Before they became Rodgers and Hammerstein, they were simply Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, both of New York City. Hammerstein, born in 1895, was brought up in a theatrical family. His father was an "operatic impresario", otherwise known as an opera director or manager. He built the Harlem Opera House(1888) and the Manhattan Opera House(1906) and also introduced many new singers to the US. From a very young age Hammerstein II committed to the theater even though his family discouraged him. As soon as he was old enough to have a job in his father's theatrical business, he devoted himself to his duties and learned as much as he could about play production and the labors of the theater artist. Oscar eventually teamed up with author Otto Harbach and composer Vincent Youmans to produce Wildflower. With help from Harbach, Hammerstein began to create professional material

6) Nolan, Frederick N. The Sound of their Music: the story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Walker, 1978

They met in 1918 and immediately hit it off. Both were very pleased with each others abilities and a creative union was made, as well as a close friendship. Their first show together was Fly with Me, which was performed for Columbia University. Broadway man Lew Fields saw the show and informed the duo that he intended to use some of their songs in his next Broadway musical, Poor Little Ritz Girl2 . Although only seven of the numbers were used, it brought Rodgers into the world of Broadway musicals.

for Broadway. Through Otto Harbach, Hammerstein was led into collaboration with Jerome Kern for Sunday. He also worked with Herbert Stothart and George Gershwin on Song of the Flame, a very unsuccessful show. But despite the shows failure, it did lead Hammerstein to concentrate on creating operetta in order to integrate musical comedy with opera. With this in mind, he was able to achieve new standards for success in his career with his lyrics for The Wild Rose and The Desert Song.

Rodgers and Hart collaborated from 1918 to 1943 and produced twenty-seven stage musicals and eight motion picture scores. Almost all their work was successful and their chemistry as a creative team was paying off. In the late 1930s though, Hart and Rodgers grew apart because of emotional problems Hart was having. Eventually Hart walked out on Rodgers and died in 1943.

Rodgers and Hammerstein finally met in the early 1940s. Their first show was Oklahoma! which debut a success and began the series of smash hits for Rodgers and Hammerstein. Their other shows were Carousel (1945), Allegro (1947), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), Me and Juliet (1953), Pipe Dream (1955), Flower Drum Song (1958), and The Sound of Music (1959). They also did the film, State Fair (1945), and the television musical, Cinderella (1957).

3) Green, Stanley. Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book: a record of their works together and with other collabo

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