Oscar Hammerstein II — Listen for free on Spotify Oscar Hammerstein II Play on Spotify During the '40s and '50s, lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II and composer Richard Rodgers were the most successful composing team on Broadway, writing several long-running shows that were eventually made into movie musicals. Hammerstein was also the second most prolific lyricist of the 20th century, second only to Irving Berlin . Born into a show business family in N.Y.C. on July 12, 1895, as Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein, he later dropped his middle names and adopted the "II." The grandfather he was named after was a theater builder and opera company director, and the lyricist's father worked as the manager of a historic vaudeville theater in New York. As a young man, Hammerstein attended Columbia University and law school and took part in school plays. He later became stage manager in his uncle Arthur's theater and tried his hand -- unsuccessfully -- at writing screenplays. Hammerstein co-wrote songs for Broadway during the '20s with lyricist Otto Harbach, including Showboat (1928) and Sweet Adeline (1929).

He also collaborated with many composers over the years, including George Gershwin and Jerome Kern , but his most prolific and successful period was with composer Richard Rodgers . They teamed up after Rodgers' songwriting partner, Lorenz Hart, became ill and died in 1943. From this time until a year before Hammerstein's passing in 1960, Rodgers & Hammerstein were unmatched creators of smash hit Broadway musicals. Their first big hit was 1943's Oklahoma!, for which they received a Pulitzer Prize. The duo received another Pulitzer for 1949's South Pacific. Rodgers & Hammerstein were also responsible for such wildly successful musicals as The King & I (1951) and The Sound of Music (1959).

Some of Hammerstein's best-known songs include "Ol' Man River," "Lover, Come Back to Me" (1928), "Why Was I Born?" (1929), "All the Things You Are" (1939), "People Will Say We're in Love" (1943), "Some Enchanted Evening" (1949), "Getting to Know You," and "My Favorite Things." Hammerstein produced many of the shows that he scored, and on some he didn't, including Annie Get Your Gun. He is also author of the book Lyrics. ~ Joslyn Layne, Rovi Read More Show less Oscar Hammerstein II Born: July 12, 1895, in New York, New York Died: August 23, 1960, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania Vocations: Lyricist, Playwright, Songwriter Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Doylestown, Bucks County Keywords: Columbia University; The King and I; Oklahoma!; Pulitzer Prize; Richard Rodgers; The Sound of Music; Tony Award Abstract: Oscar Hammerstein II was an influential lyricist and librettist in the American Theater.

Growing up in a show business-driven household, Hammerstein began writing plays and libretti in 1917. He began his career working with Jerome Kern and George Gershwin, and in 1943, he began a 17-year partnership with Richard Rodgers. He wrote the lyrics to many successful musicals, including Show Boat, Oklahoma!, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. Although Hammerstein was born and worked in New York, New York, for much of his career, he settled down and lived in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, for the later portion of his life. Biography: On July 12, 1985, Oscar Hammerstein II was born into a show business family. Residing in New York New York, his father and uncle, Willie and Arthur Hammerstein, were successful theater managers, and his grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein I, was a famous opera impresario. His father was not supportive of his son’s desire to participate in the arts, even though it was the business most of his family was involved in. Because of his father’s decision, Oscar Hammerstein studied at Columbia University, focusing on pre-law.

It was not until his father’s death during his second year at school that Hammerstein began writing lyrics. From here, he began writing and performing in many of their varsity shows. He enjoyed this so much that he dropped out of Columbia University to pursue a career in theater as an assistant stage manager with his Uncle Arthur. In 1917, Hammerstein married a woman named Mary Flynn, with whom he had two children: William and Alice. Not long after the wedding, Hammerstein wrote his first play, The Light. It ran in 1919, but it was stopped after four performances. Hammerstein analyzed what went wrong with his production, and he continued to write plays, lyrics, and librettos to slowly step into the spotlight. His first successful musical was entitled Wildflower; Hammerstein and Otto Harbach wrote the libretto and lyrics and Vincent Youmans composed the music. Beginning in 1923, this simple musical ran over a year because “simple-minded story,” according to Stanley Green. Wildflower was an instant success due to the amazing singing, Italian setting, and unique inclusion of operetta..

