Rodgers And Hammerstein
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Rodgers And Hammerstein
There are many well-known lyricists and composers, but only a few leave such a
mark as Rodgers and Hammerstein. This duo produced nine musical plays during
their partnership and caused a profound change in musical comedy. They set the
standards that are followed to this day in musical history. They created the
modern musical that we all know and love. Before they became Rodgers and
Hammerstein, they were simply Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, both of
New York City. Hammerstein, born in 1895, was brought up in a theatrical family.
His father was an “operatic impresario”, otherwise known as an opera
director or manager. He built the Harlem Opera House(1888) and the Manhattan
Opera House(1906) and also introduced many new singers to the US. From a very
young age Hammerstein II committed to the theater even though his family
discouraged him. As soon as he was old enough to have a job in his father’s
theatrical business, he devoted himself to his duties and learned as much as he
could about play production and the labors of the theater artist. Oscar
eventually teamed up with author Otto Harbach and composer Vincent Youmans to
produce Wildflower. With help from Harbach, Hammerstein began to create
professional material for Broadway. Through Otto Harbach, Hammerstein was led
into collaboration with Jerome Kern for Sunday. He also worked with Herbert
Stothart and George Gershwin on Song of the Flame, a very unsuccessful show. But
despite the shows failure, it did lead Hammerstein to concentrate on creating
operetta in order to integrate musical comedy with opera. With this in mind, he
was able to achieve new standards for success in his career with his lyrics for
The Wild Rose and The Desert Song. By 1927, after a few more productions,
Hammerstein had achieved the technical skill that allowed him to provide a
composer with a functional book and lyrics. This was best shown in Showboat, the
first modern American musical. Showboat was the first show that indicated
Hammerstein’s great talent. Hammerstein was able to create a believable plot,
situation,and characterization. At the forefront of this show was
Hammerstein’s concern for the southern blacks. This show contributed
commentary on racial prejudice which Hammerstein would continually do. This was
a big step for the 1920s and a huge victory when the show was so widely
appreciated. Despite the promise indicated by Showboat, Hammerstein did not
produce works of comparable success ...
The complete article is about 1266 words and 5.06 pages long.
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