Rodgers and Hammerstein Biography Will Hit Shelves in 2018

According to the New York Times, Henry Holt will publish Todd S. Purdum's 'Rodgers and Hammerstein' in 2018- the 75th anniversary of the composing team's first musical, Oklahoma!. The biography will follow both their contributions to musical theatre, as well as their personal lives.

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After long and highly distinguished careers with other collaborators, Richard Rodgers (composer, 1902-79) and Oscar Hammerstein II (librettist/lyricist, 1895-1960) joined forces in 1943 to create the most consistently fruitful and successful partnership in the American musical theatre. OKLAHOMA!, the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, was also the first of a new genre, the musical play, blending Rodgers' sophisticated style of musical comedy (which he had perfected in a twenty-five year partnership with lyricist Lorenz Hart) with Hammerstein's innovations in operetta (conceived in collaboration with such composers as Sigmund Romberg, Vincent Youmans, Rudolf Friml and Jerome Kern.)

OKLAHOMA! was followed by Carousel (1945), Allegro (1947), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), Me and Juliet (1953), Pipe Dream (1955), Flower Drum Song (1958) and The Sound of Music (1959). The team also wrote one movie musical, State Fair (1945; adapted to the stage, 1995), and one for television, Cinderella (1957). Collectively, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals have earned 34 Tony Awards, 15 Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes and two Grammy Awards.