Following Wildflower, Hammerstein had the opportunity to work with famous composers, such as Jerome Kern, Rudolph Friml, and Irving Berlin. Through collaborations with these composers Hammerstein won fame and popularity for shows like Rose-Marie, Desert Song, and New Moon. Hammerstein and Kern paired up and wrote several successful musicals over the next decade; the most famous was Show Boat. The dramatic content was strong, and the music gave it a deeper meaning. According to PBS, “Show Boat firmly established Oscar’s success and reputation as a writer and lyricist.” This was the first modern American musical play, and it was accepted instantly by Americans at its world premiere in Washington, D.C. on November 15, 1927. Hammerstein was ecstatic. (Click here to hear a radio essay about Show Boat, part of National Public Radio’s series on the 100 most important musical works of the twentieth century. The file requires Real Player to run.) In 1929, Hammerstein divorced Mary Flynn, his wife of 12 years, and married Dorothy Blanchard Jacobson.

Hammerstein spent much of his time in Hollywood trying to contract various studios, but found he did not work well with the time constraints of movie productions. The last musical he worked on with Kern was Carmen Jones. According to the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, this was a “highly-acclaimed 1943 all-black revision of Georges Bizet’s tragic opera Carmen.” Carmen brought Hammerstein a lot of attention, enhancing his reputation. Shortly after the libretto for Carmen Jones, another Columbia University alumnus, Richard Rodgers, contacted Hammerstein and asked to collaborate with him on a musical adaptation of Lynn Riggs’s book Green Grow the Lilacs. Hammerstein was eager to begin his work with Rodgers. Interestingly, Hammerstein wrote most of the lyrics before Rodgers wrote the score, which is the reverse of how musicals are normally written. Their adaptation was entitled Oklahoma! and released in 1943. Oklahoma! was a unique and beautiful blend of musical comedy and operetta. The musical ran for 2,212 performances in its first Broadway run.

This partnership of Rodgers and Hammerstein was born in 1943, and they “became the most successful team in the entire history of the thatre, as well as the most influential.” This was evident in 1944 when Oklahoma! received a Pulitzer Prize. (Click here to hear a radio essay about Oklahoma!, part of National Public Radio’s series on the 100 most important musical works of the twentieth century. The file requires Real Player to run.) Rodgers and Hammerstein continued working together for 18 years, producing such works as Carousel (1945), Allegro (1947), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), Me and Juliet (1953), Pipe Dream (1955), Flower Drum Song (1958), and The Sound of Music (1959). They wrote one musical specifically for cinema, State Fair, and one for television, Cinderella. The duo received many awards for South Pacific when it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950. South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music all won Tony awards for best musical.

Altogether, Rodgers and Hammerstein earned 35 Tony Awards, 15 Academy Awards, 2 Pulitzer prizes, 2 Emmy Awards, and 2 Grammy Awards. Hammerstein received many personal awards including five honorary degrees. He was also a member of the board of directors for many organizations, including The Dramatists Guild and the Screen Writers’ Guild. According to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, “Hammerstein also served as a mentor to Alan Jay Lerner, and to Stephen Sondheim , who met Hammerstein when he was still very young. Sondheim credits his success with the lyrics to West Side Story to Hammerstein’s influence and guidance.” He was very influential and provided wisdom and guidance to these men. Hammerstein said, “You gotta have a dream. If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true?” He always had a passion for the arts and shared this with all who were interested. Oscar Hammerstein II died on August 23, 1960, at his home in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, of stomach cancer. Because of his accomplishments and contributions to theater, people mourned worldwide when he passed away.

The lights of Times Square in New York City and the West End theatre district in London were dimmed in recognition of his contribution to theater. Works: The King and I (1951) The Flower Drum Song (1958) The Sound of Music (1959) Sources: Bauch, Marc. The American Musical. Marburg, Germany: Tectum Verlag, 2003. “Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II.” Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 2005. 6 Nov. 2005. < Bordman, Gerald. American Musical Comedy. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1982. Fordin, Hugh. Getting to Know Him: A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Random House, 1977. Green, Stanley. Rodgers and Hammerstein Story. New York: The John Day Company, 1963. Mordden, Ethan. Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992. Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2002.

