The ultra-classic musical, co-directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, stars Natalie Wood as the lovely Maria and Richard Beymer as her star-crossed lover Tony, surrounded by switchblade-carrying gangs led by Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. Leonard Bernstein's soaring, instantly memorable score, with lyrics by a young Stephen Sondheim, stands as one of the finest ever written for the American musical theater.