Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein refers to composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together were an influential, innovative and successful American musical theatre writing team. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s, initiating what is considered the "golden age" of musical theatre. Five of their Broadway shows, "Oklahoma!", "Carousel", "South Pacific", "The King and I" and "The Sound of Music", were outstanding successes, as was the television broadcast of "Cinderella" (1957). Of the other four that the team produced on Broadway during their lifetimes, "Flower Drum Song" was
Gertrude Lawrence Tribune" to call her "the greatest feminine performer in the American theatre," and Brooks Atkinson described her as "a goddess" in his review in the "New York Times". She remained with the show throughout its Broadway run and its subsequent national tour over the next three years. Decades later, Ira Gershwin told American songwriting historian Sheila Davis about a contribution Lawrence made to honing the lyrics of the song "My Ship" in "Lady in the Dark". "During a "Lady in the Dark" rehearsal," Davis wrote, "Gertrude Lawrence suddenly stopped singing midline and called out to Gershwin, who was monitoring from