“Oscar Hammerstein II.” PBS. 1998. 6 Nov. 2005. < “Oscar Hammerstein II.” Answers.com. 1999. 9 Nov 2005. < “Oscar Hammerstein II.” Songwriters Hall of Fame. 2000. 9 Nov. 2005. < “Oscar Hammerstein II.” Maurice Abranavel. 15 Oct. 2003. 9 Nov. 2005. “Oscar Hammerstein II.” Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization. 2005. 2 Nov. 2005. < “Oscar Hammerstein II.” Wikipedia. 12 Nov. 2005. 13 Nov 2005. < This biography was prepared by Laura Lombardi, Fall 2005. Oscar Hammerstein II | Biography & History | AllMusic Oscar Hammerstein II Biography by Joslyn Layne Exalted Broadway lyricist who in tandem with Richard Rodgers created some of the greatest musicals of the 1940s & '50s.

google+ Artist Biography by Joslyn Layne During the '40s and '50s, lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II and composer Richard Rodgers were the most successful composing team on Broadway, writing several long-running shows that were eventually made into movie musicals. Hammerstein was also the second most prolific lyricist of the 20th century, second only to Irving Berlin . Born into a show business family in N.Y.C. on July 12, 1895, as Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein , he later dropped his middle names and adopted the "II." The grandfather he was named after was a theater builder and opera company director, and the lyricist's father worked as the manager of a historic vaudeville theater in New York. As a young man, Hammerstein attended Columbia University and law school and took part in school plays. He later became stage manager in his uncle Arthur's theater and tried his hand -- unsuccessfully -- at writing screenplays. Hammerstein co-wrote songs for Broadway during the '20s with lyricist Otto Harbach , including Showboat (1928) and Sweet Adeline (1929).

He also collaborated with many composers over the years, including George Gershwin and Jerome Kern , but his most prolific and successful period was with composer Richard Rodgers . They teamed up after Rodgers ' songwriting partner, Lorenz Hart , became ill and died in 1943. From this time until a year before Hammerstein 's passing in 1960, Rodgers & Hammerstein were unmatched creators of smash hit Broadway musicals. Their first big hit was 1943's Oklahoma!, for which they received a Pulitzer Prize. The duo received another Pulitzer for 1949's South Pacific. Rodgers & Hammerstein were also responsible for such wildly successful musicals as The King & I (1951) and The Sound of Music (1959).

Some of Hammerstein 's best-known songs include "Ol' Man River," "Lover, Come Back to Me" (1928), "Why Was I Born?" (1929), "All the Things You Are" (1939), "People Will Say We're in Love" (1943), "Some Enchanted Evening" (1949), "Getting to Know You," and "My Favorite Things." Hammerstein produced many of the shows that he scored, and on some he didn't, including Annie Get Your Gun. He is also author of the book Lyrics. Oscar Hammerstein II | New Music And Songs | Oscar Hammerstein II About Oscar Hammerstein II During the '40s and '50s, lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II and composer Richard Rodgers were the most successful composing team on Broadway, writing several long-running shows that were eventually made into movie musicals. Hammerstein was also the second most prolific lyricist of the 20th century, second only to Irving Berlin. Born into a show business family in N.Y.C.

on July 12, 1895, as Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein, he later dropped his middle names and adopted the "II." The grandfather he was named after was a theater builder and opera company director, and the lyricist's father worked as the manager of a historic vaudeville theater in New York. As a young man, Hammerstein attended Columbia University and law school and took part in school plays. He later became stage manager in his uncle Arthur's theater and tried his hand -- unsuccessfully -- at writing screenplays. Hammerstein co-wrote songs for Broadway during the '20s with lyricist Otto Harbach, including Showboat (1928) and Sweet Adeline (1929). He also collaborated with many composers over the years, including George Gershwin and Jerome Kern, but his most prolific and successful period was with composer Richard Rodgers. They teamed up after Rodgers' songwriting partner, Lorenz Hart, became ill and died in 1943. From this time until a year before Hammerstein's passing in 1960, Rodgers & Hammerstein were unmatched creators of smash hit Broadway musicals.

