As long as love, hatred, and conflict remain in the world, West Side Story will remain an important, timeless, and relevant work. One of the largest and most culturally significant themes throughout the play is racism and violence. This is expressed through the conflict between the Sharks and Jets which comes to symbolize the conflict between Puerto Ricans and poor whites in New York City during the 1950's and can be applied on a broader level to symbolize racial tension in general.

Jerome Robbins proposed the idea for writing a musical based on Romeo and Juliet to Leonard Bernstein in January of 1949. In August of 1955, the idea of two teenage gangs as the warring factions, one of them newly-arrived Puerto Ricans, the other self-styled "Americans", was finalized. In November, 1955 Stephen Sondheim joined the project as lyricist. A year and a half later, rehearsals began for the Broadway premiere of West Side Story.

West Side Story was ground breaking for its time. The show opened at a time when Broadway audiences expected musicals to be lighthearted comedies. Yet West Side Story is a tragedy with several major characters dying. Act 1 ends with two dead bodies onstage, and the second act ends with another death and a ‘silent curtain’.

The strong fusion of each creative aspect also sets this musical apart. Edward Saint noted that: “The creative team was stellar: playwright Arthur Laurents, who later wrote Gypsy and the screenplays for The Way We Were and The Turning Point; composer Leonard Bernstein, who also wrote the music for Candide and Wonderful Town; director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, who later staged Gypsy and Fiddler on the Roof; and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who made his Broadway debut. Each one of those four creators went on to extraordinary careers. They were basically four geniuses at the height of their youthful powers. Bernstein wrote the most glorious music, but so many elements of the show are fantastic: the singing, the dancing, the lyrics, the music, the book. To have that all in one show sets it apart.”

The reference to racial tension was highlighted by the fusion of Western and Latin American music. Bernstein also incorporated Jazz and Avant-Garde musical elements which was very uncommon for musicals of the time.