Something Wonderful: The Mid-Career Musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein

This time out, it’s the second in our three-part retrospective of the songs of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, this time focusing on their mid-career shows on Broadway. Their first three musicals, Oklahoma!, Carousel, and Allegro, established their reputation for introducing the fully-integrated musical in which dialogue, song, and dance were equal partners in driving the plot. The two shows that followed — South Pacific in 1949 and The King and I in 1951 — would reinforce their status as the leading creators of musical theatre, while simultaneously generating a huge amount of pop hits. Hear songs from both musicals as we continue our exploration of the duo’s 16-year collaboration.