lincolncenter:

When Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents originally began to collaborate on an updated version of Romeo and Juliet, their story of romance between an Italian boy and a Jewish girl set in Lower East Manhattan was to be called East Side Story. The project languished and six years later was revived with a more contemporary twist: the boy was Polish-American and the girl was Puerto Rican. The action was relocated to the Upper West Side, near the Lincoln Center, on 86th and Amsterdam, and the musical renamed West Side Story. West Side Story premiered on Broadway in 1957, and was quickly hailed as a landmark.

The film version, directed by Robbins was not far behind. While most of the film was shot on soundstages, the prologue was filmed on the streets of New York. It seems fitting that people who would go on to have such strong professional associations with Lincoln Center (Leonard Bernstein as Music Director of New York Philharmonic and Jerome Robbins, a long time collaborator with New York City Ballet), should help enshrine this important part of Upper West Side history.

In a convergence of old and new, tonight the New York Philharmonic performs the iconic music score live as the film plays on the big screen!