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The Great Depression proved to be a dynamic period of creative growth on Broadway, and a dichotomy in the musical theater emerged. Productions like Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" offered glamour and high times as an escape, while others -- such as "Of Thee I Sing," which satirized the American political system, and the remarkable WPA production of "The Cradle Will Rock," about a steel strike -- dealt directly with the era's social and political concerns. When Bing Crosby recorded "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," the doleful Broadway ballad took the hit parade by surprise. "This song spoke to the hearts, and to the minds, and to the emotions and thoughts, of everybody who lived during that depression," says lyricist Yip Harburg's son, Ernie. Rodgers and Hart created a string of new shows, including the sexually frank "Pal Joey," a genuine departure that starred newcomer Gene Kelly. In the gloom of the depression, Porter offered Broadway audiences such unforgettable songs as "You're the Top," which served as an effervescent tonic to a weary nation. In 1935, George Gershwin created his epic masterpiece, "Porgy and Bess," bringing a hybrid style of folk opera to Broadway. The onset of World War II galvanized the country and America's troubadour, Irving Berlin, rallied the troops with "This Is the Army."
The episode features interviews with actor and original "Bess" Anne Brown, playwright Jerome Chodorov, actor Carol Channing, film director Stanley Donen, actor and original "Porgy" Todd Duncan, writer Philip Furia, actor Kitty Carlisle Hart, actor June Havoc, actor/producer John Houseman, actor/director Tim Robbins, and composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Highlights include rarely seen home movies of the Gershwin brothers from the 1930s, and 1950s TV footage of the incomparable Ethel Waters singing Irving Berlin's "Suppertime."
The new partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II changed the face of Broadway forever, beginning with the record-breaking "Oklahoma!" in 1943, featuring a landmark ballet by Agnes de Mille. "Carousel" and "South Pacific" then set the standard for decades to come by pioneering a musical where story is all-important. For challenging the country to confront its deep-seated racial bigotry, "South Pacific" won the Pulitzer Prize. In "On the Town," an exuberant team of novices -- Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jerome Robbins -- captured the energy, humor, and pathos of New York City during World War II. Irving Berlin triumphed again with "Annie Get Your Gun," featuring Ethel Merman and the unofficial anthem of the American musical theater, "There's No Business Like Show Business." In shows like "Guys and Dolls," "My Fair Lady," and "Kiss Me, Kate," sophisticated adaptations of literary material prevailed. "Cole Porter led the way in writing adult songs about love and sex," says theater historian Robert Kimball. "He defied the censors. He, probably more than any other songwriter in this century, made it possible for the openness that we have in all popular music." In 1956, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe triumphed with "My Fair Lady," featuring an 18-year-old Julie Andrews. TV's THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW became the most important showcase for Broadway musicals. Yet with the death of Oscar Hammerstein II soon after the premiere of "The Sound of Music" in 1959, the curtain began to lower on a golden age.
The episode features interviews with actor Julie Andrews, writer/lyricist Betty Comden, choreographer Agnes de Mille, writer/lyricist Adolph Green, Oscar Hammerstein's grandson Andy Hammerstein, choreographer Michael Kidd, author James Michener, theater historian Steve Nelson, actor John Raitt, choreographer Jerome Robbins, composer/Richard Rodgers' daughter Mary Rodgers, and conductor Michael Tilson-Thomas. Highlights include never-before broadcast footage of Jerome Robbins' choreography for "On the Town," 1960 TV footage of Rex Harrison reenacting "I'm an Ordinary Man" from "My Fair Lady," and the first American broadcast of 1950 footage of the original "Guys and Dolls" cast performing in London.
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photo credits: Photofest, the New York Public Library, the Fred Fehl Dance Collection (University of Texas at Austin), and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization
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