On life, perfection, and West Side Story

Let’s take people out of the picture for the moment. One of the best THINGS about life is perfection (and overlooking the small imperfections in perfection).

I love music and musicals. I was listening to West Side Story last night and I realized how I (really the human species in general) admire perfection; a perfect flower, a perfect day, a perfect meal, a perfect figure, a perfect face …a perfect song. West Side Story has many of those. They make life wonderful just for having heard them. If you haven’t seen the movie or listened to the Broadway cast recording lately, you owe it to yourself to do so. It’s an old story; Shakespeare didn’t invent it – it may be as old as mankind. That’s probably why it’s so universally poignant and meaningful. But what is truly amazing, truly perfect, is Leonard Bernstein’s score. He created songs and melodies that, to this day, are part of us. How many hundreds of performers have sung “Tonight” and “Somewhere?” How many thousands of weddings have played “One Hand, One Heart?” How often does someone snap their fingers and someone else breaks into “When you’re a Jet?” Perfection!

Listen to Bernstein’s melodies. Listen to Sondheim’s lyrics. How much more perfect could they be? To me the mark of a great musical is whether or not people hum or whistle or sing the tunes from it. West Side Story is certainly one of those musicals.

When my life is ending, I will be so very sad and scared to leave behind the people I love. But I will also miss tasting a perfect meal, seeing a perfect figure, photographing a perfect flower, breathing perfect ocean air, feeling the warmth of the sun on a perfect day, and hearing the perfect melodies of West Side Story.