Tonight (1956 song) Tonight (1956 song) "Tonight" is a popular song with music written by Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and was published in 1956. It was introduced in the Broadway musical "West Side Story." The movie version, featuring vocals by Marni Nixon (dubbing Natalie Wood) and Jimmy Bryant (dubbing Richard Beymer), finished at #59 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. The song was revived in 1961 on single records in versions by Ferrante & Teicher (#8 pop, #2 easy listening) and Eddie Fisher, whose version narrowly missed the Top 40. Shirley Bassey recorded
Stephen Sondheim in the off-Broadway revue "The Mad Show". The song was credited to "Esteban Ria Nido", Spanish for "Stephen River Nest", and in the show's playbill the lyrics were credited to "Nom De Plume". That year Goldman and Sondheim hit a creative wall on "The Girls Upstairs", and Goldman asked Sondheim about writing a TV musical. The result was "Evening Primrose", with Anthony Perkins and Charmian Carr. Written for the anthology series "ABC Stage 67" and produced by Hubbell Robinson, it was broadcast on November 16, 1966. According to Sondheim and director Paul Bogart, the musical was written only because Goldman