Rodgers & Hammerstein 101

OLLI Fall Semester 2019 • Alan Teasley, Instructor

Class 8 • State Fair (1945), Victory at Sea (1952), Cinderella (1957), Flower Drum Song (1958)

Today’s Opening Number(s)

[5:39]

Spoiler Alert: Contains an Oscar Winner!

Goals of the Course

You will:

Be familiar with the 10 Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musicals (and be able to hum at least one song from each!)

Know about the careers of these men both before and after their partnership

Understand the innovations that made this team’s shows revolutionary in the 1940s and 1950s

Enjoy Rodgers and Hammerstein’s many contributions to the Great American Songbook

R&H Chronology

1945 State Fair (film)—Today 1952 Victory at Sea (TV)—Today 1953 Me and Juliet 1955 Pipe Dream 1957 Cinderella (Live TV)—Today 1958 Flower Drum Song—Today 1959 The Sound of Music—Class 9

State Fair (1945): Background

• 1932: Novel by Phil Strong • 1933: Non-musical film with Will

Rogers, Janet Gaynor & Lew Ayres • 1945 film directed by Walter Lang • Starred Jeanne Crain & Dana

Andrews (singing for both dubbed) as main couple

• As secondary couple, Dick Haymes and Vivian Blaine had been well known big band singers

State Fair (1945): Songs

• “Our State Fair” • “It Might As Well Be Spring” • “That’s For Me” • “It’s A Grand Night for Singing” • “Isn’t It Kind Of Fun?” • “All I Owe Ioway”

State Fair: 1962 Remake

• Directed by José Ferrer • Starred Bobby Darin & Pamela Tiffin in

the “older” roles with Pat Boone & Ann-Margret as the secondary couple

• Relocated to Texas State Fair • Rodgers added 5 songs:

• “Never Say No to a Man” • “Willing and Eager” • “This Isn’t Heaven” • “The Little Things in Texas” • “More Than Just a Friend”

State Fair: Stage Productions

• 1969 by the Muny in St. Louis • Starred Ozzie and Harriet Nelson • Directed by James Hammerstein • Choreographed by Tommy Tune • Added 3 songs from Me and Juliet plus

“Away from Home”

• 1992 by the NC School of the Arts • Directed & choreographed by Randy Skinner • Moved to Long Beach Civic Light Opera,

toured extensively, and played the Iowa State Fair in 1995

State Fair Makes It to Broadway in 1996

• Co-Directed by James Hammerstein & Randy Skinner (also Choreographer)

• Starred John Davidson (as the father) Andrea McArdle as Margy, and Donna McKechnie as Emily

• Final show produced by David Merrick • Received a Tony nomination for Best Score • Added songs:

• “When I Go Out Walking With My Baby” (cut from Oklahoma!)

• “So Far” and “Driving at Night” (from Allegro) • “You Never Had It So Good” (from Me and

Juliet)

Victory at Sea (1952)

• TV documentary film about WWII warfare, particularly naval battles

• Total running time is 13 hours, broadcast in 26 half-hour episodes

• Rodgers contributed 12 “themes”—short piano compositions

• Robert Russell Bennett arranged, orchestrated, and composed additional music

• Episode 10 is titled “Beneath the Southern Cross”

Flower Drum Song (1958)

• Source: Novel by C. Y. Lee • Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II • Score: Richard Rodgers • Book: Hammerstein & Joseph Fields • Director: Gene Kelly • Choreographer: Carol Haney • Set Design: Oliver Smith • Costume Design: Irene Sharaff • Cast: Larry Blyden, Pat Suzuki, Miyoshi

Umeki, Juanita Hall, Ed Kenney

Flower Drum Song (1961 Movie)

• Screenplay: Joseph Fields, based on novel by C. Y. Lee (OH2 uncredited)

• Director: Henry Koster • Choreographer: Hermes Pan • Costumes: Irene Sharaff • Cast: Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta,

Benson Fong, Jack Soo, Juanita Hall, Reiko Sato, Miyoshi Umeki

Flower Drum Song (2002 Revival)

• Book: David Henry Hwang (based on 1958 book by OH2 & Joseph Fields)

• Hwang was allowed to change dialogue but not Hammerstein’s lyrics

• Director/Choreographer: Robert Longbottom

• Cast: Lea Salonga, Randall Duk Kim, Jose Llana, Sandra Allen, Telly Leung, Alvin Ing

Flower Drum Song: Songs

• “You Are Beautiful” • “A Hundred Million Miracles” • “I Enjoy Being a Girl” (Nancy Kwan*) • “I Am Going to Like It Here: • “Like a God” • “Chop Suey” • “Don’t Marry Me” • “Grant Avenue” • “Love, Look Away” (Marilyn Horne*) • “Gliding Through My Memories” • “The Other Generation” • “Sunday” *1961 film

Cinderella (1957)

• Book & Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II • Score: Richard Rodgers • Director: Ralph Nelson • Choreographer: Jonathan Lucas • Set & Costumes: William & Jean Eckart • Orchestrations: Robert Russell Bennett • Cast: Julie Andrews, Jon Cypher, Edith

Adams, Kaye Ballard, Alice Ghostley, Dorothy Stickney, Howard Lindsay

• Seen by 107 million (60% of population

Cinderella: Songs

• “The Prince Is Giving a Ball” • “In My Own Little Corner” • “Impossible; It’s Possible” • “Ten Minutes Ago” • “Stepsisters’ Lament” • “Waltz for a Ball” • “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful” • “When You’re Driving Through the

Moonlight” • “A Lovely Night”

Cinderella (1965)

• Exec Producer: Richard Rodgers • Teleplay: Joseph Schrank • Director: Charles S. Dubin • Choreographer: Eugene Loring • Cast: Lesley Ann Warren, Stuart Damon,

Celeste Holm, Walter Pidgeon, Ginger Rogers, Jo Van Fleet, Pat Carroll, Barbara Ruick

• Added “The Loneliness of Evening” (cut from South Pacific)

• Rebroadcast annually for 8 years

Cinderella (1997)

• Producers: Whitney Houston & Debra Martin Chase

• Teleplay: Robert L. Freedman • Director: Robert Iscove • Choreographer: • Set Design: • Cast: Brandy Norwood, Paolo

Montalbán, Whitney Houston, Bernadette Peters, Whoopi Goldberg, Victor Garber,

Cinderella (1997): Songs Added

• “Falling in Love with Love” (The Boys from Syracuse)

• “The Sweetest Sounds” (No Strings) • “There’s Music In You” (Main Street

to Broadway)

“Impossible; It’s Possible”

Cinderella Makes It to Broadway (2013)

• New Book: Douglas Carter Beane • Director: Mark Brokaw • Choreographer: Josh Rhodes • Costumes: William Ivey Long • Cast: Laura Osnes, Santino Fontana,

Victoria Clark, Harriet Harris • 9 Tony nominations (1 win-costumes) • Added songs: “Me, Who am I?,” “He

Was Tall,” “Loneliness of Evening,” “There’s Music in You”

More Information about the “Top 20” Project

By the final class, compile a list of (at most) 20 Rodgers and Hammerstein songs you would include on your own “Essential R&H” playlist, album, concert, or revue

After Class 8 (November 4), you will receive a link to an online survey as a way for you to indicate your chosen songs (Thanks to Susan Dennison!)

Submit survey by Tuesday, November 12, and we will compile an OLLI R&H Master Revue to be revealed at the last class on November 18.

Don’t Forget: the 2018 London production of “The King and I” to be broadcast on

“Great Performances,” Friday, November 8

Reflection on Today’s Class