Their first big hit was 1943's Oklahoma!, for which they received a Pulitzer Prize. The duo received another Pulitzer for 1949's South Pacific. Rodgers & Hammerstein were also responsible for such wildly successful musicals as The King & I (1951) and The Sound of Music (1959). Some of Hammerstein's best-known songs include "Ol' Man River," "Lover, Come Back to Me" (1928), "Why Was I Born?" (1929), "All the Things You Are" (1939), "People Will Say We're in Love" (1943), "Some Enchanted Evening" (1949), "Getting to Know You," and "My Favorite Things." Hammerstein produced many of the shows that he scored, and on some he didn't, including Annie Get Your Gun. He is also author of the book Lyrics.

~ Joslyn Layne, Rovi Hear more of April 7, 1949 – South Pacific Opened on Broadway | Rhapsody in Books Weblog Rhapsody in Books Weblog Posted on 04/07/2009 by rhapsodyinbooks South Pacific is a 1949 musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, 1948 novel, Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its stories into a single plotline. Two love affairs are chronicled. The first involves Lt. Joe Cable and a young Polynesian girl. The second revolves around Nellie Forbush, a Navy nurse from Little Rock, and Emile de Becque, a French planter with whom she falls in love one enchanted evening. Cable and de Becque go on a dangerous mission behind Japanese lines from which only one of them returns. The musical won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950 for its exploration of racial prejudice.

The original production featured Mary Martin and marked the Broadway debut of Metropolitan Opera basso Ezio Pinza. It opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 7, 1949 and ran for 1,925 performances. The show was nominated for ten Tony Awards and won all of them, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Libretto. It was the only musical production ever to win all four Tony Awards for acting. The 1958 film version, one of the most romantic musicals ever made, featured Mitzi Gaynor as Nellie and Rosanno Brazzi and Emile.

(Brazzi’s singing was dubbed by Metropolitan Opera star Giorgio Tozzi.) Songs include “Bali Hai,” “Honey Bun,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair,” “There Is Nothin’ Like A Dame,” “I’m In Love With A Wonderful Guy,” “Younger Than Springtime,” and “Some Enchanted Evening.” For your viewing pleasure, a montage of excerpts from South Pacific: Share this: Oscar Hammerstein II - Biography - IMDb Oscar Hammerstein II Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trivia (33) | Personal Quotes (8) Overview (5) 6' 3" (1.91 m) Mini Bio (1) Oscar Hammerstein II was born on July 12, 1895 in New York City, New York, USA as Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein. He was married to Dorothy Hammerstein and Myra Finn. He died on August 23, 1960 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA.

Spouse (2) ( 14 May 1929 - 23 August 1960) (his death) (1 child) Myra Finn ( 22 August 1917 - 1929) (divorced) (2 children) Trivia (33) Born at 4:30am-EST Mentor to composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim . His Pennsylvania estate Highland Farms is now a popular bed and breakfast featuring various Hammerstein family memorabilia. Hammerstein was almost excessively generous at times, when giving credit to his fellow lyricists. The song "Bill", used in "Show Boat", was actually from a much older musical, "Oh, Lady! Lady!", and its lyrics were by P.G. Wodehouse . When Jerome Kern and Hammerstein decided to use it in "Show Boat", Hammerstein rewrote half the lyrics to the song, but preferred to let the public think that "Bill" was still entirely the work of Kern and Wodehouse. Thus, in the 1951 film version of "Show Boat" ( Show Boat (1951)), the credits read, "Lyrics for 'Bill' by P.G.

Wodehouse". Stephen Sondheim said of him, "His work tended to make people think of him as an unsophisticated, platitudinous hick, when in fact he was a highly intelligent, strongly principled, and philosophical man.". Unlike his most frequent partners, Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers , Hammerstein came from a distinguished theatrical family. His paternal grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein , was a successful theater and opera impresario, whose Hammerstein Grand Opera Company was a formidable rival to the Metropolitan Opera Company in the early years of the twentieth century. Oscar's father, William Hammerstein, was a successful vaudeville producer, often credited as the inventor of the pie-in-the-face gag, and his uncle, Arthur Hammerstein , was a producer of Broadway musicals and operettas ("The Desert Song", "Rose Marie", "Good Boy"). He is credited, along with two of his collaborators - composers Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers - with developing the "integrated musical", a kind of musical in which the songs furthered the plot and revealed character, rather than just serving as pleasant interruptions to the story.

