Richard Rodgers – Biography of Richard Rodgers

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Born June 28, 1902 in New York City, Richard Rodgers He was one of the dominant composers of American musical comedy, best known for his works in collaboration with librettists Lorenz Hart and Oscar. Hammerstein II.

In 1918 he entered Columbia University. There he met Hart, with whom he collaborated on the 1919 Columbia university program, Fly with me. After a year and a half he left Columbia, intending to work full time composing for musical theater. He studied composition for two years at the Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard School of Music), in New York City, and produced several amateur shows with Hart.

The first professional success of Rodgers and Hart was a magazine, The Garrick Gaieties (1925), which included the song “ManhattanIn 1936 he produced his comedy On Your Toes. 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 his other collaborations are Babes in Arms (1937), including the songs “My funny valentine” Y “The Lady Is a Tramp”; I Married an Angel (1938); Y The Boys from Syracuse (1938), adapted from The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare.

His Pal joey (1940), adapted by John O’Hara from a series of his short stories, went from purely escapist entertainment to serious drama. Too realistic for the time it was first produced, it was revived in 1952 with enormous success. Among his songs was “BewitchedTheir final collaboration, a year before Hart’s death, was By Jupiter (1942).

In 1942, Rodgers began working with Hammerstein on an adaptation of Lynn Riggs’s play, Green Grow the Lilacs. The result, Oklahoma! (1943; film 1955), winner of the 1944 Pulitzer Prize, enjoyed an unprecedented series of 2,248 Broadway performances. With the choreography of Agnes de Mille and including the songs “Oh what a beautiful morning“,”The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” Y “People Will Say We’re in Love“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 his treatment of racial prejudice and the skillful combination of music with the character, he included the songs “Younger than Springtime“,”Some enchanted evening” Y “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair”. He followed The King and I (1951), notable for its exotic character; Pipe dream (1955); The Flower Drum Song (1958); and one of his greatest successes, The Sound of Music (1959). Rodgers he also wrote the music for the documentary Victory at Sea (1952).