Line #7 Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein


1	[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/240x240_rodgers_hammerstein_9203.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:240:Rodgers on the left, Hammerstein on the right.]]
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4	->''"I know the world is filled with troubles and many injustices. But reality is as beautiful as it is ugly. I think it is just as important to sing about beautiful mornings as it is to talk about slums. I just couldn't write anything without hope in it."''
5	-->-- '''Oscar Hammerstein II'''
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7	Rodgers and Hammerstein were an American songwriting team consisting of composer Richard Rodgers (June 28, 1902 -- December 30, 1979) and lyricist/scriptwriter Oscar Hammerstein II (July 12, 1895 -- August 23, 1960). Together they earned 34 Tonys, 15 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize and two [[UsefulNotes/GrammyAward Grammys]], making them [[MediaNotes/TheEGOTs EGOTs (winners of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony)]]. Rodgers was ''the'' first-ever EGOT, and he, along with Music/MarvinHamlisch, have been the only [=EGOTs=] to win those 4 prizes and a Pulitzer. Hammerstein is also the only Oscar to ever win an Oscar.
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9	As the quote above indicates, their shows are well on the idealistic end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism; despite often dealing with serious topics (racism in ''Theatre/SouthPacific'', sexual harassment in ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}'', spousal abuse in ''Theatre/{{Carousel}}''), they're a by-word for [[SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel perky, heart-warming, optimistic musicals]]. However, at the time, their musicals were revolutionary for making sure all songs and dances were directly related to the plot, for having more in-depth character development than most of the musicals that preceded them, and for using scenic design as an integral part of the storytelling; they were so successful, and so widely imitated, that they are considered the [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifiers]] for modern musicals.
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11	Before their creative partnership began, both had been involved in earlier collaborations; Rodgers was acclaimed for his work with Lorenz Hart, while Hammerstein co-wrote ''Theatre/ShowBoat'' (arguably the first modern musical, and written in a style which foreshadowed the work of this duo) with composer Jerome Kern. Rodgers and Hammerstein also produced most of their own musicals and sometimes produced other people's work, including ''Theatre/AnnieGetYourGun'', ''Theatre/IRememberMama'' (which Rodgers helped musicalize much later) and the Creator/HelenHayes-starring play ''Happy Birthday'' (for which they wrote one song).
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13	Oscar Hammerstein mentored Music/StephenSondheim as a young man and was a formative influence on him (Sondheim has said that "if Oscar was a geologist, I would have been a geologist"). Rodgers' daughter Mary became a successful composer in her own right with her biggest success being ''Theatre/OnceUponAMattress'', while her son Adam Guettel is the composer/lyricist of such musicals as ''Theatre/TheLightInThePiazza''. Compare Creator/LernerAndLoewe, another theatrical songwriting/composing duo of the mid-20th century.
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15	Their [[TheMusical musicals]] were Broadway shows, with two exceptions that later received {{Screen to Stage Adaptation}}s:
16	* ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}''
17	* ''Theatre/{{Carousel}}''
18	* ''Film/StateFair'' (a movie musical remade from an earlier movie, and remade again after Hammerstein's death)
19	* ''Theatre/{{Allegro}}''
20	* ''Theatre/SouthPacific''
21	* ''Theatre/TheKingAndI''
22	* ''Me and Juliet''
23	* ''Pipe Dream''
24	* ''Theatre/{{Cinderella\|Rodgers and Hammerstein}}'' (originally a Creator/{{CBS}} television production)
25	* ''Literature/FlowerDrumSong''
26	* ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic''

Context Creator / RodgersAndHammerstein