With Kern he wrote "Show Boat", and with Rodgers he wrote "Oklahoma!", "Carousel", "South Pacific", "The King and I", "Flower Drum Song", the TV musical "Cinderella", "The Sound of Music", and three other shows. They influenced musical theatre writers to the point that nearly every musical on Broadway after 1943 used song and dance to further and enhance the plots of the shows rather than distract the audience from the story lines. Often wrote standing up at a high, antique bookkeeper's desk, a gift from old friend/collaborator Jerome Kern . He always claimed it helped keep his creative juices flowing. He and Richard Rodgers established their own publishing firm, Williamson Music, at the height of their success. The name was an inside joke, both their fathers' given names being William. In addition to their phenomenal success as writers of their own shows, he and Richard Rodgers produced shows by other writers, as well, most notably Irving Berlin 's "Annie Get Your Gun" and John Van Druten 's "I Remember Mama".

Last song written before his death was "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music." It was written at the last minute to provide male lead 'Theodore Bikel' with a solo number, and Bikel has always thought it interesting that the last word that Hammerstein, who knew he was dying, wrote as a lyric was "forever." To this day, actor/folk singer Bikel invariably performs the song at his concerts, always to a warm reception. So far the only man named Oscar ever to win an Oscar. "The King and I" was performed at the London Palladium in 2000 and was nominated for Outstanding Musical Production at the Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards. [2001] His musical "Oklahoma!" won the London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical.

[1998] Won five Tony Awards: three in 1950 for "South Pacific," for his lyrics and book, shared with collaborator Joshua Logan as part of the Best Musical win; as Best Authors (Musical), again shared with Logan; and as Best Producers (Musical), shared with Richard Rodgers , Leland Hayward and Logan; one in 1952, for his book and lyrics with Rodgers' music as part of a Best Musical win for "The King and I;" and one in 1960 for his lyrics as part of a Best Musical win for "The Sound of Music," in a tie with "Fiorello!" He was also Tony-nominated three other times: in 1956, for his book and lyrics and as a co-producer of Best Musical nominee "Pipe Dream;" in 1959 for his lyrics and, collaborating with Joseph Fields , book for Best Musical nominee "Flower Drum Song;" and in 1996, posthumously, for Best Original Musical Score, lyrics only for designated songs that were original and not in the previous film version of "State Fair." The Theatre Guild produced his and Richard Rodgers ' first three stage shows ("

Oklahoma!", "Carousel", and the not-very-successful "Allegro'), and it was the Guild that actually suggested to a reluctant R&H that they make Hungarian dramatist Ferenc Molnár 's play "Liliom" into what became the musical classic "Carousel".

The success of "Oklahoma!" and Carousel" enabled Rodgers and Hammerstein to produce all their other stage musicals themselves. His son, William Hammerstein , was named after Hammerstein's father. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. [1970] Is a member of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical "South Pacific", collaborating with Richard Rodgers and Joshua Logan . [1950] Cousin of Elaine Hammerstein . Richard Rodgers and his musical, "The King and I", at the Porchlight Music Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for the 2011 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Musical Production (Midsize). Richard Rodgers and his musical, "The Sound of Music", at the Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre in Oakbrook, Illinois was nominated for a 2012 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Musical Production (Large). Richard Rodgers and his musical, "South Pacific" at the Marriott Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2013 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Large Musical Production.

Richard Rodgers and his musical, "The King and I" at the Marriott Theatre was nominated for a 1987 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Musical Production. Richard Rodgers and his musical, "The King and I" at the Marriott Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was awarded the 2001 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Musical Production. The 1956 West German film "The Trapp Family" - about the von Trapp family, and its 1958 sequel "Die Trapp-Familie in America" became the most successful films in West Germany during the post-war years. The two films popularity extended throughout Europe and South America. In 1956, Paramount Pictures purchased the United States film rights, intending to produce an English language version with Audrey Hepburn as Maria. The studio eventually dropped their option; but one of the Paramount film studio's directors involved in preliminary development of the film, Vincent J. Donehue, proposed the story as a stage musical for his friend Mary Martin. Broadway producers Leland Hayward and Richard Halliday (Mary Martin's husband) agreed and secured the rights.

