Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein ll
Ben Sterling - March 31, 2016Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was a Jewish, American composer of over 900-1500 songs. He was born on June 28, 1902 in New York City to Mamie Rodgers, Dr. William Rodgers, a wealthy family. His father was a physician. Rodgers remembers his family and a Tense place to live due to bickering and arguing. Rodgers began playing the piano at age six and composed his first pieces in his teens. Rodgers attended Columbia University and met Oscar Hammerstein ll, and the two did little projects together but did not actually do anything valuable. Soon Rodgers began working with Lorenz Hart, the two were then able to release a play for broadway. Unfortunately Hart was addicted
…show more content…
His parents were Jewish and he was raised Episcopalian. Oscar father, although a theater directer, did not want Oscar to become a musician, so Oscar went to law school at Columbia University. Oscar maintained high grades and participated in many extracurricular activities such as baseball. Soon in 1914 at the age of forty his father died. After his fathers death Hammerstein began writing and preforming in small plays. Hammerstein then left law school to pursue a career in theater. His first collaboration was “Always You” which he wrote the book and lyrics. The play opened in 1920, and in 1921 Hammerstein joined the lambs club. For 40 years Oscar Hammerstein ll composed with other musicians such as Jerome Kern with whom he enjoyed composing with. Oscar ended up marrying twice in his life. First to a Myra Finn with whom he had three children they named William Hammerstein and Alice Hammerstein and James Hammerstein by Blanchard. He also had a step daughter with Dorothy who had four husbands. In 1927 Hammerstein and Kern realest Show Boat which was there greatest hit so far in there careers. Soon Oscar started composing with Richard Rodgers with whom he is most famous for composing with. Oscar Hammerstein ll died in August 23, 1960 of stomach cancer. All lights on Times Square were turned off for him, which had not been done since World War ll, in other words, he was greatly honored by
It seems like it may be years, if at all that there will ever be such an influential couple of men such as Rodgers and Hammerstein that ever have such an impact on musical theater. Their names are synonymous with musical theater and that will never change. Without them, many Broadway stars may not have gotten their time to shine including Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin. It is fascinating how the two never thought that they would ever have a career together and then once paired they would make history from their first piece of work all the way up until their last with infinite fame coming from their many years of hard work. These men still get recognition to this day because many that are trying to fill their shoes and write new pieces of work
To honor him they placed a table with his military cap and all his medals and also placed his coat on his favorite rocking chair beside his
Not a lot is know about his childhood or his parents but what they do know is that he was born somewhere near Abilene, Texas. He also had 5 siblings. When he was two his father died of unknown causes so life was hard for him and his family. When He was old enough to work he and his brothers got jobs at a meatpacking company and Rogers got the lucky job as the messenger at 10 years old. He was educated up until 10th grade.
His parents were John Reagan and Nelle Wilson Reagan. He had a career in acting and he did a screen test for the Warner Brothers movie studio. The studio signed him a contract, and in that exact year he made a film called, “ Love is on the Air”. When he got older he married a special woman named Jane Wyman. She was a famous actress.
Oscar Peterson was born to immigrant parents descended from the West Indies on the day of August 15, 1925 (“Oscar Peterson Facts”). Oscar Peterson grew up in a poor multi-ethnic neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (“Oscar Peterson: Piano Master”). His neighborhood was mostly a black neighborhood. He found himself surrounded by the jazz culture which started to develop in the early 20th century (“Peterson,Oscar And Friends”). Oscar's father, Daniel Peterson (who worked as a Pacific Railroad porter and also was an amateur trumpeter and pianist), was one of Oscar’s music teacher as a young boy along with his sister, Daisy, who taught him classical piano (“Peterson,Oscar And Friends”).
Rogers had a sister named Elaine, and spent a lot of time with his grandfather during his early life. He had developed a musical interest when he was young, and would sing as his mother played the piano. Rogers started playing piano himself when he was five. After graduating from Latrobe
He always wanted to become and actor and went to Hollywood to become his dreams and be part of many movies. Reagan met Jane Wayne and had 3 children with one adopted, the second
In 1896, he attended Groton which was a Christian boarding school for boys in the upper class. His mother was very controlling and quite possessive and although his father was around during his teen years, she was the
Both his parents were pianists with his father playing operatic arias while his mother preferred parlor songs3. Ellington
He was a music writer for his band, musicals, films, Broadway performances, ballets, comic opera and movies. His work can be recognized in American Ballet The River. The dancing in the ballet was choreographed to his music by Alan Ailey June 25, 1970 in New York at the New York State Theater. Some of his films you will recognize his work in are, just to name a few Cabin in the Sky, Black, and Tan Fantasy. Mr. Ellington wrote the music all the music in the film Anatomy of Murder with his co writer Billy Strayhorn.
Irving Berlin Background American composer and lyricist Irving Berlin is renowned and largely recognized as one of the finest songwriters in the annals of popular music. Berlin, who was born in Russia in 1888, moved to the United States as a young kid with his family, and he soon started writing songs. "Alexander's RagtimBand," which launched him to stardom and contributed to making ragtime music a well-liked genre in America, was his breakout success in 1911. Berlin penned more than 1,500 songs throughout the course of his lengthy and productive career, including timeless melodies like "White Christmas," "God Bless America," "Easter Parade," and "There's No Business Like Show Business. " Berlin's music embodied American culture, capturing its
A large contribution to Miranda’s ability to write such powerful and original musicals is his upbringing. Lin-Manuel Miranda was born to Dominican immigrants. His father came to the United States at the age of 18 without knowing the English language in order to receive his post-doctorate education at New York
His father was a diamond dealer, and George grew up in Long Island. He attended and graduated from the navel prep school Admiral Farragut Academy. From there he attended the Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. George loved comedy and he used his talent on board a navy submarine during the Korean War. He would do comedy programs and air them over the ship 's radio.
Arthur Miller, was a very interesting man, Miller began his life on October 17, 1915, in Manhattan. He was the son of Augusta and Isidore Miller, both parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland. In 1932 Miller’s life began to take off. Miller began by working in an auto-part shop to save up money for a few college classes in New-York City.
Born in Harlem in 1915, Arthur Miller came from humble beginnings and grew up during America’s hardest financial time; The Great Depression. Despite his rough childhood, Miller became and still is one of most influential playwrights of all time. He managed to put himself through college at Michigan state where he wrote his first play No Villain which explores theories of marxism. He divorced his first wife in 1956 and married big time movie star Marilyn Monroe a few years later. " ...