Each month, Jason Fortner spotlights one or more musical theatre composers and/or lyricists, offering his own unique perspective on the songwriting legends of musical theatre. Send your comments/questions on this column to happgood@aol.com.

The period between SHOW BOAT (1927) and OKLAHOMA! (1943) proved to be a rollercoaster ride for Oscar, a time when he received very little (if any) critical praise.

After his phoenix-like career rebirth with Richard Rodgers, the humble Hammerstein took out a year end ad in Variety (1/4/44) that offered his holiday greetings and listed his failures, including such shows as FREE FOR ALL (1931), BALL AT THE SAVOY (London 1933), THREE SISTERS (London 1934) VERY WARM FOR MAY (1939), and SUNNY RIVER (1941). The punch-line to the ad was the line "I've done it before and I can do it again!"

Out of this period he did find moderate success for shows as MUSIC IN THE AIR (1932), MAY WINE (1935) and the long running HELLZAPOPPIN. He dabbled in Hollywood as well, but like so many transplanted New Yorkers, preferred the freedom of Broadway over the artistic constraints of the Hollywood studio system.

Among his most famous lyrics of the period are the ones he penned for the now classic All the Things You Are, featured in the short-lived VERY WARM FOR MAY, a collaboration with composer Jerome Kern. Here are those immortal lyrics:

Time and again I've longed for adventure,
Something to make my heart beat the faster.
What did I long for? I never really knew.
Finding your love I've found my adventure,
Touching your hand, my heart beats the faster,
All that I want in all of this world is you.

You are the promised kiss of springtime
That makes the lonely winter seem long.
You are the breathless hush of evening
That trembles on the brink of a lovely song.
You are the angel glow that lights a star,
The dearest things I know are what you are.
Some day my happy arms will hold you,
And some day I'll know that moment divine,
When all the things you are, are mine!

"All The Things You Are" performed by Howard McGillin (Broadway's current PHANTOM OF THE OPERA)

When the Theatre Guild and Richard Rodgers came a calling to propose what would become OKLAHOMA!, Oscar jumped into it with both feet, immersing himself in the flowery language of playwright Lynn Riggs' prose in the source play, GREEN GROW THE LILACS. He saw this as the perfect opportunity to move away from the past and write with a new collaborator, one he had first worked with back in college in 1919.

Originally titled AWAY WE GO, the story of OKLAHOMA!'s success is an oft told one, full of humor and hope. With most Broadway types betting on its failure, the show triumphed upon reaching the Great White Way and shook up the foundations of musical comedy to push it toward the more complex world of musical theatre.

In Rodgers, Hammerstein the perfect balance to his poetic talents, ably merging two minds into one while both keeping to deadlines and business needs. Rodgers, having battled with the whims and mercurial nature of Lorenz Hart for 24 years, was more than ready for the change and embraced it full force. He loved Oscar's fastidiousness and attention to detail, allowing both of them the freedom to push their previous artistic limits.  Their output of classics and their impact on modern musical theatre remains unmatched.

Here's a classic lyric from OKLAHOMA!, the humorous duet for the comic leads Ado Annie & Will Parker entitled All Er Nothin'.

Will:
You'll have to be a little more standoffish
When fellers offer you a buggy ride.

Annie:
I'll give a imitation of a crawfish
And dig myself a hole where I can hide.

Will:
I heared how you was kickin' up some capers
When I was off in Kansas City, Mo.
I heard some things you couldn't print in papers
From fellers who been talkin' like they know!

Annie:
Foot!
I only did the kind of things I orta, sorta,
To you I was as faithful as c'n be fer me.
Them stories 'bout the way I lost my bloomers - Rumors!
A lot of tempest in a pot o' tea!

Will:
The whole thing don't sound very good to me.

Annie:
Well, y' see.

Will:
I go and sow my last wild oat!
I cut out all shenanigans.
I save my money, don't gamble or drink
In the back room down at Flannigans!
I give up lotsa other things
A gentleman never mentions,
But before I give up anymore,
I wanta know your intentions!

With me it's all er nuthin'.
Is it all er nuthin' with you?
It cain't be "in between"
It cain't be "now and then"
No half and half romance will do!

I'm a one woman man, Home lovin' type,
All complete with slippers and pipe.
Take me like I am, er leave me be!
If you cain't give me all, give me nuthin'
And nuthin's whut you'll git from me!

Annie:
Not even sump'n?

Will:
Nuthin's whut you'll git from me!

Annie:
It cain't be "in between"

Will:
Hmm Hmm!

Annie:
It cain't be "now and then"

Will:
No half and half romance will do!

Annie:
Would you build me a house
All painted white
Cute and clean and purty and bright

Will:
Big enough fer two but not fer three!

Annie:
S'posin' that we should have a third one?

Will:
He better look a lot like me!

Annie:
Yer spitten image!

Will:
He better look a lot like me!

Annie:
With you it's all er nuthin'.
All fer you and nuthin' fer me!
But if a wife is wise, she's gotta realize
That men like you are wild and free.
So I ain't gonna fuss, ain't gonna frown,
Have your fun, go out on the town,
Stay up late and don't come home till three.
And go right off to sleep if you're sleepy,
There's no use waitin' up fer me!

Will:
Oh, Ado Annie!

Annie:
No use waitin' up fer me!

Will:
Come back and kiss me!

Gloria Grahame and Gene Nelson as Ado Annie and Will Parker in "All Er Nuthin'" from the 1955 film version of OKLAHOMA!

Rodgers & Hammerstein followed OKLAHOMA! with CAROUSEL, a lifelong favorite of both men. Based on the play LILIOM, CAROUSEL took the audience on a deeper journey than their previous work, witnessing the death of the leading man before intermission and then traveling with him to Heaven and back to witness his redemption. Heady stuff for a musical, but made transcendent by the magnificent score written by R & H.

By this time all other musical writers were scrambling to adapt to the Rodgers & Hammerstein style, incorporating such elements as Dream Ballets and integrated character songs into their scores, often with mixed results. It was during this period that Hammerstein befriended and became a mentor to teenaged Stephen Sondheim, coaching him in the ways of the musical dramatist. Sondheim would always credit Oscar for teaching him the "right" way to structure a musical play.

The score to CAROUSEL is a rich one, and one of my favorite sequences is the Bench Scene, in which Billy and Julie deny their love while musically professing it in a way that clues in the audience. It is the work of a true dramatist, something that Oscar took great pride in.

Billy
Ain't you scared of me? I mean, after what that cop said about me takin' money from girls?

Julie
I ain't scared!

Billy
Is that your name Julie, Julie, hmm hmm, somethin'?

Julie
Julie Jordon-

Billy
You're a queer one, Julie Jordan,
Ain't you sorry that you didn't run away?
You can still go if you wanna,

Julie
I reckon that I care to choose to stay!
You couldn't take my money if I didn't have any
And I don't have a penny, that's true.
And if I did have money,
You couldn't take any
'Cause you'd ask an' I'd give it to you!

Billy
You're a queer one, Julie Jordan,
Have you ever had a fella you give money to?

Julie
No!

Billy
Ain't you ever had a fella at all?

Julie
No!

Billy
Well, you must have a fella you went walkin' with

Julie
Yes!

Billy
Where'd you walk?

Julie
Nowhere special I recall-

Billy
In the woods?

Julie
No!

Billy
On a beach?

Julie
No!

Billy
Did you love him-

Julie
No, I've never told you anyone, I told you that.

Billy
Aha! You're-Your're a funny kid!
Hey, you wanna go to town dance maybe or...

Julie
No! I have to be careful!

Billy
Of what!

Julie
Of my character... You see, I'm never gonna marry.

I'm never gonna marry if I was gonna marry,
I wouldn't have to be such a stickler.
But I'm never gonna marry,
And a girl who don't marry
Has got to be much more partic'lar

[They Laugh]

Billy
Ah ah ah-
Hey s'ppose- s'ppose I was to say that I would marry you, hmm?