Originally envisioned as a non-musical play, they hired playwrights Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, who had won the Pulitzer Prize for "State of the Union," with the play featuring songs from the repertoire of the Trapp Family Singers. Developing the property, Mary Martin agreed with the production team to ask Richard Rogers to add an original song or two by Rogers and Hammerstein. Soon, agreed with the composers Rogers and Hammerstein, the two styles of traditional Austrian folk songs and their two song compositions would not work together. Rogers and Hammerstein offered to write a complete new score for the entire production if the producers were willing to wait while they completed work on "Flower Drum Song." Rogers and Hammerstein based their fictionalized musical on the memoir of Maria Augusta von Trapp, "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers" - published in 1949 by J.B. Lippincott Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The original multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway musical by Richard Rogers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse - "The Sound of Music" - starring Mary Martin (at age 46) and Theodore Bikel (at age 35), opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959, moved to the Mark Hellinger Theatre on November 6, 1962 and closed on June 15, 1963 after 1,433 performances. The director was Vincent J. Donehue, and the choreographer was Joe Layton. The original cast included Mary Martin as Maria, Theodore Bikel as Captain Georg von Trapp, (Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the song "Edelweiss" specifically for him to perform), Patricia Neway as Mother Abbess, Kurt Kaszner as Max Detweiler, Marion Marlowe as Elsa Schrader, Brian Davies as Rolf and Lauri Peters as Liesl. Sopranos Patricia Brooks and June Card were ensemble members in the original production.

The show tied for the Tony Award for Best Musical with "Fiorello!." Other awards included Martin for Best Actress in a Musical, Neway for Best featured Actress, Best Scenic Design (Oliver Smith) and Best Musical Direction (Frederick Dvonch). Bikel and Kasznar were nominated for Tony acting awards, and Donehue was nominated for his direction. The entire children's cast was nominated for Best Featured Actress category as a Tony single nominee, even though two children were boys. Mary's understudy Renee Guerin performed the 'Maria' role with Theodore Bikel during the Broadway run when Mary vacationed from the show. Martha Wright replaced Martin in the role of Maria on Broadway in October 1961, followed by Karen Gantz in July 1962, Jeannie Carson in August 1962 and Nancy Dussault in September 1962. Jon Voight, who eventually married co-star Lauri Peters, was a replacement for Rolf. The national tour starred Florence Henderson as Maria and Beatrice Krebs as Mother Abbess.

It opened at the Grand Riviera Theater, Detroit, on February 27, 1961 and closed November 23, 1963 at the O'Keefe Centre, Toronto. Henderson was succeeded by Barbara Meister in June 1962. Theodore Bikel was not satisfied playing the role of the Captain because of the role's limited singing; Bikel did not like to play the same role over and over again. In his autobiography, he writes: "I promised myself then that if I could afford it, I would never do a run as long as that again." The original Broadway cast album sold three million copies. The musical premiered in London's West End at the Palace Theatre on May 18, 1961, and ran for 2,385 performances. It was directed by Jerome Whyte and used the original New York choreography, supervised by Joe Layton, and the original sets designed by Oliver Smith.

The cast included Jean Bayless as Maria, followed by Sonia Rees, Roger Dann as Captain von Trapp, Constance Shacklock as Mother Abbess, Eunice Gayson as Elsa Schrader, Harold Kasket as Max Detweiler, Barbara Brown as Liesl, Nicholas Bennett as Rolf and Olive Gilbert as Sister Margaretta. "The Sound of Music" was the final musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Oscar Hammerstein II died of cancer nine months after the Broadway premiere (b: July 12, 1895-to-d: August 23, 1960, at age 65). Richard Rodgers and his musical, "The King and I" at the Marriott Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2015 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Large Musical Production. Richard Rodgers and his musical, "The King and I," at the Marriott Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 1987 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Musical Production. "Carousel" was awarded the 1996 Drama Logue Award for Production in the Royal National Theatre production at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

"Show Boat" in the Center Theatre Group production at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California was awarded the 1996 Drama Logue Award for Production. His musical, "South Pacific" in a Lincoln Center Theater production at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California was awarded the 2011 Back Stage Garland Award for Production. His musical, "South Pacific" in a Lincoln Center Theater production at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California was awarded the 2010 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle McCulloh Award for (Shows Written between 1920 and 1980). Richard Rodgers and his musical, "Oklahoma!" at the Paramont Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2016 Joseph Jefferson (Equity) Award for Large Musical Production. Personal Quotes (8) The definition of a producer: An idealist, a realist, a practical dreamer, a sophisticated gambler and a stage-struck child. [about writing "It Might As Well Be Spring" with Richard Rodgers ] I wrote it all out first, and it took me several weeks.

