Mary Rodgers
b. Jan. 11, 1939, New York, NY, USA.
Overview
Nothing more need be said other than that this lovely lady is as musically talented as her illustrious father, Richard Rodgers. Rodgers had two children, both girls and Mary is the eldest. (Please see also Linda Melnick.)

She was educated at Wellesley College and at the David Mannes College of Music. Early on, most of her work was in contributing special material to various nightclubs; revues; and to theater concerts, including a 'Davy Jones' Locker', a marionette show, as well as a Mary Martin Special on TV, both in 1959.

She became famous when she scored her first complete musical 'Once Upon a Mattress' with lyrics by Marshall Barer. The show opened 'off-Broadway' and then moved 'on' Broadway, where it stayed for one year. Carol Burnett was in the show. Among the hit songs were "Song of Love" and "Very Soft Shoe".
Her second full show was entitled 'Hot Spot', but it must not have been so hot because it was a failure.

She was the script editor and assistant producer for famed leader Leonard Bernstein's 'Young Peoples Concerts' during 1957 to 1963. Also in 1963, she scored a TV Special called 'Feathertop'. In 1966 she scored 'The Mad Show', a satire on 'Mad Magazine'. with lyrics again by Marshal Barer, and Larry Siegel, and Steven Vinaver.

While it might be tempting to consider that she is Richard Rodgers daughter, nevertheless, about her, the famed N.Y. Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson wrote. "Nothing that she has written sounds like his portfolio......she has a style of her own and a fund of cheerful melodies..."

   Richard Rodgers
b. June 28, 1902, New York, N.Y., d. March 27, 1979, New York, N.Y.
(Born Hammels Station, near Arverne, Long Island, NY, a suburb of New York City).
NOTE: There is so much literature available on Rodgers, that I am only including a few notes here. A trip to the local library will be very rewarding.

Overview:
Richard Rodgers was one of our greatest and most prolific composers of popular songs. He first collaborated with lyricist Lorenz ("Larry") Hart, from 1919 until 1943 and then began an association with Oscar Hammerstein 11. Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote together until Hammerstein's death in 1960.

His mother, Mamie, was an excellent pianist, and his father was Dr. William Rodgers. Rodgers has said that his family was able to provide him with a good education, and while not a 'rich' family, he didn't have any worries growing up. He had one brother, about five years older than himself.

While Dick was attending Columbia University (NY), a friend, Phillip Levitt, introduced him to Lorenz Hart. Rodgers was 16 years old at the time, and Hart was 23. (see Hart) They hit it off right away. In 1918, the team produced their first commercial tune "Any Old Place With You", followed, in 1920, with "There's Always Room For One More", a piece in typical 2/4 time signature.

Rodgers is one of Broadway's master tunesmiths. Over his career, he scored more than 40 Broadway musicals, each one a tremendous hit. His songs are sung around the world in many different languages. And, the lyrics of, first, Lorenz Hart, and, later, Oscar Hammerstein II are both enduring and heartwarming.

Dick Rodgers was not comfortable writing 'independent' songs. He needed to have a background for the tune. He used the tune to enhance the character's role in the play. So it is not surprising that most of Rodgers's songs were written in a dramatic context for Broadway musicals especially, and for the movies also. He has said that he can't dash off a song in an hour or so. He didn't believe in 'inspiration'. Rodgers was the type of writer who first had to know the 'plot' and then to think deeply of the character that was to sing his song. Only when he had things clearly in mind, did he then sit down and begin to compose. Larry Hart always insisted that Rodgers first write the melody, then Hart would come up with the lyric. This was just the reverse with Oscar Hammerstein.

This writer always recalls a radio interview where Rodgers said that he thought 'inspiration' was a 'phoney' word. Originally, inspiration meant the "drawing in (of air)', but now it connotes the "giving out" of some great idea or thought. But, inspiration is worthless without 'technique'. If you want to be a poet, you have to actively study the principles of poesy. If you wish to be a musician, you must spend the years needed to acquire the proficiency and technique needed to express your feelings. That's why when a cab driver gets mad, he just yells, he has no ability - technique - to get his feelings across. And if you see a pretty sight, but have never studied Art, then looking at the picture is worthless. ("An artist needs BOTH Emotion and Technique." --Richard Rodgers)

Brief Chronology of Rodgers shows.
----------------
1924 Rodgers and Hart scored the play 'The Melody Man'. It ran for 54
     performances. Herbert Fields was the librettist.
1925 'Garrick Gaieties', started the team on the road to success.
     "Manhattan"
     "Sentimental Me"
1925 the Broadway show 'Dearest Enemy', featured the song;
     "Here In My Arms" (Get Lee Wiley's recording of this ballad!)
1926 Their next show was 'The Girl Friend' with songs as:
     "The Girl Friend"
     "Blue Room"
1926 Scored the show 'Peggy-Ann'.
1927 A Connecticut Yankee
     "Thou Swell"
     "My Heart Stood Still".  Rodgers remembered that he and Hart had
     been riding in a Paris Cab with two young ladies, when the car
     had a near accident. One of the girls remarked "Oh! My Heart
     Stood Still", and Larry Hart said that was a fine song title.
     Several weeks later, Rodgers sent Hart the music with that
     title, and Hart sat down and wrote the lyric.   The song was
     originally written for a London Revue produced by Charles
     Cochran, and later placed into 'A Connecticut Yankee'.
1928 They scored 'Present Arms', with the song
     "You Took Advantage of Me"
1929 'Spring Is Here', had
     "With a Song in My Heart"
1930 The show 'Simple Simon', (Ed Wynn was the star) had the song,
     "Ten Cents a Dance"
1931 The show 'America's Sweetheart', had a delightful tune called,
     "I've Got Five Dollars"
After this show, Rodgers and Hart left for Hollywood, where they
worked for five years. Their best film score was:
     'Love Me Tonight', starring Maurice Chevalier, with songs:
      "Mimi"
      "Isn't It Romantic"
      "Lover"
But they also worked on films for Bing Crosby; Al Jolson and George
M. Cohan. During this period, "Blue Moon", which had been in two
shows, was released with new lyrics as an independent tune, and
became a million seller.  In 1936, the team returned to Broadway.

