Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) was a legend in the classical music world of the 20th century. He was New York’s maestro, known for his Broadway works, like “Peter Pan,” “Candide,” “On the Town,” “Wonderful Town,” and, most notably, “West Side Story.” He was born to Russian immigrant parents and quickly took an interest in music, specifically…

The new film adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical play “West Side Story” opened Dec. 10 to the conundrum of rave reviews and limp box office. Why director Steven Spielberg decided that the highly celebrated, Oscar-winning 1961 film of this musical needed remaking is anyone’s guess. If his purpose was to update the script to…