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,
The Sondheim Review Managing Editor of the "Review", established the website "Everything Sondheim" in 2016, envisioned as a "go-to source of news, information, commentary and analysis for musical theater enthusiasts who admire the works and career of composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim". Operation of "Everything Sondheim" ceased on December 31, 2017 as the "anticipated financial model did not succeed". On January 4, 2018 it was announced that Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va., had acquired EverythingSondheim.org. Signature’s Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer plans to "continue to publish new and original content, including articles, videos, production listings, puzzles, quizzes and more starting in Winter 2018”. The