Maria (Rodgers and Hammerstein song) his London revival of "The Sound of Music." Connie Fisher won the TV series and was cast as Maria in the London revival of the show that opened in November 2006 at the London Palladium. When Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyric for this song, he followed the lead from a line in the dialogue that Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse wrote in their script, describing Maria's flighty ways in the Abbey. In particular, he was taken by the detail of her wearing curlers in her hair under her wimple. Hammerstein asked if he could incorporate their dialogue into the
Oscar Hammerstein II Hammerstein's musicals were named to the "Songs of the Century" list as compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Corporation: Hammerstein won two Oscars for best original song—in 1941 for "The Last Time I Saw Paris" in the film "Lady Be Good", and in 1945 for "It Might as Well Be Spring" in "State Fair." In 1950, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards,