Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composerRichard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatistOscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential Americanmusicals. Their musical theater writing partnership has been called the greatest of the 20th century.[1]
Their popularBroadway productions in the 1940s and 1950s initiated what is considered the "golden age" of musical theater.[2] Five of their Broadway shows,Oklahoma!,Carousel,South Pacific,The King and I andThe Sound of Music, were outstanding successes, as was the television broadcast ofCinderella (1957). Of the other four shows the pair produced on Broadway during their lifetimes,Flower Drum Song was well-received, and none was a critical or commercial flop. Most of their shows have received frequent revivals around the world, both professional and amateur. Among the many accolades their shows (and film versions of them) garnered were 34Tony Awards,[3] fifteenAcademy Awards, twoPulitzer Prizes (forOklahoma!, 1944, andSouth Pacific, 1950) and twoGrammy Awards.
AtColumbia University, Rodgers and Hammerstein collaborated on the 1920Varsity Show,Fly With Me. The songs for the show were originally written by Rodgers (a freshman) andLorenz Hart. Hammerstein, who was on the judging committee, added two songs in the revising stage. The three men collaborated again on the 1921 Varsity Show,You'll Never Know, with Hammerstein as "Director of Production".[4] Although Rodgers did not work with Hammerstein again untilOklahoma!, they achieved success independently from each other. Rodgerscontinued to collaborate for more than two decades with Hart. Among their manyBroadway hits were the showsA Connecticut Yankee (1927),Babes in Arms (1937),The Boys from Syracuse (1938),Pal Joey (1940), andBy Jupiter (1942), as well as many successful film projects.[5]
Hammerstein, a co-writer of the popularRudolf Friml 1924 operettaRose-Marie, andSigmund Romberg operettasThe Desert Song (1926) andThe New Moon (1928), began a successful collaboration with composerJerome Kern onSunny (1925), which was a hit. Their 1927 musicalShow Boat is considered to be one of the masterpieces of the American musical theater.[6] Other Hammerstein/Kern collaborations includeSweet Adeline (1929) andVery Warm for May (1939). Although the last of these was panned by critics, it contains one of Kern and Hammerstein's best-loved songs, "All the Things You Are".[7]
By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk deeper into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.[8]
Independent of each other, Rodgers and Hammerstein had been attracted to making a musical based onLynn Riggs' stage playGreen Grow the Lilacs. WhenJerome Kern declined Hammerstein's offer to work on such a project and Hart refused Rodgers' offer to do the same, Rodgers and Hammerstein began their first collaboration. The result,Oklahoma! (1943), marked a revolution in musical drama. Although not the first musical to tell a story of emotional depth and psychological complexity,Oklahoma! introduced a number of new storytelling elements and techniques. These included its use of song and dance to convey and advance both plot and character, rather than act as a diversion from the story, and the firm integration of every song into the plot-line.
Oklahoma! was originally calledAway We Go! and opened at the Shubert Theatre inNew Haven on March 11, 1943. Only a few changes were made before it opened on Broadway, but three would prove significant: the addition of ashow-stopping number, "Oklahoma!"; the deletion of the musical number "Boys and Girls Like You and Me", which was soon replaced with a reprise of "People Will Say We're in Love"; and the decision to re-title the musical after the song.
