Rodgers and Hart
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
songwriting
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
partnership of composer Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
(1902 – 1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
(1895 – 1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart's death in 1943.
History
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart were introduced in 1919, when both attended Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, when asked to write an amateur club show. After writing together for several years, they produced their first successful Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical, The Garrick Gaieties
The Garrick Gaieties
The Garrick Gaieties is a revue with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, the first of many musicals by this songwriting team....
, in 1925, which introduced their hit song, "Manhattan
Manhattan (song)
"Manhattan" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. It has been performed by Lee Wiley, Oscar Peterson, Blossom Dearie, Tony Martin, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, among many others....
" and led to a series of successful musicals and films. They quickly became among the most popular songwriters in America, and from 1925 to 1931 had fifteen scores featured on Broadway. In the early 1930s they moved to Hollywood, where they created several popular songs for film, such as "Isn't It Romantic?
Isn't It Romantic?
"Isn't It Romantic?" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. The music was composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. It has a 32-bar chorus in ABAC form...
" and "Lover
Lover
Lover may refer to:* A person who loves* A sexual partner outside of a committed relationship-Music:* "Lover" , by Rodgers and Hart* "Lover" * "Lovers" , by The Tears* Lovers...
", before returning to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1935 with Billy Rose
Billy Rose
William "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...
's Jumbo
Jumbo (musical)
Jumbo is a musical produced by Billy Rose, with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and book by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.-Production:...
. From 1935 to Hart's death in 1943, they wrote a string of highly-regarded Broadway musicals, most of which were hits.
Many of their stage musicals from the late 1930s were made into films, such as On Your Toes
On Your Toes
On Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
(1936) and Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms is a 1937 musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a teen-age boy who puts on a show with his friends to avoid being sent to a work farm.- Production history:...
(1937), though rarely with their scores intact. Pal Joey (1940), termed their "masterpiece", has a book by The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
writer John O'Hara
John O'Hara
John Henry O'Hara was an American writer. He initially became known for his short stories and later became a best-selling novelist whose works include Appointment in Samarra and BUtterfield 8. He was particularly known for an uncannily accurate ear for dialogue...
. O'Hara adapted his own short stories for the show, which featured a title character who is a heel. So unflinching was the portrait that critic Brooks Atkinson
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson was an American theatre critic. He worked for The New York Times from 1925 to 1960...
famously asked in his review "Although it is expertly done, how can you draw sweet water from a foul well?" When the show was revived in 1952, audiences had learned to accept darker material (thanks in large part to Rodgers' work with Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
). The new production had a considerably longer run than the original and was now considered a classic by critics. Atkinson, reviewing the revival, wrote that "it renews confidence in the professionalism of the theatre."
Analysis
Time Magazine devoted a cover story to Rodgers and Hart (September 26, 1938). They wrote that their success "rests on a commercial instinct that most of their rivals have apparently ignored". The article also noted the "spirit of adventure." "As Rodgers and Hart see it, what was killing musicomedy [sic] was its sameness, its tameness, its eternal rhyming of June with moon."Their songs have long been favorites of cabaret singers and jazz artists. For example, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
recorded their songbook
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook is a 1956 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Buddy Bregman, focusing on the songs written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.This album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in...
. Andrea Marcovicci
Andrea Marcovicci
Andrea Louisa Marcovicci is an American actress and singer.- Biography :Marcovicci was born in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Helen , a singer, and Eugen Marcovicci, a physician and internist of Romanian descent. In her teens, she decided that she wanted to be a singer, but instead...
based one of her cabaret acts entirely on Rodgers and Hart songs.
Hart's lyrics, facile, vernacular, dazzling, sometimes playful, sometimes melancholic, raised the standard for Broadway songwriting. "His ability to write cleverly and to come up with unexpected, polysyllabic rhymes was something of a trademark, but he also had the even rarer ability to write with utmost simplicity and deep emotion." Rodgers, as a creator of melodies, ranks with Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
and Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
.
Their shows belong to the era when musicals were revue-like and librettos were not much more than excuses for comic turns and music cues. Still, just as their songs were a cut above, so did the team try to raise the standard of the musical form in general. Thus, A Connecticut Yankee (1927) was based on Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's novel, and The Boys From Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical...
