Richard Rodgers

Richard Rodgers, composer and Oscar Hammerstein II librettist/lyricist joined forces in 1943 to create the most consistently productive and successful partnership in the American musical theatre. Oklahoma!, the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, was also the first of a new genre, the musical play, blending Rodgers' sophisticated style of musical comedy with Hammerstein's innovations in operetta. A milestone in the development of the American musical, it also marked the beginning of the most successful

The dynamic partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein are often considered to have fathered of the “golden age” of musical theater; a distinct and radical departure in musical story telling that had not previously been conceived. Their first venture, Oklahoma!, was inspired by the 1931 stage play, Green Grow the Lilacs, by Cherokee author, poet, and playwright, Rollie Lynn Riggs. Despite the success of this musical adaptation, one must consider Oklahoma! in relation to its source material;

Essay 2: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s impact on American Musical is unfathomable. Their methods are still praised to this day, and idealized when creating a musical today. Their formula for musicals was that the song was the servant of the play. They would create the music to a play first, then let the plot follow. They did not need to capture crowds like other musicals by getting a known star to be on their show. Their shows were a mixture plots with mature themes, and all aspects of

Oklahoma! Is the first musical that was written by both Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers, or commonly known as the pair “Rodgers and Hammerstein”. Written in 1906 and produced in 1943 on Broadway; the pair wrote this musical revolving around the love stories of various people living in Oklahoma territory when there was a very firm grip on gender roles, especially the presence of male domination. Oklahoma! Supplies the audience with heavy acts of male domination in various dance numbers like

well-known lyricists and composers, but none of them have left a mark on the theatre world like Rodgers and Hammerstein. The duo produced eleven musicals during their partnership and made an extensive change in musical comedy. They set a new standard that are still followed to this day in musical history. Before they became the Rodgers and Hammerstein, they were Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers, both of New York City. Oscar Hammerstein II was born on July 12, 1895. He was brought up

Hammerstein forged ahead with his writing. In 1920, he collaborated with a Columbia undergraduate named Richard Rodgers in writing a Varsity Show called Fly with Me. Not long after, Hammerstein dropped out of grad school at Columbia to concentrate his efforts entirely on musical theater. Lorenz Hart was 7 years older than Richard Rodgers, who was only 16 when they began their musical collaboration, with Rodgers acting as the composer and Hart as the lyricist. Manhattan was their 1925 breakthrough hit, and

Many people have probably heard of a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. They wrote the music and lyrics for many theatre classics, including The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, The King and I, Carousel and South Pacific. Since their collaboration in the 1940’s and 1950’s, their musicals have been viewed by many, and their songs have become classics. Although they were not the only innovators in musical theatre, Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote many popular musicals,used new techniques, and won many awards;

people in the performing arts pushed their audiences to reconsider their prejudices and assumptions regarding classification and disparate treatment of people based on race. Broadway’s and Hollywood’s most famous musical theater writing team, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein Jr., both reflected and powerfully commented upon these racial tensions in two of their most famous musicals: The King and I and South Pacific. These musicals reached immense

Richard Rogers Richard Charles Rodgers was a great composer. He learned to play the piano as a toddler. Rodgers inherited his love of the theater from his family. He composed his first melody at summer camp. By the age of 15, he had chosen musical theater as his profession. In 1918 Rodgers was thrilled to be accepted to Columbia University, where he would write for the school's famous Varsity Show, an annual production. Richard Rogers's elder brother, Mortimer, with whom he had rivaled as a kid,

The New York Times once quoted Rodgers saying that Oklahoma was “neither an opera nor an operetta.” Rodgers’ believed that the music strayed too far from traditional opera to be considered opera, and yet the show was more than just a musical because of its integrated storytelling. Prior to the release of Oklahoma!, American