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 With Stephen Sondheim" (which sold out in three minutes) was hosted by the Academy for New Musical Theatre in Hollywood. An avid fan of games, in 1968 and 1969 Sondheim published a series of cryptic crossword puzzles in "New York" magazine. In 1987 "Time" called his love of puzzlemaking "legendary in theater circles," adding that the central character of Anthony Shaffer's play "Sleuth" was inspired by the composer. According to a rumor (denied by Shaffer in a March 10, 1996 "New York Times" interview), "Sleuth" had the working title "Who's Afraid of Stephen Sondheim?" His love of puzzles and mysteries