(1938) on William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
. "They had always considered the integration of story and music a crucial factor in a successful show." They used dance significantly in their work, using the ballets of George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
.
Comparisons between Rodgers and Hart and the successor team of Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
are inevitable. Hammerstein's lyrics project warmth, sincere optimism, and occasional corniness. Hart's lyrics showed greater sophistication in subject matter, more use of overt verbal cleverness, and more of a "New York" or "Broadway" sensibility. The archetypal Rodgers and Hart song, "Manhattan," rhymes "The great big city's a wondrous toy/Just made for a girl and boy" in the first stanza, then reprises with "The city's glamor can never spoil/The dreams of a boy and goil" in the last. Many of the songs ("Falling in Love with Love
Falling in Love with Love
Falling in Love with Love is a show tune from the Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse, where it was introduced by Muriel Angelus. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1938...
", "Little Girl Blue
Little Girl Blue (song)
"Little Girl Blue" is a popular song with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, published in 1935. The song was introduced by Gloria Grafton in the Broadway musical Jumbo....
", "My Funny Valentine
My Funny Valentine
"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
") are wistful or sad, and emotional ambivalence seems to be perceptible in the background of even the sunnier songs. For example, "You Took Advantage of Me" appears to be an evocation of amorous joy, but the very title suggests some doubt as to whether the relationship is mutual or exploitative.
Stage and film productions
- (1920) Fly With Me
- (1925) The Garrick GaietiesThe Garrick GaietiesThe Garrick Gaieties is a revue with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, the first of many musicals by this songwriting team....
- (1925) Dearest EnemyDearest EnemyDearest Enemy is a musical with a book by Herbert Fields, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and music by Richard Rodgers. This was the first of eight book musicals written by the songwriting team of Rodgers and Hart and writer Herbert Field...
- (1926) The Girl FriendThe Girl FriendThe Girl Friend is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields. This was the longest running show to date for the trio.-Production:...
- (1926) Betsy
- (1926) Peggy-AnnPeggy-AnnPeggy-Ann is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields, based on the 1910 musical Tillie’s Nightmare by Edgar Smith.-Production:...
- (1926) The Fifth Avenue Follies
- (1926) Lido Lady
- (1926) Garrick GaietiesThe Garrick GaietiesThe Garrick Gaieties is a revue with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, the first of many musicals by this songwriting team....
- 2nd Edition - (1927) A Connecticut Yankee
- (1927) One Dam Thing After Another
- (1928) Present ArmsPresent Arms (musical)Present Arms is a Broadway musical comedy that opened April 26, 1928, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields. It was produced by Lew Fields with musical numbers stage by Busby Berkeley. It ran for 155 performances at the Lew Fields' Mansfield Theatre.The...
- (1928) Chee-Chee
- (1928) She's My Baby
- (1929) Heads Up!
- (1929) Spring Is Here
- (1930) Ever GreenEver GreenEver Green is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and a book by Benn Levy, based on an idea by Rodgers and Hart. This was the last of three musicals written by Rodgers and Hart in London....
- (1930) Simple SimonSimple Simon (musical)Simple Simon is a Broadway musical with book by Guy Bolton, and Ed Wynn, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers, produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, and starring Ed Wynn....
- (1931) America's SweetheartAmerica's Sweetheart (musical)America’s Sweetheart is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields.-Production:America's Sweetheart premiered on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on February 10, 1931 and closed on June 6, 1931 after 135 performances...
- (1932) Love Me TonightLove Me TonightLove Me Tonight is a 1932 musical comedy film produced and directed by Rouben Mamoulian, with music by Rodgers and Hart. It stars Maurice Chevalier as a tailor who poses as a nobleman and Jeanette MacDonald as a princess with whom he falls in love...
(film) - (1932) The Phantom PresidentThe Phantom PresidentThe Phantom President is a 1932 film directed by Norman Taurog, and starring George M. Cohan, Claudette Colbert and Jimmy Durante.According to Richard Rodgers, George M. Cohan deeply resented having to work with Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart on the film...
