins decided to distill and reshape it into a dance work for New York City Ballet. The result is an electrifying and moving ballet that both shadows the original and stands alone as a thrilling original.

Once again we are galvanized by the glorious music of Leonard Bernstein, the brilliant lyrics of Stephen Sondheim (Yes! The dancers sing!), and the tragic arc of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. And we experience a new, deeply felt spiritual culmination that reminds us of just how groundbreaking, how unique, West Side Story was. Like the show that inspired it, like the Oscar-winning movie version that followed, West Side Story Suite has been a tremendous hit from the day of its premiere.

Premiere: Feb. 14, 2014, Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami, FL.

*West Side Story Suite is used by arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., Sole Agent for Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company LLC, publisher and copyright owner. 

 Performed by permission of the Robbins Rights Trust.

Choreography by Jerome Robbins

Co-choreographed by Peter Gennaro

Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim*

Staged by Jean-Pierre Frohlich

Costume Design by Irene Sharaff

Set Design by Oliver Smith

Scenic Supervision by Rosario Sinisi

Lighting Design by Jennifer Tipton

Recreated by Les Dickert