America (West Side Story song) America (West Side Story song) “America” is a song from the musical "West Side Story". Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics and Leonard Bernstein composed the music. In the original stage version, Anita – the most important female character after Maria and the girlfriend of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks – praises America while a fellow Puerto Rican immigrant, Rosalia, supports Puerto Rico. This version of the song deprecates the island and highlights the positive qualities of American life ("I’ll drive a Buick through San Juan/If there’s a road you can drive on"). The irony of this supposedly pro-American number,
Stephen Sondheim Gabriel Ebert, Sara Stiles, Michael Cerveris and Jennifer Simard. The working title was reported to be "Buñuel" by the New York Post and other outlets, but Sondheim later clarified that this was an error and that they still had no title. As of August 2018, no dates regarding the musical had been announced. The Kennedy Center held a Sondheim Celebration, running from May to August 2002, consisting of six of Sondheim's musicals: "Sweeney Todd", "Company", "Sunday in the Park With George", "Merrily We Roll Along", "Passion" and "A Little Night Music". On April 28, 2002, in connection with the Sondheim