Oscar Hammerstein II †Lyricist, Writer, Producer, Director Essay

Oscar Hammerstein II was born July 12, 1895 in novel York, New York. He died August 23, 1960 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania of stomach cancer. His disposed name was Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein. When he entered the theatre profession, he dropped his middle names and choose the II from the granddaddy for which he was named. His grandfather was a theatre constructor and opera company producer. By titling himself II he capitalized on his grandfathers success the name recognition alone was a flight builder.Hammerstein was always interested in the theatre. His father, although a theatrical producer himself, did non want his son to go into the family business. He made him annunciate never to do anything as foolish as to consider make the theatre your livelihood. Become a lawyer. Youd be great at it and its also one of the more secure professions I hold up of. Getting to Know Him Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II Hugh FordinAs per his fathers wish, Hammerstein entered capit al of South Carolina University as an English major. He was an honor student and was twisty in many extra-curricular activities one of which was the Varsity cross-file. This was where Hammerstein met Larry Hart and the man with whom he would later collaborate, Richard Rodgers. At the time of the initial meeting, Rodgers was only a cardinal year old boy whose older brother Morty was a appendage of Hammersteins fraternity. Although his father had passed away, Hammerstein felt compelled to honor his fathers wishes and entered Columbia law school. He finished his Bachelors degree during his other(a) year of law school.During his second year of law school, Hammerstein was so let down with the law he asked his uncle Arthur, a successful producer of musical comedies, for a job. He was hired as an assistant stage manager. After witnessing his nephews theatrical ability, Uncle Arthur hired him as a permanent member of the staff. soon after having been hired by his uncle, he began an ap prenticeship with Otto Harbach. What began as an apprenticeship turned into a twenty year collaboration and produced Hammersteins first Broadway success incessantly You. Over the course of his career Hammerstein would collaborate with many different composers notably, Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, Rudolf Friml and Sigmund Romberg. Hammersteins most successful collaboration would be with the man he had met during his varsity show days at Columbia University, Richard Rodgers.The collaboration with Richard Rodgers began in the early 1940s with their adaptation of the play Green Grow the Lilacs. This became okey and changed Broadway forever. okay revolutionized the Broadway theater by integrating the music and book. Previously only Show Boat and Pal Joey, respectively a Hammerstein and a Rodgers production, had used songs to supercharge the story along. Oklahoma not only used the songs as an constitutive(a) part of the story but it also incorporated American ballet. The source wa s different only one person on stage with an offstage voice singing as the curtain opened. The female chorus didnt appear until 45 minutes into the play. The chorus girls where covered in blockage dress. There were no star vehicle numbers. No song in this musical play was written to become a popular hit. Oklahoma changed the American musical theatre and gave Hammerstein, who had been battling a career slump, a parvenu burst of energy for the most successful period of his career.