The Greatist Recordings of all Time

47."AMERICA"-WEST SIDE STORY

Bernstien/Sondhiem

After being tested to generally enthusiastic audience's the reveloutionary musical
"West Side Story" was poised for opening night on broadway on Sept. 26th,1957 at the
winter garden theatre in New York City.
"West Side Story" was a very differant kind of musical than New York audiences
were used too to seeing.So there was alot of tension in the air for both the cast and the
audience.Would "West Side Story" play in New York? For nearly an hour the audience
sat completely still-not making a single sound.The producers started to think they had
made a big mistake but just as they were ready to throw in the towel and call it a flop-
Chita Rivera belted out the first verse of "America" and suddenly the New York audience
came alive ! "I want to live in America,O.K. by me in America".West Side Story was a hit-
Bigtime.