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.

It’s often said that success in show business is brought about by a series of happy accidents, and nowhere is this more true than the Broadway musical.

That spark of an idea, the loan of a novel, that chance meeting, that missed flight that helped create a show can’t be predicted. And yet, when those unrelated events occur, magic can happen.

Go back to the day Richard Rodger’s brother took him to see the Columbia University year end musical. It was there and then he decided he would write the show himself within a few years, and it was his first Columbia show FLY WITH ME that paired him lyrically with both Hart & Hammerstein.

Fast forward to the GARRICK GAIETIES, when Rodgers & Hart submitted a few numbers and one song, “Manhattan” became an instant hit. Suddenly they were in demand, although they’d been on the Broadway scene for 5 years.

Ruth Lester & Alan Gould in "Manhattan" from 1929 musical short MAKERS OF MELODY

From there, fast forward to 1942, when Rodgers is asked to write a show for the failing Theater Guild and he chances on a play called GREEN GROW THE LILACS. He asks Hart to collaborate but he declines, opening the door for a Hammerstein reunion, even though Oscar hadn’t had much real success since SHOW BOAT in 1927. This series of happy accidents paved the way for the most successful team in musical theater history, yet there was a 23 gap between working together on FLY WITH ME and OKLAHOMA!

What would OKLAHOMA! have been if Hart had said yes? A decidedly different show, I am sure.

Hugh Jackman & Shuler Hensley in "Poor Jud Is Daid" from OKLAHOMA

But these meetings and happenstances run rampant through musical theater history.

If both Lerner & Loewe hadn’t been at the Lamb’s Club dining separately one day they might never have met, and that happened only because one of them needed directions to the Men’s Room and stopped by a random table to ask. Another happy accident.

What if Rodgers & Hammerstein had found a way to write a musical version of PYGMALION? Lerner & Loewe might never have created their greatest achievement. And what if Lerner & Loewe’s first choice for Eliza had said yes instead of no? Would Mary Martin have been a hit as Eliza Doolittle? Julie Andrews is grateful that never happened.

Julie Andrews performs "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" from MY FAIR LADY on the ED SULLIVAN SHOW

Speaking of casting, what if Anne Bancroft had stayed with FUNNY GIRL or Noel Coward had said yes to THE KING & I? We know that Ethel Merman eventually could and did play Dolly Levi, but what would the rehearsal process have been with the Merm rather than Carol Channing? Surely a different show, possibly still called DOLLY, A DAMNED EXASPERATING WOMAN!

And what if the Gershwins hadn’t written a little ditty called “I Got Rhythm” for Ethel to belt out in 1930? We might never have had the greatest star on Broadway, and Ginger Rogers (the top billed star of GIRL CRAZY) might not have pursued a Hollywood career.

Carol Channing performs her signature tune - "Hello Dolly" - at the 1979 Royal Variety Performance, Theatre Royal, London.

What about ANNIE GET YOUR GUN? Dorothy Fields reads an article on Annie Oakley and envisions a musical for Ethel Merman. What if Jerome Kern hadn’t died in the writing process? What would a Kern/Fields score sound like for AGYG? And that would have prevented Irving Berlin from having one of his most enduring hits.

If someone had not suggested that young Stephen Sondheim assist Leonard Bernstein on WEST SIDE STORY, we might have had a Bernstein/Bernstein score instead. And it might have been called GANGWAY, as originally announced.

Karen Olivo & company perform "America" from the 2009 revival of WEST SIDE STORY on THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW.

If the writing team of Leroy Anderson and Arnold Horwitt had not been fired from WONDERFUL TOWN, we might never have had the wonderful score quickly created by Bernstein, Comden & Green.

If Gwen Verdon had not stopped the show in CAN-CAN, we might have been deprived of some of Broadway’s greatest leading lady roles, much to the dismay of billed star Lilo. If Carol Haney had not missed shows at THE PAJAMA GAME, Shirley MacLaine might have remained a chorus girl and never been a movie star.

But wait, there’s more.

Although Jack Warner asked Cary Grant to portray “Harold Hill” in THE MUSIC MAN film, a terrified Grant insisted the ONLY person for the role was Robert Preston, the originator. Thankfully Cary knew best.

If Martin Charnin had not purchased a coffee table book on Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie we might never have had ANNIE, and had the first “Annie” not been fired out of town, Andrea McArdle may have remained unknown.

A very young Sarah Jessica Parker, then starring in ANNIE on Broadway, sings "Tomorrow' on a 1979 Bob Hope Special

And then there are the sad what ifs?

What if Danny Kaye hadn’t broken his foot in TWO BY TWO? Or Barry Bostwick breaking his leg in THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM? Or Tommy Tune breaking his foot in BUSKER ALLEY pre Broadway? What might have happened?

What if Judy Garland had been dependable enough to actually do MAME on Broadway, could she have pulled it off? Or what if she had completed the film of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, could it have been an even better film?

We will never know.

But as shows open and close we are reminded that success can come from anywhere, be it an Oz prequel or a random collection of tunes by ABBA.

There’s no crystal ball to show how to do it, but writers, directors, producers and performers pursue that elusive dream of success nonetheless.

And we’re grateful to go along for the ride.