You know his songs, and this would be an appropriate day to listen to some of them or watch the musicals from which they came. On this date n 1895, lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein II was born, the son of an important opera impresario and theatre owner. Oscar II went on to revolutionize musical theatre, first by taking on racism (Ol Man River) and a less than heroic hero in the show Show Boat with composer Jerome Kern. (Mrs. H. grew tired of Mrs. K. basking in the credit and once told her, Your husband wrote Hmm-hmm-hm-hm. MINE wrote OlMan River.) But then came almost a decade of flops till Hammerstein teamed up with old friend/composer Richard Rodgers -- and the rest is history. The results: Oklahoma! (credited with changing the whole sound and look of musicals from operetta-like to more realistic stories and dialogue and songs that better reflected the times;) The King and I; South Pacific; Flower Drum Song; and a long list, ending, of course, with The Sound of Music. Rodgers was, by all accounts, a cold man, but Hammerstein was famously warm and generous, mentoring such later talents as Stephen Sondheim and many great performers. The list of his famous songs could take up most of this page. Go listen!
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 15:48:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015