Rodgers' death on December 30, 1972, didn't stop the popularity of his musical works, which enjoyed numerous revivals. Vintage original cast reissues and contemporary recordings, movies and videos, Broadway and community playhouse productions and even illustrated books abounded. They became the medium through which the timeless works credited with launching the 20th-century musical continued to exist. Rodgers' shows didn't seem to lose dramatic impact. Their stories remained vividly current in "South Pacific," encompassing the uncertainties of its World War II setting and "The King and I," soon after, that began to deal with racism and the despotism of absolute authority. Since music had to be hand-copied during most of Rodgers' lifetime, the musical scores from different productions did not always agree. Although there are some early recordings to follow for authenticity, it still left room for changes in interpretation or even omission of particular numbers during performances. The original shows were lavished with honors, from an Academy Award for best song ("It Might as Well be Spring," 1945 from "State Fair") to another one 10 years later for best score for "Oklahoma!." Three shows, "South Pacific" (1949); "The King and I" (1951); and " The Sound of Music" (1959) won Tony Awards for "Best Musical." Later performances continued to bring notoriety and additional awards as top stars such as Julie Andrews and Patti LuPone starred in reissues and revivals. Rodgers himself was featured in one collection of vignettes on video in a scene of him conducting an orchestra on the fabled Ed Sullivan Show. One of the biggest breakthroughs in perpetuating Rodgers' work was the transfer of a superior 1954 original movie of OKLAHOMA! to videotape. It surpassed a same-cast, second filming of inherently poorer quality and performance that had circulated for years. It took until 1994 when equipment finally was developed to transfer the "original edition" defunct Todd-AO process onto video for mass distribution. Source: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD BIOGRAPHY SUPPLEMENT, 2ND ED. Gale Group, © 1998 Gale Group. Reprinted by permission of The Gale Group. back to page 2