Then I gave it to him, and two hours later he called me up and said, "I've got it". I could have thrown a brick through the phone. Everyone speaks and writes words. Few can write music. It's creation is a mystery. There are mathematical principles to guide the construction, but no mere knowledge of these can produce the emotional eloquence some music attains. We are made sad or happy, romantic, thoughtful, disturbed or peaceful by someone else's singing heart. To me this is a most exciting and inexplicable phenomenon. I should hate to me a music critic with telling people what is good or bad in a musical composition or what are its component elements. One might as well try to explain to a group of children at the seaside the chemistry of salt water and sand, and the source of the sunlight or the breeze that romps with them along the shore. I am not a trained musician. As a librettist, I use music as a tool that a kind composer has given me, but I have no idea where he got it. I do have some idea of how music can affect an audience in a theatre, and only within this limited area, do I consider qualified to discuss the work of Richard Rodgers .

He is essentially a composer for plays. He writes music to depict story and character and is, therefore, himself a dramatist. He is not an abstractionist in any sense and, as far as I can see, he has no interest in the mere creation of sound, however unusual or ingenious. He composes in order to make words fly higher or cut deeper than they would without the aid of his music. His melodies are clean and well-defined. His scores are carefully built, logically allied to the stories and characters they describe. No overgrown forests or weed-clogged meadows of music here, but neat rows of tenderly grown flowers on well-kept lawns. [on Lorenz Hart ] He was always skipping and bouncing. In all the time I knew him, I never saw him walk slowly. I never saw his face in repose. I never heard him chuckle quietly. He laughed loudly and easily at other people's jokes, and at his own too. His large eyes danced and his head would wag. He was alert and dynamic.

[on the potential emergence of new and talented songwriters] Well, I've been around a long time now, and the only thing I can tell you is that it always looks this way - dark and depressing. But somewhere, somebody new always crops up. It may be in a new form, or he may write in a new way - you never can be sure exactly how - but sooner or later a new guy shows up and he comes through. Any professional author will scoff at the implication that he spends his time hoping and waiting for a magic spark to start him off. There are few accidents of this kind in writing. A sudden beam of moonlight, or a thrush you have just heard, or a girl you have just kissed, or a beautiful view through your study window is seldom the source of an urge to put words on paper. Such pleasant experiences are likely to obstruct and delay a writer's work. Nobody waits to be inspired. Aside from my shortcomings as a wit and rhymester - or perhaps, because of them - my inclinations lead me to a more primitive type of lyric.

See also Foothill Music Theatre presents, South Pacific Music by Richard Rodgers & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by James Michener Director, Milissa Carey; Music Director, Mark Hanson; Choreographer, Michael Ryken The Story From the pages of James Michener's Pulitzer Prize winning novel came Rogers & Hammerstein's sweeping epic set on an island paradise during World War II. Winner of 10 Tony Awards in 1950, including Best Musical, the plot follows two parallel love stories threatened by the dangers of prejudice and war. The production was also ground-breaking for its candid and progressive message on racism. The music of South Pacific has become iconic popular standards: Some Enchanted Evening, Younger Than Springtime, I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy, There Is Nothing Like a Dame, Happy Talk, Bali Ha'i and I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair. The show, which was the second longest running on Broadway at the time, spawned a 1958 motion picture and has repeatedly enjoyed success in revivals and tours.

In 2008 it returned to Broadway to wide critical acclaim and nearly 1,000 performances. It would win another seven Tonys that year, including Best Musical Revival. Vividly capturing the emotions of war, the intensity and boredom, the optimism and desperation, and the prejudice and acceptance, this is a story ahead of its time and for all time. Performances Dates:

Question: What was the second Oscar Hammerstein show to win the Pulitzer Prize?
Answer: South Pacific