Rare West Side Story OBC Footage

[1971FolliesFan]

Posted: 9/23/15 at 10:41am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOtqeq4ezUE - Rare colour footage from 1960 after the tour, when it returned to the Winter Garden Theatre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq-87KXE9wE - 2 TV performances from 1957 and 1958 and footage from opening night. 

 

Hope you enjoy this! 

[c0113g3b0y]

Posted: 9/23/15 at 11:18am

never seen the color footage before. what a treat. many thanks!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/23/15 at 12:01pm

Wow! Thank you for sharing this super rare color silent home movie footage of the original production's Broadway return engagement. It was breathtaking getting a color glimpse of The Dance at the Gym, the "Somewhere" ballet and a large chunk of "I Feel Pretty". Carol Lawrence was such a delight. Even without sound, she's magical to watch.

And for those curious ones, that is Allyn Ann McLerie as Anita. She was one of Adolph Green's former wives.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/23/15 at 12:14pm

 

Breathtaking.

 

[1971FolliesFan]

Posted: 9/23/15 at 12:54pm

Yes, it's wonderful to watch. I believe the numbers featured in the coloured film are "The Dance at the Gym", "Maria", "One Hand, One Heart", "I Feel Pretty", a dialogue scene following "I Feel Pretty", "Somewhere", "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love". 

[lovebwy]

Posted: 9/23/15 at 1:57pm

Wow. The original cast of West Side Story only existed to me in black and white. Right up till this moment. Thank you for sharing that invaluable footage.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/23/15 at 4:45pm

W-O-W!!!

[lovebwy]

Posted: 9/23/15 at 5:24pm

Anyone know who's playing Anita? It seems not to be Chita.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/23/15 at 5:36pm

^Someone gave that info in the third post

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/24/15 at 1:47pm

That colour footage is new to me too--thank you so much!

I love the performance of Cool on Ed Sullivan that the cast did in 1960 when they returned as well and wish it was easier for others to see (they endless show the Balcony scene clip.)

[1971FolliesFan]

Posted: 9/24/15 at 2:33pm

I'm so happy that many of you are enjoying this. I'm just sorry that I don't have footage of Chita Rivera in it; Jordan Catalano said there was a set of footage that was 11 minutes long. Maybe she's in that?

[HorseTears]

Posted: 9/24/15 at 2:49pm

This is amazing.  Thanks for posting this (and everything else you post, too), FolliesFan.  Yeah, it would be wonderful to see some of Chita's dancing from Broadway or the West End.  Such a shame that Chita's Anita in motion is lost to time.  

Updated On: 9/24/15 at 02:49 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/24/15 at 4:03pm

And for those curious ones, that is Allyn Ann McLerie as Anita. She was one of Adolph Green's former wives.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/24/15 at 5:23pm

I was wrong about when the Cool performance happened.  My VHS copy is in better condition but a watchable version was uploaded to Youtube since the last time I looked. 

Apparently it was performed before the better known Balcony scene performance:

"Because Jerome Robbins would not allow any scenes from West Side Story to be performed on television during the show’s first year, Sullivan had to wait. On September 14th 1958, a week shy of the show’s first anniversary, the cast performed a minimalist, yet smooth, performance of “Cool” with Hank Brunjes leading the pack as Riff. That night was a big evening for the musical as the nation got a preview of this critically acclaimed show. In addition, the director and master choreographer, Jerry Robbins, was introduced by Sullivan. After the live show, Sullivan gave the only tape of the performance to Robbins. It remained unseen until 2008, when researchers found it while preparing an American Masters program on Robbins.

West Side Story returned to the Sullivan stage a few months later when Broadway leads Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert were guests. On November 2nd 1958, they performed the balcony scene on The Ed Sullivan Show stage and sang “Tonight” as Maria and Tony. The power of Sullivan as an outlet was obvious, as Lawrence recalled, after performing that evening, “it was just lines around the block” with people waiting to purchase tickets to the show. “It was as if the American public as a whole had gotten a taste of it and then everybody coming to New York had to see our show. We ran to standing room only as a result of Mr. Sullivan’s exposure.” "

(From an Ed Sullivan site that lists what you can license from them.)

Updated On: 9/24/15 at 05:23 PM

[Miserent]

Posted: 9/24/15 at 10:43pm

What a phenomenal treat!! I swear, though, I'll sell one of my limbs to see footage of Chita in this show. Maybe because it's such a legendary performance and all I can seem to find are production photos, but I have been DYING for even a few seconds of footage of her performance. I'd probably weep to see her dance "America".