 The most famous musical theatre adaptation is West Side Story with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim . It débuted on Broadway in 1957 and in the West End in 1958 , and became a popular film in 1961 . This version updated the setting to mid @-@ 20th @-@ century New York City , and the warring families to ethnic gangs . Other musical adaptations include Terrence Mann 's 1999 rock musical William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet , co @-@ written with Jerome Korman , Gérard <unk> 's 2001 Roméo et Juliette , de la Haine à l 'Amour and Riccardo Cocciante 's 2007 Giulietta & Romeo . 
