Rodgers and Hammerstein and the Making of the Modern Musical

Overview: Richard Rodgers and Oscar
Hammerstein II were the undisputed kings of
musical theater in the mid-20th century. Each had
already enjoyed successful careers on Broadway
and in movies before their groundbreaking first
collaboration, Oklahoma!, in 1943. Although their
creative partnership lasted only 17 years, their
brilliance, talent, and vision forever altered the
landscape of the American musical. As experimental
innovators, sentimental romantics and astute
businessmen, Rodgers and Hammerstein redefined
the American musical.

July 16: Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’—Beginnings
and Revolutions
Composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz
Hart had written some of the greatest Broadway
hits of the 1920s and 1930s. Oscar Hammerstein
had provided lyrics and librettos to operettas
before he and Jerome Kern gave birth to the 1927
phenomenon Show Boat. This lecture will explore
why Rodgers and Hammerstein, both in search
of new partners and new projects, decided to
collaborate on an adaptation of a failed 1930 play by
Lynn Riggs, Green Grow the Lilacs.

July 30: June is Bustin’ Out All Over but
The Gentlemen Is a Dope—Glory and Failure

Their next production, Carousel, established the
duo as a force with which to be reckoned. However,
their subsequent show, Allegro, Hammerstein’s
attempt to write an original, serious musical drama,
proved problematic with both critics and audiences
and demonstrated why adapting existing works
was a surer approach to musical theater success.
They also discovered that producing their shows
guaranteed greater control and profits.

August 13: You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught...
so... Shall We Dance?

After the failure of Allegro, the pair returned to
more familiar territory, adapting South Pacific and
The King and I from successful works by other
writers. In both, they explored their fascination with
Orientalism and continued to reap the rewards,
although not every show in this period was a
success.

August 27: A Hundred Million Miracles Must End;
Therefore... So Long, Farewell

Their last two Broadway shows were Flower Drum
Song and The Sound of Music. More than 60 years
later, their hit shows are still wildly popular and
frequently revived; their songs are foundational to
the canon of musical theater; their films (especially
The Sound of Music) are shown regularly; and their
innovations remain fundamental to the evolution
of musicals. Hammerstein passed the baton when
he mentored an aspiring teenage writer, Stephen
Sondheim, who became the most esteemed
composer and lyricist of his generation.