Julie
You!?!

Billy
Oh, that scared you, hmm?
Then you are thinkin' 'bout what the cop said!

Julie
No, I ain't, I never paid no mind of what he said!

Billy
But you wouldn't marry a smear like me, would you?

Julie
Yes, I would!
If I loved you... It wouldn't make no difference what you'd-
Even if I died for it.

Billy
Well, how you know what you'd do if you loved me?
How you'd feel or anythin'?

Julie
I don't know how I know. Just the same I know how it'd be...
If I loved you.
When I work in the mill weaving at the loom
I gaze absent-minded at the roof
And half the time the shuttle get tangled in the threads
And the warp get mixed with the woof
If I loved you...

Billy
But you don't!

Julie
No, I don't!

Julie
But somehow I can see
Just exactly how I'd be-

If I loved you,
Time and again I would try to say
All I'd want you to know.
If I loved you,
Words wouldn't come in an easy way
Round in circles I'd go!
Longin' to tell you,
But afraid and shy,
I'd let my golden chances pass me by!
Soon you'd leave me,
Off you would go in the mist of day,
Never, never to know how I loved you
If I loved you.

Billy
Well, anyway, you mean you don't love me.
That's what you said, isn't it?

Julie
Yes!
I can smell 'em, can you, ah?
The blossoms. The wind brings 'em down!

Billy
There ain't much wind tonight... Hardly any.
You can't hear a sound, not the turn of a leaf
Nor the fall of a wave hittin' the sand.
The tide's creepin' up on the beach like a thief,
Afraid to be caught stealin' the land!
On a night like this I start to wonder
What life is all about.

Julie
And I always say two heads are better than one to figure it out.

Billy
[spoken]
I don't need you, I don't need anybody helpin' me.
Well, I got it figured out for myself.
We're not important. What are we?
A couple o' specks with nothin'
Look up there...

[sung]
There's a hell of a lotta stars in the sky,
And the sky's so big the sea looks small,
And two little people, you and I
We don't count at all.

[spoken]
You're a funny kid, you know?
I don't remember meetin' a girl like you.
Hey, you're tryin' to get me to marry you?

Julie
No!

Billy
Then what's puttin' into my head, babe?
You're diff'rent, alright! I know what it is...
You have doped me with that little kid's face, right?
You've adjusted me!
I wonder what it'd be like...

Julie
What?

Billy
Nothin'.
No, I know what it'd be like.
It'd be awful! I can just see myself-

Kinda scrawny, and pale
Picking at my food,
And love-sick like any other guy.
I'd throw away my sweater, and dress up like a dude
In a dicky and a collar and a tie.
If I loved you.

Julie
[spoken]
But you don't!

Billy
No, I don't!
[sung]
But somehow I can see
Just exactly how I'd be
If I loved you,
Time and again I would try to say
All I'd want you to know.
If I loved you,
Words wouldn't come in an easy way
Round in circles I'd go!
Longin' to tell you,
But afraid and shy
I'd let my golden chances pass me by!
Soon you'd leave me,
Off you would go in the mist of day,
Never, never to know
How I loved you
If I loved you.

[spoken]
Aha...I'm not the kinda fella to marry anybody!
No, even if a girl was foolish enough to want me to,
I wouldn't!

Julie
Don't worry about it, Billy!

Billy
Who's worried?

Julie
You were right about there bein' no wind.
The blossoms are comin' down by theirselves.
Just they're in time to, I reckon.

CAROUSEL'S original stars John Raitt & Jan Clayton performing the Bench Scene. Introduction by Broadway legend Mary Martin.

Hammerstein loved the chance to become a dramatist, pushing the envelope to include such topics as social injustice with the musical theatre package he presented. Although sugarcoated on the outside, many a Hammerstein show serves up a bitter lesson to the audience about man's poor treatment of man, and any and all hot topic issues were up for inclusion in a Hammerstein show.

In next month's final segment, we'll look at this side of Oscar and the way he incorporated his views into such landmark shows as ALLEGRO, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING & I and more.