ABSTRACT
In 1943, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II launched Oklahoma!, one of the most successful shows ever seen on Broadway. With Lorenz Hart's death, Rodgers and Hammerstein began to collaborate once more. One of their first joint endeavors was the establishment of a new publishing company so that they could control the publication of the music they wrote together. They called the new firm Williamson Music, for both men had fathers named William. The back-to-back successes of Oklahoma! and their first production venture made the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein a hot ticket, and they were soon approached by Twentieth Century Fox to write a score for a film musical. The genesis for their next musical, Carousel, came during a 1944 luncheon with Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild. Several Oklahoma! collaborators were reunited for the Carousel team: Rodgers and Hammerstein, of course, as well as Agnes de Mille as choreographer and Rouben Mamoulian as director.