(film) - (1933) Hallelujah I'm A Bum (film)
- (1934) Hollywood Party (film)
- (1935) Mississippi (film)
- (1935) JumboJumbo (musical)Jumbo is a musical produced by Billy Rose, with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and book by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.-Production:...
- (1936) On Your ToesOn Your ToesOn Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
- (1936) The Show Is On
- (1937) Babes in ArmsBabes in ArmsBabes in Arms is a 1937 musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a teen-age boy who puts on a show with his friends to avoid being sent to a work farm.- Production history:...
- (1937) I'd Rather Be RightI'd Rather Be RightI'd Rather Be Right is a musical with a book by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and music by Richard Rodgers. The story is a Depression-era political satire set in New York City, about Washington politics and political figures, such as President Franklin Roosevelt...
- (1938) The Boys from SyracuseThe Boys from SyracuseThe Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical...
- (1938) I Married an AngelI Married an AngelI Married An Angel is a musical comedy by Rodgers and Hart. It was adapted from a play by Hungarian playwright János Vaszary, entitled Angyalt Vettem Felesegul. The book was by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, with music by Rodgers and lyrics by Hart. The story concerns a wealthy banker who,...
- (1939) Too Many GirlsToo Many Girls (musical)Too Many Girls is a Broadway musical comedy and a 1940 film version of the show, starring Lucille Ball.-Broadway version:Too Many Girls opened October 18, 1939, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by George Marion Jr. It was produced by George Abbott...
- (1940) Higher and HigherHigher and Higher (musical)Higher and Higher is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and book by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan and produced by Dwight Deere Wiman. It ran on Broadway for 84 performances in 1940.-Production:...
- (1940) Pal Joey
- (1942) By JupiterBy JupiterBy Jupiter is a musical with a book by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. The musical is based on the play The Warrior's Husband by Julian F. Thompson, set in the land of the Amazons...
- (1943) A Connecticut Yankee (revised, with additional songs, their last collaboration)
Songs
According to Chuck Denison, "My Heart Stood Still" is one of Rodgers and Harts' most enduring hits. Their song "Blue MoonBlue Moon (song)
"Blue Moon"'s first crossover recording to rock and roll came from Elvis Presley in 1956. His cover version of the song was included on his self-titled debut album Elvis Presley....
" was used in the 1934 movie Manhattan Melodrama
Manhattan Melodrama
Manhattan Melodrama is a 1934 crime melodrama film, produced by MGM, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, and starring Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy...
as the title song. The song was re-written and Glen Grey and the Casa Loma Orchestra recorded it in 1936, and that version topped the charts for 3 weeks. Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
included a haunting version on his self-titled debut album, in 1956. It again was #1 in 1961, this time in the doo-wop style, by the Marcels.
Frederick Nolan writes that "My Romance
My Romance (song)
"My Romance" is a popular song, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, written for Billy Rose's musical, Jumbo . In the 1962 movie version of Jumbo, Doris Day performed the song....
" (written for Jumbo) "features some of the most elegantly wistful lyrics...[it] is, quite simply, one of the best songs Rodgers and Hart ever wrote."
Other of their many hits include "My Funny Valentine
My Funny Valentine
"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
", "Falling in Love with Love
Falling in Love with Love
Falling in Love with Love is a show tune from the Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse, where it was introduced by Muriel Angelus. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1938...
", "Here In My Arms
Here in My Arms
"Here in My Arms" is a popular song.The music was written by Richard Rodgers, the lyrics by Lorenz Hart. The song was published in 1925.The song was introduced in the Broadway musical Dearest Enemy, and has become a standard recorded by many artists....
", "Mountain Greenery
Mountain Greenery
"Mountain Greenery" is a popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical The Garrick Gaieties . It was first performed on stage by Sterling Holloway.-Notable recordings:...
", "My Heart Stood Still
My Heart Stood Still
"My Heart Stood Still" is a 1927 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical A Connecticut Yankee , where it was introduced by Constance Carpenter and William Gaxton.-Notable recordings:...
", "The Blue Room
Blue Room (song)
"Blue Room" is a show tune from the 1926 Rodgers and Hart musical The Girl Friend, where it was introduced by Eva Puck and Sammy White.-Early recordings:...
