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West Side Story: Steven Spielberg Reveals He Wanted to Cut ‘I Feel Pretty’
Steven Spielberg reveals how Tony Kushner prevented him and Stephen Sondheim from axing “I Feel Pretty” in West Side Story.

By David Crow

The West Side Story song “I Feel Pretty” is one of the most popular pieces of the American songbook. Over the decades, it’s been played at birthday parties, weddings, and even in Adam Sandler movies. Yet it’s no secret that the song has its share of critics, chief among them being its late great lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who for decades would sheepishly admit he was embarrassed by the song. In the most recent Broadway revival of the Leonard Bernstein and Sondheim musical, iconoclast stage director Ivo van Hove even cut “I Feel Pretty” altogether (much to Sondheim’s delight).
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