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On this day, June 28, 1902, Richard Rodgers was born.
Richard Rodgers
Rodgers at the St. James Theatre in 1948
Background information
Birth name: Richard Charles Rodgers
Born: June 28, 1902; New York, New York, U.S.
Died: December 30, 1979 (aged 77); New York, New York, U.S.
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most important American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music.
Rogers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including Pal Joey, A Connecticut Yankee, On Your Toes and Babes in Arms. With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as Oklahoma!, Flower Drum Song, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for bringing the Broadway musical to a new maturity by telling stories that were focused around characters and drama rather than the earlier light-hearted entertainment of the genre.
Rodgers was the first person to win all four of the top American entertainment awards in theater, film, recording, and television – a Tony, an Oscar, a Grammy, and an Emmy – now known collectively as an EGOT. In addition, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, making him one of only two people to receive all five awards (Marvin Hamlisch is the other). In 1978, Rodgers was in the inaugural group of Kennedy Center Honorees for lifetime achievement in the arts.
{snip}
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Main article: Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers (seated) with Hammerstein, 1945
Rodgers' partnership with Hart began having problems because of the lyricist's unreliability and declining health. Rodgers began working with Oscar Hammerstein II, with whom he had previously written songs (before ever working with Lorenz Hart). Their first musical, the groundbreaking hit Oklahoma! (1943), marked the beginning of the most successful partnership in American musical theatre history. Their work revolutionized the musical form. What was once a collection of songs, dances and comic turns held together by a tenuous plot became a fully integrated piece.
{snip}
Relationship with performers
Rodgers and Hammerstein and Berlin and Tamiris NYWTS
Rosemary Clooney recorded a version of "Falling in Love with Love" by Rodgers, using a swing style. After the recording session Richard Rodgers told her pointedly that it should be sung as a waltz. The 1961 doo-wop arrangement of the Rodgers and Hart song "Blue Moon" by The Marcels so incensed Rodgers that he took out full page newspaper ads urging people not to buy it. His efforts were unsuccessful as it reached #1 on the charts. After Doris Day recorded "I Have Dreamed" in 1961, he wrote to her and her arranger, Jim Harbert, that theirs was the most beautiful rendition of his song he had ever heard.
{snip}
Rodgers at the St. James Theatre in 1948
Background information
Birth name: Richard Charles Rodgers
Born: June 28, 1902; New York, New York, U.S.
Died: December 30, 1979 (aged 77); New York, New York, U.S.
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most important American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music.
Rogers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including Pal Joey, A Connecticut Yankee, On Your Toes and Babes in Arms. With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as Oklahoma!, Flower Drum Song, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for bringing the Broadway musical to a new maturity by telling stories that were focused around characters and drama rather than the earlier light-hearted entertainment of the genre.
Rodgers was the first person to win all four of the top American entertainment awards in theater, film, recording, and television – a Tony, an Oscar, a Grammy, and an Emmy – now known collectively as an EGOT. In addition, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, making him one of only two people to receive all five awards (Marvin Hamlisch is the other). In 1978, Rodgers was in the inaugural group of Kennedy Center Honorees for lifetime achievement in the arts.
{snip}
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Main article: Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers (seated) with Hammerstein, 1945
Rodgers' partnership with Hart began having problems because of the lyricist's unreliability and declining health. Rodgers began working with Oscar Hammerstein II, with whom he had previously written songs (before ever working with Lorenz Hart). Their first musical, the groundbreaking hit Oklahoma! (1943), marked the beginning of the most successful partnership in American musical theatre history. Their work revolutionized the musical form. What was once a collection of songs, dances and comic turns held together by a tenuous plot became a fully integrated piece.
{snip}
Relationship with performers
Rodgers and Hammerstein and Berlin and Tamiris NYWTS
Rosemary Clooney recorded a version of "Falling in Love with Love" by Rodgers, using a swing style. After the recording session Richard Rodgers told her pointedly that it should be sung as a waltz. The 1961 doo-wop arrangement of the Rodgers and Hart song "Blue Moon" by The Marcels so incensed Rodgers that he took out full page newspaper ads urging people not to buy it. His efforts were unsuccessful as it reached #1 on the charts. After Doris Day recorded "I Have Dreamed" in 1961, he wrote to her and her arranger, Jim Harbert, that theirs was the most beautiful rendition of his song he had ever heard.
{snip}
The Marcels
{snip}
Career
In 1961, the Marcels released a doo-wop cover of the ballad "Blue Moon" that began with the bass singer singing, "bomp-baba-bomp-ba-bomp-ba-bomp-bomp... vedanga-dang-dang-vadinga-dong-ding...". The record sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. It is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
{snip}
{snip}
Career
In 1961, the Marcels released a doo-wop cover of the ballad "Blue Moon" that began with the bass singer singing, "bomp-baba-bomp-ba-bomp-ba-bomp-bomp... vedanga-dang-dang-vadinga-dong-ding...". The record sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. It is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
{snip}
"The Sound of Music" - THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)
1,604,736 views Aug 3, 2018
Rodgers & Hammerstein
229K subscribers
GET TICKETS NOW: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/the-sound-of-music {This is a past event.}
Fathom Events, with The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, Twentieth Century Fox, and Turner Classic Movies are thrilled to present Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music in cinemas nationwide on Sunday, September 9 and Wednesday, September 12. The event includes a screening of the Rodgers & Hammerstein® classic, plus exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's® cinematic treasure, “The Sound of Music” is the winner of five Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. In this true-life story, Julie Andrews lights up the screen as Maria, a spirited young Austrian woman who leaves the convent to become a governess for Captain von Trapp’s (Christopher Plummer) seven unruly children. Her charm and songs soon win the hearts of the children – and their father. But when Nazi Germany unites with Austria, Maria is forced to attempt a daring escape with her new family.
Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to see the classic film on the big screen!
{snip}
1,604,736 views Aug 3, 2018
Rodgers & Hammerstein
229K subscribers
GET TICKETS NOW: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/the-sound-of-music {This is a past event.}
Fathom Events, with The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, Twentieth Century Fox, and Turner Classic Movies are thrilled to present Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music in cinemas nationwide on Sunday, September 9 and Wednesday, September 12. The event includes a screening of the Rodgers & Hammerstein® classic, plus exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's® cinematic treasure, “The Sound of Music” is the winner of five Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. In this true-life story, Julie Andrews lights up the screen as Maria, a spirited young Austrian woman who leaves the convent to become a governess for Captain von Trapp’s (Christopher Plummer) seven unruly children. Her charm and songs soon win the hearts of the children – and their father. But when Nazi Germany unites with Austria, Maria is forced to attempt a daring escape with her new family.
Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to see the classic film on the big screen!
{snip}
Only if they show it in Todd-AO. And it's already happened, so there.
I'm sure this is what Richard Rodgers would have wanted us to play.
THE MARCELS - "BLUE MOON" (1961)
[bMANNY MORA
61.2K subscribers
The Marcels were an American doo-wop group known for turning popular music songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and signed to Colpix Records, with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, Ron Mundy, and Richard Knauss. The group was named after a popular hair style of the day, the marcel wave, by Fred Johnson's younger sister Priscilla.
{snip}
[bMANNY MORA
61.2K subscribers
The Marcels were an American doo-wop group known for turning popular music songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and signed to Colpix Records, with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, Ron Mundy, and Richard Knauss. The group was named after a popular hair style of the day, the marcel wave, by Fred Johnson's younger sister Priscilla.
{snip}