1936 Scored the show 'Jumbo', produced by Billy Rose.
     "Little Girl Blue"
     "My Romance"
     "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
1936 Scored the show 'On Your Toes', had a remarkable ballet called:
     "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"
     "There's a Small Hotel"
     "Quiet Night"
  Listen to Lorenz Hart's virtuosity in writing sophisticated lyrics
  to these songs:
     "Too Good For The Average Man"
     "The Three B's"
1937 'Babes in Arms' overflowed with beautiful tunes.
     "My Funny Valentine"
     "Where Or When"
     "The Lady is a Tramp"
     "All At Once"
     "Johnny One Note"
     "I Wish I Were In Love Again"
1937 scored the show 'I'de Rather Be Right'. Starred George M. Cohan
     playing the role of the President of the U.S.
     "Have You Met Miss Jones?"
1938 Scored 'I Married An Angel', starred Vera Zorina. George
     Balanchine did the choreography.
     "I Married An Angel"
     "Spring is Here"
1938 scored 'The Boys From Syracuse', adapted from Shakespeare's 'A
     Comedy of Errors'.
     "Falling in Love with Love"
1939 Rodgers wrote the Ballet music for 'Ghost Town', presented by
     the Ballet de Monte Carlo, in their New York tour.
1940 'Pal Joey' was their most unconventional show.
     "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"
     "I Could Write a Book"
1942 'By Jupiter' was the last of the Rodgers and Hart musicals. They
      did get together for the 1943 revival of 'A Connecticut Yankee'.
      Larry Hart died in 1943.

Hard to believe, but a more eventful epoch was dawning for the new
team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Rodgers began his association with
Oscar Hammerstein 11, in 1943, but the arrangements had been made two
years earlier. (See Lorenz Hart entry)

1943 Oklahoma! Rodgers felt that everyone connected with this had
     troubles. The Theater Guild (producers of the show) had just
     come off a long string of failed shows. This was to be their
     last try for a success before the money ran out.  Rodgers' new
     lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein, had not had a 'hit' song in the
     last 11 years. Reuban Mamoulian, the director, had not had a hit
     show between 1936 till then, 1943. Agnes DeMille, the
     choreographer had no experience with Broadway shows. There were
     no stars in the cast, -Alfred Drake was unknown then. And, the
     story was what is called 'a horse opera'; all about farmers and
     cowboys, with the girls wearing long dresses that came up to
     their necks. The show was a smash hit that changed the course
     that future musicals would follow.
     "Surrey With a Fringe on Top"
     "Out of My Dreams"
     "People Will Say We're in Love"
     "Many a New Day"
     "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'
1944 scored the Hollywood film, 'State Fair'.
     "It Might As Well Be Spring". An Academy Award tune in 1946.
     "It's a Grand Night For Singing"
1945 'Carousel'
     "June is Bustin' Out All Over"
     "You'll Never Walk Alone"
     "If I Loved You"
1947 Scored the show 'Allegro', which 'flopped', but two of its songs
     have survived.
     "The Gentleman Is A Dope"
     "A Fellow Needs a Girl"
1949 'South Pacific', is one of the theater's crowning glories. Based
      on James Michener's book, 'Tales of the South Pacific'.  Ezio
      Pinza and Mary Martin were the stars.
     "Bali Ha'i"
     "There is Nothing Like a Dame"
     "Some Enchanted Evening"
     "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair"
     "This Nearly Was Mine"
1951 scored 'The King and I', with Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence.
     Based on Margaret Landon's 'Anna and the King of Siam'.
     "Hello Young Lovers"
     "A Puzzlement"
     "Getting to Know You"
     "I Whistle A Happy Tune"
     "We Kiss in the Dark"
     "Shall We Dance"
     "I Have Dreamed"
1953 'Me and Juliet', flopped.
     "No Other Love" (a Tango, originally part of the 1952 Peabody Award documentary series, Victory at Sea.)
1955 'Pipe Dream', also flopped. Based Steinbeck's Cannery Row novel.
     "All At Once, You Love Her"
1957 'Cinderella' (a television show), starred Julie Andrews.
1958 scored 'Flower Drum Song'.
     "I Enjoy Being a Girl", Pat Suzuki sang this hit song.
1959 scored 'The Sound of Music', the story of the Trapp Family Singers.
     Mary Martin starred, singing songs such as:
     "Do Re Me"
     "My Favorite Things"
     "Climb Ev'ry Mountain".