West Side Story opened on Broadway on September 26, 1957. Leonard Bernstein wrote the music and Stephen Sondheim the lyrics. Arthur Laurents wrote the book. Jerome Robbins directed and choreographed. Two street gangs fight for control of their Manhattan neighborhood. The Jets are white. The Sharks are Puerto Rican.
Early in the show the Jets sing the “Jet Song.” In it they swear loyalty to the gang for life and mock the Sharks. Sondheim later called the song “very mildly threatening and menacing.” The 1961 film won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.