In 1935 they returned to New York to write the score for Billy Rose’s circus musical Jumbo, launching a golden era that included On Your Toes, Babes in Arms, I’d Rather Be Right, I Married an Angel, The Boys From Syracuse, Too Many Girls, Higher and Higher, Pal Joey and By Jupiter. Over the next five years, they wrote fifteen musical comedies for Broadway and London’s West End before relocating to Hollywood in 1930, where they contributed songs and wrote the scores for several movie musicals, most notably Love Me Tonight starring Maurice Chevalier. Their breakthrough came with the score for a 1925 charity show, The Garrick Gaieties, which introduced the classic valentine to their hometown, “Manhattan.” Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Lorenz Hart (1895-1943) wrote their first shows together when both were still students attending Columbia University. He wrote more than 900 published songs and forty Broadway musicals. He was the recipient of countless awards, including Pulitzers, Tonys, Oscars, Grammys, and Emmys. His career spanned more than six decades, his hits ranging from the silver screens of Hollywood to the bright lights of Broadway, London and beyond. Richard Rodgers’ contributions to the musical theatre of his day were extraordinary, and his influence on the musical theatre of today and tomorrow is legendary.

Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers