West Side Story. That musical, written by Arthur Laurents with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, premiered in 1957, three years after the House shooting. It was first conceived as a Romeo-and-Juliet story about a Jewish woman and a Catholic man (flying initially under the unappetizing title Gang Bang). But the creative team, seeking relevance, swapped out the Jews for Puerto Ricans. Sondheim was nervous. “I can’t do this show,” he protested at first. “I’ve never even known a Puerto Rican.”
