For his 40th and final score, Richard Rodgers turned to a play he and Oscar Hammerstein II had produced on Broadway 35 years earlier. John Van Druten’s 1944 hit I Remember Mama, about a Norwegian family’s survival in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, had become a modern classic. Rodgers’ collaborators, Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan, were riding high after the success of … Read More
Rex
Richard Rodgers’ sole collaboration with lyricist Sheldon Harnick, Rex is a musical retelling of the life of Henry VIII and the ascent of his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. With a book by Sherman Yellen, the musical was billed as a “musical play,” though the score contains 14 original songs. The show premiered on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on April … Read More
Two by Two
Richard Rodgers entered his seventh decade of writing for the theatre with this fresh retelling of the Biblical story of Noah. Two by Two premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on November 10, 1970. Directed by Joe Layton, the production starred Danny Kaye and featured Marilyn Cooper, Joan Copeland, Harry Goz, Madeline Kahn, Michael Karm, Tricia O’Neil and Walter … Read More
Do I Hear A Waltz?
This musical adaptation of The Time of the Cuckoo, a bittersweet romance set in Venice, was a unique collaboration of three giants of the musical theatre: Richard Rodgers, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim. The only collaboration between Sondheim and Rodgers, the musical premiered on Broadway in the spring of 1965. A modest hit, it played 220 performances and received multiple … Read More
On Your Toes
Rodgers & Hart’s Broadway hit, a combination of musical comedy, jazz and ballet, introduced several of their most popular tunes, including “There’s A Small Hotel” and “Glad to Be Unhappy.” Directed by the legendary George Abbott and choreographed by newcomer George Balanchine, this landmark musical featured two extensive ballet sequences, marking an early example of musical comedy incorporating dance as … Read More
The Boys from Syracuse
Twins! More twins! Lovers – chased and chaste! The first musical ever adapted from Shakespeare remains one of the most madcap musical farces ever to animate the stage. Featuring American standards like “Falling in Love with Love,” “Sing for Your Supper” and “This Can’t Be Love,” The Boys from Syracuse remains a treasure in the canon of the American Songbook. … Read More
Carmen Jones
Following the immense success of Oklahoma!, Oscar Hammerstein II returned to a passion project – a visionary feat – resetting Bizet’s Carmen in a Southern wartime parachute factory, featuring an all-Black cast. With the admiration and assistance of Broadway’s most spectacular producer, Billy Rose, Carmen Jones made its landing at the Broadway Theatre. A little over a decade later, the … Read More
Pal Joey
This penultimate Rodgers & Hart collaboration introduced the first anti-hero to propel a musical. One of the first Broadway shows to transition the American musical into a fine art form, Pal Joey was innovative in its honest, dark framing of complex characters from Chicago’s nightlife scene. Arguably ahead its time, Pal Joey featured many beloved standards of the American songbook, … Read More
Babes in Arms
Hailed as one of the finest musical comedies of its era, Babes in Arms introduced several songs into the American Songbook, including “My Funny Valentine,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” “Where or When,” “Johnny One-Note” and “I Wish I Were in Love Again.” The quintessential “let’s put on a show” musical was adapted into a hit MGM film starring Judy … Read More
Show Boat
Based on Edna Ferber’s classic American novel, 1927’s lyrically masterful Show Boat, by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, is the most-recorded musical of all time. The first show of its kind, Show Boat presented complex characters grappling with timely, realistic themes woven into a substantial plot. Spanning the years from 1880 to 1927, the epic narrative concerns the lives, … Read More