", "Ten Cents a Dance
Ten Cents a Dance
"Ten Cents a Dance" is a popular song in which a taxi dancer laments the hardships of her job. The music was written by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart...
", "Dancing on the Ceiling
Dancing on the Ceiling (song)
"Dancing on the Ceiling" is a 1930 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the 1930 musical Ever Green.-Notable recordings:*June Christy - A Friendly Session, Vol...
", "Lover
Lover (song)
"Lover" is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers, with words by Lorenz Hart. It was featured in the movie Love Me Tonight . Les Paul's version was a guitar instrumental released by Capitol Records in 1948. It has a french title Partout Toi...
", "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" is a show tune and popular song from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey. The song was introduced by Vivienne Segal in the 1940 Broadway production, and also sung by Miss Segal both on the 1950 hit record and in the 1952 Broadway revival...
", "Mimi
Mimi (song)
"Mimi" is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers, with words by Lorenz Hart. It was featured in the movie Love Me Tonight , in which it was first sung by Maurice Chevalier to Jeanette MacDonald, then later reprised by the entire company...
", and "Have You Met Miss Jones?
Have You Met Miss Jones?
"Have You Met Miss Jones?" is a popular song that was written for the musical comedy, I'd Rather Be Right. The music was written by Richard Rodgers and the lyrics by Lorenz Hart. The song was published in 1937....
",
List of well-known songs
- (1925) "ManhattanManhattan (song)"Manhattan" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. It has been performed by Lee Wiley, Oscar Peterson, Blossom Dearie, Tony Martin, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, among many others....
", "Mountain GreeneryMountain Greenery"Mountain Greenery" is a popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical The Garrick Gaieties . It was first performed on stage by Sterling Holloway.-Notable recordings:...
" (from The Garrick GaietiesThe Garrick GaietiesThe Garrick Gaieties is a revue with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, the first of many musicals by this songwriting team....
) - (1927) "Thou SwellThou Swell"Thou Swell" is a show tune, a popular song and a jazz standard.The music was written by Richard Rodgers, with words by Lorenz Hart, for the 1927 musical A Connecticut Yankee. There are jazz vocal renditions by Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Blossom Dearie, Ella Fitzgerald and Joe...
" (from A Connecticut Yankee) - (1928) "You Took Advantage of MeYou Took Advantage of Me"You Took Advantage of Me" is a 1928 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical Present Arms , where it was introduced by Joyce Barbour and Busby Berkeley as the characters Edna Stevens and Douglas Atwell....
" (from Present ArmsPresent Arms (musical)Present Arms is a Broadway musical comedy that opened April 26, 1928, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields. It was produced by Lew Fields with musical numbers stage by Busby Berkeley. It ran for 155 performances at the Lew Fields' Mansfield Theatre.The...
) - (1929) "Spring is Here", "Yours Sincerely" and "With a Song in My HeartWith a Song in My Heart (song)"With a Song in My Heart" is a show tune from the 1929 Rodgers and Hart musical Spring is Here.In the original Broadway production it was introduced by John Hundley and Lillian Taiz...
" (from Spring Is HereSpring Is Here"Spring is Here" is a 1938 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical I Married an Angel , where it was introduced by Dennis King and Vivienne Segal.-Notable recordings:...
) - (1932) "LoverLover (song)"Lover" is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers, with words by Lorenz Hart. It was featured in the movie Love Me Tonight . Les Paul's version was a guitar instrumental released by Capitol Records in 1948. It has a french title Partout Toi...
", "MimiMimi (song)"Mimi" is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers, with words by Lorenz Hart. It was featured in the movie Love Me Tonight , in which it was first sung by Maurice Chevalier to Jeanette MacDonald, then later reprised by the entire company...
", "Isn't It Romantic?Isn't It Romantic?"Isn't It Romantic?" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. The music was composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. It has a 32-bar chorus in ABAC form...
", (from Love Me TonightLove Me TonightLove Me Tonight is a 1932 musical comedy film produced and directed by Rouben Mamoulian, with music by Rodgers and Hart. It stars Maurice Chevalier as a tailor who poses as a nobleman and Jeanette MacDonald as a princess with whom he falls in love...
