"I think that the theater is my medium. I don't think that I have any business trying to write abstract music. I don't think I'm a symphonic composer. I think the field of opera is too restricted for me. And, I can say everything I want to say inside the walls of a legitimate theater." -- Richard Rodgers

A young Richard Rodgers

"Jerome Kern became, in some ways, the one and only true model for the rest of Rodgers' career. The one person that he kept paying tribute to, as the man who showed him the way towards a new kind of musical theater. ." Geoffrey Block music historian

"What is so bracing and wonderful about a Rodgers and Hart song, in general, is that Rodgers had such a gift for melody, so with that quality -- that lyrical, otherworldly quality -- then, you have these lyrics by Hart which are irreverant, sarcastic, tender certainly, but always with a twist." Mary Cleere Haran cabaret singer

Rodgers & Hart at the piano

"[Rodgers & Hart] shared the same vision for trying to "elevate musical theater," make the songs dramatic, reflect character. Some of the things, in fact, that we now attribute to the musicals of Rodgers & Hammerstein were part of Rodgers' early vision with Hart." Geoffrey Block music historian

"Dream Ballet" from Oklahoma!

"[Rodgers & Hammerstein] admitted that Carousel was their favorite musical, 'cause it demanded more of them." John Raitt Original "Billy Bigelow" in Carousel

Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence in The King & I

Rodgers & Hammerstein

The Sound of Music

"Rodgers responded, I think, to Hammerstein's style immediately. And that's why his music is so distinctly different than it was with Lorenz Hart, who had a much more urban and jaded seinsibility." Stephen Sondheim, lyricist

"There are certain elemental things that are always gratifying: eating, having a warm bath, making love and having a successful show." Richard Rodgers

1902
June 28: Richard Charles Rodgers is born on Long Island, NY.

1916
Attends Townsend Harris Hall and DeWitt Clinton High School.

First songs: "Dear Old Wigwam" and "Camp-Fire Days."

1917
First copyrighted song: "Auto Show Girl."

One Minute Please, first amateur musical comedy.

1919
Attends Columbia University (1919-21).
Begins 24-year collaboration with lyricist Lorenz Hart.  Listen to Rodgers on Hart

"Any Old Place with You" is Rodgers' first professional song with Hart.  Listen

1921
Attends institute of Musical Art (Juilliard) (1921-1923).

1922
Rodgers and Hart write "Manhattan" for the never-performed Winkle Town. The song later ends up being the hit tune of The Garrick Gaieties.

1925
The Garrick Gaieties, a revue, is Rodgers & Hart's big break.

1927
A Connecticut Yankee, a musical comedy, premieres.

1929
Masters of Melody, a film documentary about Rodgers & Hart.
 Listen to a segment

1930
Marries Dorothy Belle Feiner in New York.

1931
Birth of Mary Rodgers.

Musical comedy: America's Sweethart. Film: The Hot Heiress.

1932
Love Me Tonight, a Hollywood film with Maurice Chevalier featuring the song "Isn't It Romantic."

1936
On Your Toes, a musical comedy with choreography by George Balanchine, features the instrumental ballet "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue."

1937
With the premiere of Babes In Arms, Rodgers & Hart become the first team to write their own story, dialogue and songs for a Broadway show.

1940
Pal Joey, a musical comedy, premieres. Features "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered."

1942
Begins 18-year collaboration with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II.

1943
Oklahoma!, a musical play, wins the Special Pulitzer Prize for Drama and reinvents the American musical.

Lorenz Hart, a chronic alcoholic, dies at age 48.

1945
The musical play Carousel wins the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. The movie State Fair wins an Academy Award for best song, "It Might As Well Be Spring."

1946
Rodgers & Hammerstein produce Annie Get Your Gun, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.

1949
South Pacific, a musical play starring Mary Martin and opera star Ezio Pinza, wins the Pulitzer Prize in Drama and an Antoinette Perry ("Tony") Award for Best Musical.

1951
The King & I wins Tony Awards for best musical, best performance (Gertrude Lawrence), best score, and best book.

1952
Writes the score for Victory at Sea, a 26-episode television documentary.

1953
Rodgers & Hammerstein have four shows running simultaneously in New York.

Me and Juliet premieres.

Rodgers & Hammerstein Week in New York, August 31 - September 6.

1957
Cinderella, a television musical starring Julie Andrews. This live production attracts 107 million viewers.

1958
Flower Drum Song, a musical play, premieres.

1959
The Sound of Music, a musical play, premieres. Wins six Tony Awards, including best musical and score. "Edelweiss" is the last song Hammerstein ever writes.

1960
Oscar Hammerstein II dies of stomach cancer.

1962
No Strings, featuring "The Sweetest Sounds," premieres; wins Tony Award for best score and best actress in a musical (Diahann Carroll).

1963 - 1969
Continues writing with lyricists Stephen Sondheim, Sheldon Hamick and Martin Chamin.

1969
Rodgers has a heart attack.

1974
Rodgers undergoes a laryngectomy.

1977
Rodgers celebrates 75th birthday.

1978
Kennedy Center salute to Richard Rodgers.

1979
I Remember Mama, a musical play, premieres.

Oklahoma! returns triumphantly to Broadway.

Richard Rodgers dies on December 30.

 

Photos and biography courtesy of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. Used by permission.