Cool (West Side Story song) Cool (West Side Story song) "Cool" is a song from the musical "West Side Story". Leonard Bernstein composed the music and Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics. This song is known for its fugal treatment of a jazz figure, described by one writer as "possibly the most complex instrumental music heard on Broadway to date". In 2011, actor Harry Shum Jr. performed the song, as his character Mike Chang from TV series "Glee", in the third episode of season 3, "Asian F" (aired on October 4). An episode of "Animaniacs" features a parody version as "Coo Bird" sung by Bobby of
Stephen Sondheim show won several Tony Awards (including best musical), he did not receive a nomination. Sondheim had participated in three straight hits, but his next show – 1964's "Anyone Can Whistle" – was a nine-performance failure (although it introduced Angela Lansbury to musical theatre). "Do I Hear a Waltz?", based on Arthur Laurents' 1952 play "The Time of the Cuckoo", was intended as another Rodgers and Hammerstein musical with Mary Martin in the lead. A new lyricist was needed, and Laurents and Rodgers' daughter, Mary, asked Sondheim to fill in. Although Richard Rodgers and Sondheim agreed that the original play did