Stephen Sondheim suggested evening the percentage at two percent each, but Sondheim refused because he wanted the credit. Sondheim later said he wished "someone stuffed a handkerchief in my mouth because it would have been nice to get that extra percentage". After "West Side Story" opened, Shevelove lamented the lack of "low-brow comedy" on Broadway and mentioned a possible musical based on Plautus' Roman comedies. When Sondheim was interested in the idea he called a friend, Larry Gelbart, to co-write the script. The show went through a number of drafts, and was interrupted briefly by Sondheim's next project. In 1959, Sondheim was
Walk on the Wild Side (David and Bernstein song) Walk on the Wild Side (David and Bernstein song) "Walk on the Wild Side" originated as the title song of the 1962 film as performed by Brook Benton over the film's coda and closing credits. Lyrics were written by Mack David and music was by Elmer Bernstein. The two earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. The song evokes the jazz and gospel music musical styles of the film's New Orleans setting, and the reputation of its Storyville district. It addresses an unnamed straying Christian — or perhaps all who and seems to threaten them in terms understood within