NEW RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN BOXSET C (DVD)

Details

• Release Year: 2006
• Genre: Classic, Family, Musical, War
• Plot: Between 1943 and 1960, composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II enjoyed the most successful collaboration in the history of American musical theater. Their acclaimed musicals earned an astonishing 34 Tony Awards, 15 Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes and two Grammy Awards. Fittingly, they were named among the 100 Most Important People of the Century by TIME Magazine in 1998.; ; Remarkably, these two Broadway icons - who first met at Columbia University, where Hammerstein studied law, and Rodgers was an undergraduate - did not become partners until both were in their 40s. Rodgers had partnered with another Columbia classmate, lyricist Lorenz Hart, for more than two decades, while Hammerstein had written lyrics and librettos for a variety of top composers, including Jerome Kern (Show Boat).; ; But when the old friends teamed up in 1943 for the groundbreaking hit 'Oklahoma!', it was clear they'd found the perfect match. In blending Rodgers' talent for mucical comedy with Hammerstein's love of the operetta (a light opera incorporating dialogue), a new genre was born - the musical play. Soon Hollywood was calling, and in 1945, the duo began a storied relationship with Twentieth Century Fox that would span six films.; ; With a golden touch on both Broadway and the big screen, Rodgers and Hammerstein took the musical play to new heights of artistic and commercial success. Along the way, the pair developed a well-honed and instinctive collaborative process. Hammerstein would typically write the song lyrics first, and Rodgers would then put them to music. In some cases, this composition would happen with astonishing speed.; ; Notably, it was reported that South Pacific's famed tune, 'Bali Ha'i,' took Rodgers only 10 minutes to compose - with not a single change later. Rodgers told TV Guide, 'That's true, but it's also misleading. What everybody forgets is that before you get down to writing the music...you have hours of talk, and literally months of thinking about it. So that by the time Mr. Hammerstein comes to you with a lyric, you know a great deal about the song.' 1; ; Their magical process would also spawn the classics 'State Fair', 'Carousel', 'The King and I' and the duo's unforgettable swan song, 'The Sound of Music', which debuted on Broadway just ten months before Hammerstein's death in 1960. Though he would not live to see the film adaptation become a record-breaking phenomenon, there are no doubts that Broadway's dream team ended on the highest note possible.; ; Andrew Lloyd Webber ('The Phantom of the Opera') wrote, 'Musical partnerships are, after all, like marriages - built on a chemistry that is intangible, perhaps not even definable. The partnership of Rodgers and Hammerstein has not yet been equaled. It probably never will be.' 2; ; 1. Drake, Ross. 'South Pacific.' TV Guide. Novermber 20, 1971.; ; 2. Webber, Andrew Lloyd. Rodgers and Hammersterin Profile. '100 Most Important People of the Century.' TIME. June 8, 1998.
• Runtime: 13:58
• Company: 20th Century Fox