Broadway: The American Musical Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin': 1943-1960 (Season 1, Episode 4)
TV Episode | Documentary, Music

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Broadway: The American Musical

Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin': 1943-1960 (Season 1, Episode 4)

TV Episode | Documentary, Music

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II - a newly formed songwriting team due to Lorenz Hart's ill health - ushered in a new era of the Broadway musical with the revolutionary production of "Oklahoma!", in what was called the first ...See moreRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II - a newly formed songwriting team due to Lorenz Hart's ill health - ushered in a new era of the Broadway musical with the revolutionary production of "Oklahoma!", in what was called the first integrated musical where the songs, musical score and choreography were all in support of moving the story forward. For Hammerstein, stories previously thought of as taboo were now ripe for transformation into Broadway musicals. Rodgers and Hammerstein were the premier songwriters of this form. What they also pioneered was the first act conditional ballad, where the romantic leads could sing about the scenario "what if we were in love". New teams were taking up the integrated musical form, including composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green and choreographer Jerome Robbins with their show "On the Town", and Frank Loesser/Abe Burrows' show "Guys and Dolls" (with choreography by Michael Kidd), which was renowned for its use of everyday language in its songs. Established composers also took up the form. Even Irving Berlin, who initially dismissed the storybook musical, entered the fray with "Annie Get Your Gun", which was produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein and which contained what has become the unofficial anthem of musical theater: 'There's No Business Like Show Business'. The notion of the required romantic pairing in musicals changed with composer Frederick Loewe and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner's production of "My Fair Lady". One of the most acclaimed musicals of the era came to pass when actress Mary Martin asked, solely by chance, Rodgers and Hammerstein to write a single song for a play in which she was working. That play and song were eventually transformed into "The Sound of Music". This would become Rodgers and Hammerstein's last collaboration before Hammerstein's passing. Written by Huggo See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
64 cast members

