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MR. MUSIC AND MR. WORDS
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There would be several other shows before Rodgers and Hart left Broadway to spend four years in Hollywood writing songs for films such as LOVE ME TONIGHT, with Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier; HALLELUJAH, I'M A BUM!, with Al Jolson; and THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT, with the legendary Broadway actor-singer-composer George M. Cohan.
They returned East in 1935 to create songs for Billy Rose's mammoth Broadway musical "Jumbo," described by one critic as an "exciting compound of opera, animal show, folk drama, Harlequinade, carnival, circus, extravaganza and spectacle." Although Hollywood and Billy Rose sidetracked Rodgers and Hart from their determination to revamp the Broadway musical, the team got back on track in 1936 with their first enduring show, "On Your Toes." It launched a golden era on Broadway.
"On Your Toes" was followed by "Babes in Arms" (1937), "I Married an Angel," "The Boys from Syracuse" (1938), and climaxed with Rodgers and Hart's masterpiece, "Pal Joey" (1940). From these musical comedies came a flood of hit songs -- too many to list -- but which included such American classics as "There's a Small Hotel," "My Funny Valentine," "The Lady Is a Tramp," "Falling in Love with Love," "It Never Entered My Mind," and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered." Hart's words were a glorious combination of wit, sentiment, and charm, and Rodgers' music was a seamless stream of lilting melody. These elements combined to form a trademark style for these two creative men.
In 1943, there was a break in their partnership when Rodgers teamed for the first time with Oscar Hammerstein II, a union that began with one of the most beloved and influential of all musical comedies -- "Oklahoma!" But there would be a final reunion in 1943, when Rodgers and Hart revised one of their early shows, "A Connecticut Yankee." For the new version, six songs were added, including "To Keep My Love Alive," which turned out to be Hart's last lyric. Already ill, he died only five days after "A Connecticut Yankee" opened triumphantly on Broadway.
Top banner photos: Lena Horne in STORMY WEATHER (1943); Doris Day in LULLABY OF BROADWAY (1951); Judy Garland in A STAR IS BORN (1954). |
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Frank Sinatra stars in IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN and sings "Time After Time" by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. |
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Alice Faye performs "After the Ball" by composer Charles Harris in the movie LILLIAN RUSSELL (1940). |
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