The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943, at theSt. James Theatre. Although the typical musical of the time was usually written around the talents of a specific performer, such asEthel Merman orFred Astaire, no stars were used in the production. Ultimately the original cast includedAlfred Drake (Curly),Joan Roberts (Laurey),Celeste Holm (Ado Annie),Howard Da Silva (Jud Fry),Betty Garde (Aunt Eller),Lee Dixon (Will Parker) and Joseph Bulloff (Ali Hakim).Marc Platt danced the role of "Dream Curly", andKatharine Sergava danced the part of "Dream Laurey". InOklahoma!, the story and the songs were considered more important than sheer star power. Nevertheless, the production ran for a then-unprecedented 2,212 performances, finally closing on May 29, 1948. Many enduring musical standards come from this show, among them "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'", "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top", "I Cain't Say No", the aforementioned "People Will Say We're in Love", and "Oklahoma!". The popularity of these songs prompted Decca Records to have the original cast record the music from the show with the original orchestrations. This became the first musical to have an original cast recording, which is now a standard practice.[9]
In 1955, it was made into anAcademy Award-winningmusical film, the first feature shot with theTodd-AO70 mmwidescreen process. The film starredGordon MacRae andShirley Jones, andits soundtrack was No. 1 on the 1956 album charts.[10][11]
After their initial success withOklahoma!, the pair took a break from working together and Hammerstein concentrated on the musicalCarmen Jones, a stage version ofBizet'sCarmen with the characters changed toAfrican Americans in the contemporary South, for which he wrote the book and lyrics. The musical was adapted to the screen in 1954, and scored aBest Actress Oscar nomination for leading ladyDorothy Dandridge. Rodgers and Hammerstein also received a specialPulitzer Prize in 1944 forOklahoma!.[12]
The original production ofCarousel was directed byRouben Mamoulian and opened at Broadway'sMajestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, running for 890 performances and closing on May 24, 1947. The cast includedJohn Raitt,Jan Clayton,Jean Darling,Christine Johnson andBambi Linn. From this show came the hit musical numbers "The Carousel Waltz" (an instrumental), "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", and "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Carousel was also revolutionary for its time – adapted fromFerenc Molnár's playLiliom, it was one of the first musicals to contain a tragic plot about an antihero;[13] it also contained an extended ballet that was crucial to the plot, and several extended musical scenes containing both sung and spoken material, as well as dance. The 1956film version ofCarousel, made inCinemaScope 55, again starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, the same leads as the film version ofOklahoma!
Carousel is also unique among the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals for not having an overture; both the stage and film versions began with the familiarCarousel Waltz. This music was included inJohn Mauceri'sPhilips Records CD of the complete overtures of Rodgers and Hammerstein with theHollywood Bowl Orchestra. It was also included in Rodgers' rare 1954 album forColumbia Records with the composer conducting theNew York Philharmonic Orchestra.[14]
In 1945, aTechnicolormusical film version ofPhil Stong's novelState Fair, with songs and script by Rodgers and Hammerstein, was released. The film, a remake of a 1933 non-musicalWill Rogers film of thesame name, starredJeanne Crain,Dana Andrews,Dick Haymes, andVivian Blaine. This was the only time the pair ever wrote a score directly for film. It was a great success, winning Rodgers and Hammerstein their loneOscar together, for the song "It Might as Well Be Spring",[15] but it was also unadventurous material for them, compared with several of their Broadway shows. In 1962, anunsuccessful remake of the musical film was released.
In 1969, theSt. Louis Municipal Opera presented the world stage premiere ofState Fair starringOzzie and Harriet Nelson.[16] The production was directed byJames Hammerstein, supervised by Richard Rodgers and choreographed by Tommy Tune.State Fair finally arrived on Broadway on March 27, 1996, withDonna McKechnie andAndrea McArdle, produced byDavid Merrick, and received five Tony Award nominations.
South Pacific opened on Broadway on April 7, 1949, and ran for over five years. Its songs "Bali Ha'i", "Younger Than Springtime", and "Some Enchanted Evening" have become standards. The play is based upon two short stories byJames A. Michener from his bookTales of the South Pacific, which itself was the winner of thePulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948. For their adaptation, Rodgers and Hammerstein, along with co-writerJoshua Logan, won thePulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950. The song "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" was controversial due to its support ofinterracial marriage. Rodgers and Hammerstein refused to remove it from the show, even if it meant the show failing. When the show was touring in Atlanta, Georgia, it offended some Georgian lawmakers, who proposed a bill to outlaw any entertainment they deemed to be inspired by Moscow.[17]
In the original production,Mary Martin starred as the heroine Nellie Forbush, and opera starEzio Pinza starred as Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner. Also in the cast wereJuanita Hall,Myron McCormick andBetta St. John. The1958 film version, also directed by Logan, starredMitzi Gaynor,Rossano Brazzi,John Kerr,Ray Walston, andJuanita Hall. Brazzi, Kerr, and Hall had their singing dubbed by others.