) - (1934) "Blue MoonBlue Moon (song)"Blue Moon"'s first crossover recording to rock and roll came from Elvis Presley in 1956. His cover version of the song was included on his self-titled debut album Elvis Presley....
" (from Manhattan Melodrama) - (1935) "Little Girl BlueLittle Girl Blue (song)"Little Girl Blue" is a popular song with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, published in 1935. The song was introduced by Gloria Grafton in the Broadway musical Jumbo....
", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the WorldThe Most Beautiful Girl in the World (1935 song)"The Most Beautiful Girl In The World A.K.A Hannah Langston '" is a show tune from the 1935 Rodgers and Hart musical Jumbo.This tune hit the Top 40 in 1953 in a recording by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, and was later recorded by Sonny Rollins, Les and Larry Elgart, Vaughn Monroe, Vic Damone, and...
" (from JumboJumbo (musical)Jumbo is a musical produced by Billy Rose, with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and book by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.-Production:...
) - (1936) "There's a Small HotelThere's a Small Hotel"There's a Small Hotel" is a 1936 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart originally written for but dropped from the musical "Billy Rose's Jumbo" , then used in On Your Toes , where it was introduced by Ray Bolger and Doris Carson and also interpolated in the film...
" (from On Your ToesOn Your ToesOn Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
) - (1937) "Where or WhenWhere or When"Where or When" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes In Arms. It was first performed by Ray Heatherton and Mitzi Green. That same year, Hal Kemp recorded a popular version. It also appeared in the movie of the same title two years later...
", I Wish I Were in Love AgainI Wish I Were in Love Again"I Wish I Were in Love Again" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney performed it in the 1948 film Words and Music...
", "My Funny ValentineMy Funny Valentine"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
", "Johnny One NoteJohnny One Note"Johnny One Note" is a 1937 show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms, where it was introduced by Wynn Murrary. Judy Garland sang it in the film version, released in 1939.-Notable recordings:...
", "The Lady is a TrampThe Lady Is a Tramp"The Lady Is a Tramp" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes In Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green. This song is a spoof of New York high society and its strict etiquette...
" (from Babes in ArmsBabes in ArmsBabes in Arms is a 1937 musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a teen-age boy who puts on a show with his friends to avoid being sent to a work farm.- Production history:...
) - (1938) "This Can't Be LoveThis Can't Be Love (song)"This Can't Be Love" is a show tune and a popular song from the 1938 Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse. It was also included in the 1962 musical film, Billy Rose's Jumbo, though most of the songs in that film came from the 1935 Rodgers & Hart musical Jumbo. The lyrics poke fun of the...
", "Falling in Love with LoveFalling in Love with LoveFalling in Love with Love is a show tune from the Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse, where it was introduced by Muriel Angelus. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1938...
" (from The Boys from SyracuseThe Boys from SyracuseThe Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical...
) - (1939) "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" (from Too Many Girls (musical)Too Many Girls (musical)Too Many Girls is a Broadway musical comedy and a 1940 film version of the show, starring Lucille Ball.-Broadway version:Too Many Girls opened October 18, 1939, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by George Marion Jr. It was produced by George Abbott...
) - (1940) "It Never Entered My Mind," (from Higher and Higher)
- (1940) "Bewitched, Bothered and BewilderedBewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" is a show tune and popular song from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey. The song was introduced by Vivienne Segal in the 1940 Broadway production, and also sung by Miss Segal both on the 1950 hit record and in the 1952 Broadway revival...
", "I Could Write a BookI Could Write a Book"I Could Write a Book" is a show tune from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey , where it was introduced by Gene Kelly and Leila Ernst.-Notable recordings:*Betty Carter - The Audience with Betty Carter *Harry Connick, Jr...
" (from Pal Joey) - (1942) "Wait Till You See Her" (from By JupiterBy JupiterBy Jupiter is a musical with a book by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. The musical is based on the play The Warrior's Husband by Julian F. Thompson, set in the land of the Amazons...
)
Other works
- All Points West (1937), monodramaMonodramaA monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character.- Monodrama in opera :...
commissioned by Paul WhitemanPaul WhitemanPaul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
and Rodgers & Hart's first "serious" composition