Musical Theater (THTR 135)

Musical Theater (THTR 135)Class #6Rodgers and Hammerstein

•(1943) Oklahoma!•(1945) Carousel•(1945) State Fair (film) • (1947) Allegro*•(1949) South Pacific•(1951) The King and I • (1953) Me and Juliet* • (1955) Pipe Dream*•(1957) Cinderella (television) • (1958) Flower Drum Song•(1959) The Sound of Music

Awards•34 Tony Awards

•15 Academy Awards

•1 Pulitzer Prize

•2 Grammys

Recurring Themes•Racism•Sexism

▫Violence•Cultural/social class tensions•Redemption•Optimism•Romanticism

Ferenc Molnár (Liliom --1909)

“Bench Scene” (12 minutes!)•Dialogue

▫“You’re a queer one, Julie Jordon”•Dialogue

▫“I’m never gonna marry…”•Dialogue

▫“When I worked at the mill…If I Loved You”•Dialogue

▫“You can’t hear a sound…”•Dialogue

▫“I can see myself…If I Loved You”

Soliloquy (7:30!)•Dialogue/sung•Emotional range•Opera aria?

Final scene•Redemptive qualities•Hammerstein’s additions•Salvation

James Michener: Tales of The South Pacific (1946)

Characters•Nellie Forbush

▫Emile De Becque

•Lt. Joe Cable▫Liat

Twin Soliloquies▫ Wonder how I'd feel

Livin' on a hillside,Lookin' on an ocean,Beautiful and still.

▫ We are not alike.Probably I'd bore him.He's a cultured Frenchman,I'm a little hick.

▫ Wonder why I feelJittery and jumpy!I'm like a school girlWaitin' for a dance.

▫ This is what I need,This is what I've longed for.Someone young and smilin'Climbin' up my hill!

▫ Younger man than I,Officers and doctors.Probably pursue her,She could have her pick.

▫ Can I ask her now?I'm like a school boy!What will be her answer?Do I have a chance?

“You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught”

•Controversy▫Producers

▫Politicians

"an underlying philosophy inspired by Moscow.”

"a song justifying interracial marriage was implicitly a threat to the American way of life.”

Michener’s response"The authors replied stubbornly that this number represented why they had wanted to do this play, and that even if it meant the failure of the production, it was going to stay in."

You've got to be taughtTo hate and fear,You've got to be taughtFrom year to year,It's got to be drummedIn your dear little earYou've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraidOf people whose eyes are oddly made,And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,Before you are six or seven or eight,To hate all the people your relatives hate,You've got to be carefully taught!