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Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution
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About Something Wonderful: Rodgers And Hammerstein's
Product Description A revelatory portrait of the creative partnership that transformed musical theater and provided the soundtrack to the American CenturyThey stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play. Their songs and dance numbers served to advance the drama and reveal character, a sharp break from the past and the template on which all future musicals would be built.Though different in personality and often emotionally distant from each other, Rodgers and Hammerstein presented an unbroken front to the world and forged much more than a songwriting team; their partnership was also one of the most profitable and powerful entertainment businesses of their era. They were cultural powerhouses whose work came to define postwar America on stage, screen, television, and radio. But they also had their failures and flops, and more than once they feared they had lost their touch.Todd S. Purdum’s portrait of these two men, their creative process, and their groundbreaking innovations will captivate lovers of musical theater, lovers of the classic American songbook, and young lovers wherever they are. He shows that what Rodgers and Hammerstein wrought was truly something wonderful. Review Named a Best Book of the Year by The Christian Science Monitor and PlaybillSarasota Herald-Tribune Holiday Book Guide“Affectionate and richly researched. . . . Something Wonderful offers a fresh look at the milieu and circumstances that contributed to the creation of some of the musical theater’s greatest and most enduring treasures. . . . In giving us access to the world that gave birth to them, Purdum’s authoritative and ultimately moving book brings these masterpieces to life with bracing clarity.”―The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)"A veteran political reporter, Purdum goes moonlighting to delightful effect in Something Wonderful. His journalistic skills are evident in this affectionate tribute to the team that rewrote the rules for American musical theater. Something Wonderful is thoroughly researched and briskly written, seamlessly blending a chronological narrative of the productions with cogent analyses of their effect on American culture."―The Washington Post"Todd Purdum’s skillful dual biography…strips away the accretions of time and reputation to retrieve the craft and dynamism with which his subjects created a new kind of musical."―The Economist"[A] brisk, thoroughly reported, very readable new account of the Rodgers-Hammerstein partnership. . . . Purdum gives the pair far more complexity and feeling than they are generally credited for."―Corby Kummer, The Atlantic"A revelatory portrait. . . detailed and sharp."―Time“Todd Purdum’s timely examination of the life and works of Rodgers and Hammerstein is a beautifully balanced accounting of two complicated men, the theater artists who surrounded them, and the quite astounding works they created. Purdum writes with grace and care about the creation of their best and their least achievements, and he subtly points to their differences and difficulties as human beings without ever stooping to gossip or nastiness. Like the R&H catalog itself, he takes on his subject with taste, relish, fairness, and a clear sense of the importance of the subject matter. A wonderful read.”―Jack Viertel, author of The Secret Life of the American Musical“Fresh. . . . A neatly proportioned study . . . perhaps most helpful [in] reminding us of the bold breadth of the business―in the broadest sense―of the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership” [whose] “melodies . . . ventured sprawlingly across the planet, all day and deep into the night."
