Gertrude Lawrence but when he proved to be unenthused by the suggestion, Lawrence sent the book to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers initially demurred because he felt Lawrence's vocal range was limited and she had a tendency to sing flat. But he realised the story had strong potential, and the two men agreed to write what ultimately became "The King and I". It opened on Broadway in March 1951, and ultimately, Lawrence won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. Her triumph was short-lived; her health deteriorated rapidly, forcing her to miss numerous performances until
Rodgers and Hammerstein Maria and Christopher Plummer as the Captain. It won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, Robert Wise. Hammerstein died in August 1960, before the film was made, so when Rodgers was asked to create two new songs for the film ("I Have Confidence" and "Something Good"), he wrote the lyrics as well as the music. "The Sound of Music" contains more hit songs than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, and the film version was the most financially successful film adaptation of a Broadway musical ever made. The most enduring of these include the title song, "Do-Re-Mi", "My