Based onMargaret Landon'sAnna and the King of Siam—the story ofAnna Leonowens, governess to the children of KingMongkut ofSiam in the early 1860s—Rodgers and Hammerstein's musicalThe King and I opened at theSt. James Theatre on Broadway on March 29, 1951, starringGertrude Lawrence as Anna and the mostly unknownYul Brynner as the king. This musical featured the hit songs "I Whistle a Happy Tune", "Hello, Young Lovers", "Getting to Know You", "We Kiss in a Shadow", "Something Wonderful", "I Have Dreamed", and"Shall We Dance?"
The King and I was followed byMe and Juliet, which opened at theMajestic Theatre on May 28, 1953. WhenOklahoma! returned to Broadway on August 31, 1953, withThe King and I,Me and Juliet andSouth Pacific all still playing, Rodgers and Hammerstein had four shows appearing on Broadway at once.[18]
The King and I was adapted for film in 1956 with Brynner re-creating his role oppositeDeborah Kerr (whose singing was largely dubbed byMarni Nixon). Brynner won anOscar asBest Actor for his portrayal, and Kerr was nominated asBest Actress. Brynner reprised the role twice on Broadway in 1977 and 1985 and in a short-lived TV sitcom in 1972,Anna and the King.
Based on the fairytale character and story ofCinderella, Rodgers and Hammerstein created their only collaborative effort written for television.Cinderella aired on March 31, 1957, onCBS. More than 107 million viewers saw the broadcast, andJulie Andrews was nominated for anEmmy Award for her performance in the title role.[19][20][21] Rodgers and Hammerstein originally signed to work withNBC, but CBS approached them, offering the chance to work with Julie Andrews, and the two quickly agreed. Rodgers stated, "What won us over was the chance to work with Julie." Andrews played Cinderella, withEdith Adams as the Fairy Godmother,Kaye Ballard andAlice Ghostley as stepsisters Joy and Portia, andJon Cypher as Prince Christopher. Though it was broadcast in color, and the major networks all had the new (B&W) videotape recorders from Ampex, a black and whitekinescope is all that remains. It featured songs still treasured today, "In My Own Little Corner", "Ten Minutes Ago" and "Impossible: It's Possible." After the success of the 1957 production, another version was presented in 1965 and shown annually on CBS, starringLesley Ann Warren,Stuart Damon,Celeste Holm andWalter Pidgeon. Yet another television version first airedin 1997 onABC, produced byWalt Disney Television, starringBrandy,Whitney Houston,Bernadette Peters, andWhoopi Goldberg. Stage versions were also presented in London and elsewhere, and the musical was finally given a Broadway production, with a revised book byDouglas Carter Beane, and incorporating four songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein catalog, in 2013.
Based on a 1957 novel byC. Y. Lee,Flower Drum Song takes place inSan Francisco's Chinatown in the late 1950s. The original 1958 production was directed by dancer/singer/actorGene Kelly. The story deals with a young Chinese woman who illegally comes to America in hopes of marrying a wealthy young Chinese-American man, who is already in love with a Chinatown nightclub dancer. The young man's parents are traditional Chinese and want him to marry the new Chinese immigrant, but he is hesitant until he falls in love with her. Though this musical did not achieve the popularity of the team's five most famous musicals, it was nevertheless a success and broke new ground by using a mostly Asian cast. The1961 film adaptation was a lavish, but much criticized,Ross Hunter production released byUniversal Studios.[22] A Broadway revival in 2002 starringLea Salonga had a rewritten plot by playwrightDavid Henry Hwang but retained the inter-generational and immigrant themes as well as most of the original songs.
