Rodgers and Hammerstein to the musical-play form – with such masterworks as "Carousel", "The King and I" and "South Pacific". The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own." 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." They were also honored in 1999 with a United States Postal Service stamp commemorating their partnership. The Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City is
Rodgers and Hart scores intact. "Pal Joey" (1940), termed their "masterpiece", has a book by "The New Yorker" writer John O'Hara. O'Hara adapted his own short stories for the show, which featured a title character who is a heel. So unflinching was the portrait that critic Brooks Atkinson famously asked in his review "Although it is expertly done, how can you draw sweet water from a foul well?" When the show was revived in 1952, audiences had learned to accept darker material (thanks in large part to Rodgers' work with Oscar Hammerstein II). The new production had a considerably longer run than the