Richard Rodgers (born June 28, 1902, New York City—died Dec. 30, 1979, New York City) was one of the dominant composers of American musical comedy, known especially for his works in collaboration with the librettists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II.
As a youth Rodgers composed songs for amateur boys’ club shows. In 1918 he entered Columbia University. There he met Hart, with whom he collaborated on Columbia’s varsity show of 1919, Fly with Me. After a year and a half he left Columbia, intending to work full time composing for the musical theatre. He studied composition for two years at the Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard School of Music), New York City, and produced several amateur shows with Hart.
Rodgers and Hart’s first professional success was a revue, The Garrick Gaieties (1925), which included the song “Manhattan.” In 1936 their comedy On Your Toes was produced. This production, with the jazz ballet Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (choreography by George Balanchine), introduced ballet and established serious dance as a permanent part of musical comedy. Among their other collaborations were Babes in Arms (1937), including the songs “My Funny Valentine” and “The Lady Is a Tramp”; I Married an Angel (1938); and The Boys from Syracuse (1938), adapted from Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. Their Pal Joey (1940), adapted by John O’Hara from a series of his short stories, turned away from purely escapist entertainment to serious drama. Too realistic for its time when first produced, it was revived in 1952 with enormous success. Among its songs was “Bewitched.” Their final collaboration, one year before Hart’s death, was By Jupiter (1942).
Oklahoma!Poster for the original Broadway production of the 1943 musical Oklahoma! by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
In 1942 Rodgers began working with Hammerstein on an adaptation of Lynn Riggs’s play Green Grow the Lilacs. The result, the 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning Oklahoma! (1943; film, 1955), enjoyed a then-unprecedented Broadway run of 2,248 performances. Choreographed by Agnes de Mille and including the songs “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” and “People Will Say We’re in Love,” it marked the beginning of a 17-year partnership that ended with Hammerstein’s death. Carousel (1945) and the experimental Allegro (1947) were somewhat less successful, but South Pacific (1949) had a Broadway run almost as long as that of Oklahoma! and won a second Pulitzer Prize (1950). Unusual in its treatment of racial prejudice and skillful matching of music to character, it included the songs “Younger than Springtime,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” and “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair.” There followed The King and I (1951), remarkable for its exotic character; Pipe Dream (1955); The Flower Drum Song (1958); and one of their major successes, The Sound of Music (1959).
Rodgers also wrote the music for the documentary filmVictory at Sea (1952).
The antecedents of the musical can be traced to a number of 19th-century forms of entertainment including the music hall, comic opera, burlesque, vaudeville, variety shows, pantomime, and the minstrel show. These early entertainments blended the traditions of French ballet, acrobatics, and dramatic interludes. In September 1866 the first musical comedy, The Black Crook, opened in New York City. It was later described as a combination of French Romantic ballet and German melodrama, and it attracted patrons of opera and serious drama, as well as those of burlesque shows. In the late 1890s the British showman and entrepreneurGeorge Edwardes brought his London Gaiety Girls to New York City, calling his production musical comedy to distinguish it from his previous burlesques.
Much of American popular music of the first decades of the 20th century was written by European immigrants, such as Victor Herbert, Rudolf Friml, and Sigmund Romberg. They brought a form of operetta to the United States that was, in every sense, the generic source for musical comedy; it was sentimental and melodious and established a tradition of the play based on musical numbers and songs. Romberg’s works, such as The Student Prince (1924) and The Desert Song (1926), were also made into successful motion pictures. George M. Cohan ushered in the heyday of musical comedy with his productions; they introduced such memorable songs as “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” and “I’m A Yankee Doodle Dandy.”
The genre took a new turn with the 1927 production of Show Boat (music by Kern, book and lyrics by Hammerstein); it was the first musical to provide a cohesive plot and initiate the use of music that was integral to the narrative, a practice that did not fully take hold until the 1940s. Based on the novel of the same name by Edna Ferber, the musical presents a serious drama based on American themes, such as racial prejudice, incorporating music that is derived from American folk melodies and spirituals. Among its notable songs is the classic “Ol’ Man River,” the best-known rendition of which is by actor and singer Paul Robeson.
West Side StoryAn advertising poster for the Broadway musical West Side Story(1957) showing Carol Lawrence dancing with Larry Kert.
Many popular stage musicals were successfully transferred to the silver screen. South Pacific (1958) was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning the Oscar for best sound. West Side Story (1961) won 10 Academy Awards out of 11 nominations, making it the most-awarded musical in Oscar history. My Fair Lady (1964), starring Audrey Hepburn, won 8 Oscars out of 12 nominations.
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Musicals as they were known from the 1930s to the 1950s began to expand in concept and scope in the late 1960s. By then, musicals had begun to diverge in many different directions: rock and roll, operatic styling, extravagant lighting and staging, social comment, nostalgia, and pure spectacle. Set in a seedy nightclub, Kander and Ebb’s innovative Cabaret (1966) tells the story of two doomed romances set against the emergence of anti-Semitism and fascism in Germany. A film version of Cabaret (1972) was directed by Bob Fosse, who had choreographed the original Broadway productions of The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), and Sweet Charity (1966). Fosse also choreographed Kander and Ebb’s other great success, Chicago (1975).
Gypsy (1959; lyrics: Stephen Sondheim, music: Jule Styne)
Oliver! (1960; composer: Lionel Bart)
A Little Night Music (1973; composer: Stephen Sondheim)
Annie (1977; lyrics: Martin Charnin, music: Charles Strouse)
Sunday in the Park with George (1984; composer: Stephen Sondheim)
Sunset Boulevard (1993; lyrics: Don Black and Christopher Hampton, music: Andrew Lloyd Webber)
Mamma Mia! (1999; book: Catherine Johnson, music and lyrics: Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus)
The first notable example of the rock musical is Hair (1967), which finds its social dissent in a combination of loud music, stroboscopic lighting, youthful irreverence, and nudity. In a few cases, rock music has been combined with biblical stories, as in Godspell (1971) by Stephen Schwartz and Jesus Christ Superstar (1971) by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Other notable later musicals include Stephen Sondheim’s Company (1970) and Sweeney Todd (1979), Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban’s A Chorus Line (1975), and Lloyd Webber and Rice’s Evita (1978).
The Phantom of the OperaSylvia Rhyne (Christine Daaé, center) performing with the cast of The Phantom of the Opera during a tour of Asia in 1995.
The 1980s featured spectacular musicals with grand sets, elaborate costumes, and impressive special effects. Cats (1981) starred a cast dressed in innovative feline costumes, The Phantom of the Opera (1986) featured a falling chandelier, and a helicopter landed on stage in Miss Saigon (1989). Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Misérables (1980) are among the longest-running musicals ever. Noteworthy works from the 1990s include Jonathan Larson’s Rent (1996) and an adaptation of Disney’s animated film The Lion King (1997), with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice.
During the period from the 1960s through the ’90s, musicals were written about a wide range of themes: Jewish history (Fiddler on the Roof [1964]), homosexuality (La Cage aux Folles [1983]), the AIDSepidemic (Rent), gender identity (Hedwig and the Angry Inch [1998]), the lives of working-class teenagers (Grease [1971]), the experiences of immigrants and minorities in the United States (Ragtime [1996]), and fairy tales (Into the Woods [1986]).
21st century
WickedLucy Durack as Galinda (center left) and Amanda Harrison as Elphaba (center right) performing with the cast of Wicked in Sydney, September 10, 2009.
Popular musicals composed in the 21st century include Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked (2003), which features characters from the classic book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900; written by L. Frank Baum), and The Book of Mormon (2011), with music, lyrics, and book by Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and Robert Lopez. Two works by Lin-Manuel Miranda are prominent by their theme, innovation, and success: In the Heights (2008) is set among the minority community of the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, and Hamilton (2015) offers a hip-hop rendition of the story of Alexander Hamilton and other founding fathers of the United States. Other acclaimed musicals from this period include Spring Awakening (2006), Dear Evan Hansen (2016), and Hadestown (2016).
In addition after a major decline in the number of movie musicals in the late 20th century, the genre made a comeback in the 21st century. This was evident in the number of film adaptations of several stage musicals that were produced in the 2000s and onward. Among these are:
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