The Sound of Music, Rodgers and Hammerstein's last work together, is based on the story of the AustrianVon Trapp Family. StarringMary Martin as Maria andTheodore Bikel as Captain von Trapp, it opened on Broadway at theLunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959, garnering much praise and numerous awards. It has been frequently revived ever since. The show was made into afilm in 1965 starringJulie Andrews as Maria andChristopher Plummer as the Captain. It won fiveOscars, includingBest Picture andBest Director,Robert Wise. Hammerstein died in August 1960, before the film was made, so when Rodgers was asked to create two new songs for the film ("I Have Confidence" and "Something Good"), he wrote the lyrics as well as the music.[23]The Sound of Music contains more hit songs than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, and the film version was the most financially successful film adaptation of a Broadway musical ever made. The most enduring of these include thetitle song, "Do-Re-Mi", "My Favorite Things", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "So Long, Farewell" and "Sixteen Going on Seventeen". "Edelweiss" was the last song that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote together.[24]
Rodgers and Hammerstein re-worked the musical theater genre. Early 20th-century musicals, except for thePrincess Theatre musicals and a few important examples like Hammerstein andJerome Kern'sShow Boat, were usually whimsical or farcical, and typically built around a star. Because the efforts of Rodgers and Hammerstein were so successful, many musicals that followed contained thought-provoking plots with mature themes, and in which all the aspects of the play, dance, song, and drama were combined in an integrated whole.Stephen Sondheim has cited Rodgers and Hammerstein as having had a crucial influence on his work.[25]
Rodgers and Hammerstein also use the technique of what some call the "formula musical". While some hail this approach, others criticize it for its predictability. The term "formula musical" may refer to a musical with a predictable plot, but it also refers to the casting requirements of Rodgers & Hammerstein characters. Typically, any musical from this team will have the casting of a strong baritone lead, a dainty and light soprano lead, a supporting tenor lead, and a supporting alto lead. Although there are exceptions to this generalization, it simplifies the audition process and gives audiences an idea of what to expect vocally from a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. However, this formula had been used in Vienneseoperetta, such asThe Merry Widow.
William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird wrote thatOklahoma!, "likeShow Boat, became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship toOklahoma!"[26] InThe Complete Book of Light Opera, Mark Lubbock adds, "AfterOklahoma!, Rodgers and Hammerstein were the most important contributors to the musical-play form – with such masterworks asCarousel,The King and I andSouth Pacific. The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own."[1]
In 1950, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein receivedThe Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."[citation needed] They were also honored in 1999 with aUnited States Postal Service stamp commemorating their partnership.[citation needed] TheRichard Rodgers Theatre in New York City is named after Rodgers.Forbes named Rodgers and Hammerstein second on its list of top-earning dead celebrities in 2009 at $235 million.[27] In 2010, the original film arrangements of the team's music were restored and performed atthe Proms concerts in London'sRoyal Albert Hall by theJohn Wilson Orchestra.[28]
Arevue of Rodgers and Hammerstein's songs,A Grand Night for Singing, played on Broadway in 1993.[29]
Rodgers and Hammerstein appeared on live telecasts several times. They were guests on the very first broadcast ofToast of the Town, the original name ofThe Ed Sullivan Show, when it debuted onCBS in June 1948.[citation needed] In 1954, they appeared on a memorable TV musical special,General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein.[citation needed] They were the mystery guests on episode number 298 ofWhat's My Line, which first aired on February 19, 1956; blindfolded panelistArlene Francis was able to correctly identify them.[30]
The pair made a rare feature film appearance in MGM's 1953 productionMain Street to Broadway, in which Rodgers played the piano and Hammerstein sang a song they had written.[31] They also appeared in the trailer for the film version ofSouth Pacific in 1958.[citation needed]
While Rodgers and Hammerstein's work contains cheerful and often uplifting songs, they departed from the comic and sentimental tone of early 20th-century musicals by seriously addressing issues such asracism,sexism andclassism in many of their works.[32][33] For example,Carousel concerns domestic violence,[34] whileSouth Pacific addresses racism.[35] Based on the true story of the von Trapp family,The Sound of Music explores the views of Austrians on theAnschluss, the takeover of Austria byNazi Germany in March 1938.[36]
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