Name	Known for
Cris Alexander Chip (archive footage) Chip (archive footage) See fewer	Wonderful Town (1958)
Julie Andrews Self - Host Self - Host See fewer	The Sound of Music (1965)
Jack Benny Actor (archive footage) Actor (archive footage) See fewer	The Jack Benny Program (1950)
Irving Berlin Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Vivian Blaine Miss Adelaide (archive footage) Miss Adelaide (archive footage) See fewer	Guys and Dolls (1955)
Johnny Borden Randolph McAfee (archive footage) Randolph McAfee (archive footage) See fewer
Yul Brynner King Mongkut of Siam (archive footage) King Mongkut of Siam (archive footage) See fewer	The King and I (1956)
Abe Burrows Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Just Go with It (2011)
Kitty Carlisle Self (as Kitty Carlisle Hart) Self (as Kitty Carlisle Hart) See fewer	A Night at the Opera (1935)
Ted Chapin Self Self See fewer	The Smithsonian Salutes Disney Music (1987)
Jan Clayton Julie Jordan (archive footage) Julie Jordan (archive footage) See fewer	Lassie (1954)
Betty Comden Self Self See fewer	On the Town (1949)
Agnes de Mille Self Self See fewer	Oklahoma! (1955)
Alfred Drake Curly McLain / Petruchio (archive sound) Curly McLain / Petruchio (archive sound) See fewer	Trading Places (1983)
Cy Feuer Self Self See fewer	Cabaret (1972)
Philip Furia Self Self See fewer	Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
Dick Gautier Conrad Birdie (archive footage) (as Richard Gautier) Conrad Birdie (archive footage) (as Richard Gautier) See fewer	The Transformers (1984)
Brendan Gill Self Self See fewer	Playdate (1961)
Adolph Green Self Self See fewer	On the Town (1949)
Oscar Hammerstein II Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	State Fair (1945)
Andy Hammerstein Self Self See fewer	Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
Rex Harrison Self / Professor Henry Higgins (archive footage) Self / Professor Henry Higgins (archive footage) See fewer	My Fair Lady (1964)
Wendy Hiller Eliza (archive footage) Eliza (archive footage) See fewer	A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Leslie Howard Higgins (archive footage) Higgins (archive footage) See fewer	Pygmalion (1938)
Shirley Jones Laurey Williams (archive footage) Laurey Williams (archive footage) See fewer	The Music Man (1962)
Stubby Kaye Nicely-Nicely Johnson (archive footage) Nicely-Nicely Johnson (archive footage) See fewer	Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Michael Kidd Self Self See fewer	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Robert Kimball Self Self See fewer	Hard Times for an American Girl: The Great Depression (2009)
John Lahr Self Self See fewer	Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
Gertrude Lawrence Self / Anna Leonowens (archive sound) Self / Anna Leonowens (archive sound) See fewer	Mimi (1935)
Sam Levene Nathan Detroit (archive footage) Nathan Detroit (archive footage) See fewer	After the Thin Man (1936)
Bambi Linn Dream Laurey (archive footage) Dream Laurey (archive footage) See fewer	Oklahoma! (1955)
Frank Loesser Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Where's Charley? (1952)
Paul Lynde Harry McAfee (archive footage) Harry McAfee (archive footage) See fewer	Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
Gordon MacRae Curly McLain (archive footage) Curly McLain (archive footage) See fewer	Oklahoma! (1955)
Marijane Maricle Doris McAfee (archive footage) Doris McAfee (archive footage) See fewer	The Jackie Gleason Show (1966)
Mary Martin Nellie Forbush (archive footage) Nellie Forbush (archive footage) See fewer	Peter Pan (1960)
Groucho Marx Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	A Night at the Opera (1935)
Ethel Merman Annie Oakley (archive footage) Annie Oakley (archive footage) See fewer	It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
James A. Michener Self (as James Michener) Self (as James Michener) See fewer	South Pacific (1958)
Ann Miller Lois Lane (archive footage) Lois Lane (archive footage) See fewer	Mulholland Drive (2001)
James Mitchell Dream Curly (archive footage) Dream Curly (archive footage) See fewer	All My Children (1970)
Patricia Morison Self / Katharine Self / Katharine See fewer	The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Steve Nelson Self Self See fewer	Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
Ezio Pinza Emile de Becque (archive footage) Emile de Becque (archive footage) See fewer	The Blues Brothers (1980)
B.S. Pully Big Jule (archive footage) Big Jule (archive footage) See fewer	Guys and Dolls (1955)
John Raitt Self / Curly McLain Self / Curly McLain See fewer	The Pajama Game (1957)
Jerome Robbins Self Self See fewer	West Side Story (1961)
Mary Rodgers Self Self See fewer	Freaky Friday (2003)
Richard Rodgers Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Johnny Silver Benny Southstreet (archive footage) Benny Southstreet (archive footage) See fewer	Guys and Dolls (1955)
Frank Sinatra Nathan Detroit (archive footage) Nathan Detroit (archive footage) See fewer	From Here to Eternity (1953)
Stephen Sondheim Self Self See fewer	Dick Tracy (1990)
Rod Steiger Jud Fry (archive footage) Jud Fry (archive footage) See fewer	In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Peter Stone Self Self See fewer	Charade (1963)
Ed Sullivan Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
Bill Tabbert Self / Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC (archive footage) Self / Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC (archive footage) See fewer	The Pickle Goes in the Middle (1973)
Michael Tilson Thomas Self (as Michael Tilson-Thomas) Self (as Michael Tilson-Thomas) See fewer	Manhattan (1979)
Rudy Vallee Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Nancy Walker Hildy Esterhazy (archive footage) Hildy Esterhazy (archive footage) See fewer	Rhoda (1974)
Susan Watson Kim McAfee (archive footage) Kim McAfee (archive footage) See fewer	The Fantasticks (1964)
James Whitmore Andrew Carnes (archive footage) Andrew Carnes (archive footage) See fewer	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Max Wilk Self Self See fewer	Lights Out (1946)
George C. Wolfe Self Self See fewer	Rustin (2023)