| Biography
Founded by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II more than sixty years ago, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization (R&H) represents a wide variety of entertainment copyrights.
Through its theatrical, concert and music publishing divisions, R&H is proud not only to represent the works of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, but also Irving Berlin and works by Lorenz Hart, Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Adam Guettel, Sheldon Harnick, Dory Previn, W. Somerset Maugham and others. Among its recent or current Broadway productions are SOUTH PACIFIC (a record-setting 7 2008 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival), THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA (6 2005 Tony Awards including Best Original Score for Adam Guettel), and the Tony Award winning Best Musical Revivals of 1999 (ANNIE GET YOUR GUN), 1996 (THE KING AND I), 1995 (SHOW BOAT) and 1994 (CAROUSEL). Recent TV and film projects have included the ABC/Disney remake of CINDERELLA (1997), the film of the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain's award-winning OKLAHOMA! (1999) and SOUTH PACIFIC starring Glenn Close for ABC (2001) and the PBS/Great Performances Carnegie Hall telecast of SOUTH PACIFIC (2006). Under the leadership of Theodore S. Chapin, President and Executive Director, R&H employs a staff of more than 40 and is headquartered in New York City.
When Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) founded R&H, it was conceived as a producing organization for their own works, including SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING AND I, FLOWER DRUM SONG and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. By the mid '50s Rodgers & Hammerstein had acquired the rights to their first three musicals—OKLAHOMA!, CAROUSEL, and ALLEGRO—from those shows' original producers, the Theatre Guild, and in 1955 the team presented the film version of OKLAHOMA! R&H continues to be the exclusive owner of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical properties worldwide.
Rodgers & Hammerstein did not restrict their producing activities to their own works; in 1944 they presented John Van Druten's play I REMEMBER MAMA on Broadway and over the course of the next 15 years followed that with more than a dozen shows on Broadway, in London, and on national tours, including Irving Berlin's blockbuster ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1946), a triumphant revival of Kern & Hammerstein's SHOW BOAT (1947), and plays by Anita Loos, John Steinbeck, Samuel Taylor and others.
R&H today encompasses three distinct divisions: Williamson Music, R&H Theatricals, and The R&H Concert Library.
Williamson Music
A music publishing company founded by and for writers, Williamson Music was established in 1944 by the legendary duo of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (both sons of men named William). Today, Williamson Music (ASCAP) and R&H Music (BMI) represent the catalogues of Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Lorenz Hart, Irving Berlin and T. S. Eliot, among others. Equally committed to contemporary talent, their roster also includes: Gary Adler, Jeff Bowen, John Bucchino, Ann Hampton Callaway, Joe DiPietro, Scott Frankel, Ricky Ian Gordon, Adam Guettel, Sheldon Harnick, Michael Korie, Henry Krieger, Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jimmy Roberts, Stephen Schwartz, Charles Strouse, Michael Patrick Walker, Bob Walton, Jim Walton, and David Zippel. Maxyne Lang has been President of Williamson Music since it was brought into The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization in 1988.
The R&H Concert Library
The R&H Concert Library licenses concert performances of works by such renowned musical theatre writers as Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Lorenz Hart, Irving Berlin, Michele LeGrand, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Adam Guettel, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter.
R&H Theatricals
R&H Theatricals represents more than 100 musicals and revues.
These include:
- The musicals of Rodgers & Hammerstein (OKLAHOMA!, STATE FAIR, CAROUSEL, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING AND I, CINDERELLA, FLOWER DRUM SONG, THE SOUND OF MUSIC and others)
And selected musicals by:
- Rodgers & Hart (including PAL JOEY, BABES IN ARMS, THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE and ON YOUR TOES)
- Oscar Hammerstein II (SHOW BOAT, music by Jerome Kern; CARMEN JONES, music by Georges Bizet)
- Irving Berlin (including ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, CALL ME MADAM, LOUISIANA PURCHASE, AS THOUSANDS CHEER)
- Andrew Lloyd Webber (CATS, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, EVITA, BY JEEVES, ASPECTS OF LOVE and SONG & DANCE) .
- Kurt Weill (including LADY IN THE DARK, LOST IN THE STARS, THE THREEPENNY OPERA, ONE TOUCH OF VENUS)
Other titles in the R&H Theatricals catalogue include:
- ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, composed by Mary Rodgers
- FLOYD COLLINS, by Adam Guettel and Tina Landau
- THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas
- Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Robert's long-running off-Broadway revue, I LOVE YOU,YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE and Leiber and Stoller's hit Broadway revue, SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE
- FOOTLOOSE, based on the popular film.
- BIG RIVER (1985 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical)
- ALTAR BOYZ, the long-running off-Broadway hit
R&H Theatricals is also proud of its “G2K” Getting To Know… series of musicals uniquely adapted specifically for elementary, middle and junior high school students and youth theatre performers. These titles include:
- GETTING TO KNOW…ONCE UPON A MATTRESS
- GETTING TO KNOW…THE KING AND I
- GETTING TO KNOW…CINDERELLA
- GETTING TO KNOW…OKLAHOMA!
|
