Favorite Rodgers/Hammerstein Show?

This person who thinks Carousel "condones spousal abuse" does not get the show at all. Thumbs down!

Yeah, I mean not sure how you can say Carousel condones spousal abuse. After Billy hits Julie they remind him of it and what a bad person he is over and over and over for the rest of the show...

my ranking

1)south pacific-song for song strongest of all their shows and powerful story.racism as central toapic in 1950 wow!

2)the king and i-a very close second song for song

loved the revival and tour

3)oklahoma-changed modern musicals forever and fantastic songs. im a fan of hughs london revival

4) sound of music-so much better on film than stage

for some reason...probably the most songs that have become standards due to the films massive success. the recent tour and lindon production broadcast on tvwere treats as were parts if the recent us tv production(go audra)

5) carousel-if i loved you one of the mostbeautiful songs of all time. recent production with kelli ohara really brought this show to an entire new level for me

6) cinderella-it took a long time to get to broadway but they really delivered the goods. the "big 5" rh musicals should be revised to big 6

The King and I

Song for song, you can't really beat South Pacific. It's one well known standard after another. However, the book occasionally lags, particularly in the map room scenes.

Carousel might be the most complete show they've written. The score may not contain as many hits, but it's highly effective and probably the most region specific score they ever wrote.

But then it's hard to discount Oklahoma and how it changed the genre.

I think you could make a case for any one of those three shows. If you held a gun to my head I'd probably pick South Pacific.

Cinderella --- the REAL one by R & H, not that horrible "adaptation."

Just one of many things wrong with that adaptation of Carousel...I might be the only one who maintains that Shirley Jones was a mediocre Julie, but I'm very picky about who plays the role...

After Eight said: "Cinderella --- the REAL one by R & H, not that horrible "adaptation."

WTF are you talking about? Cinderella by R&H was never on Broadway until the adaptation you refer to, and by "horrible" I assume you are referring to Douglas Carter Beane's book. It was never a "show" It was a TV production



"

Yay for the shout-out to the Twin Cities! I grew up around Minneapolis, and we have some fantastic theatre out there (Minneapolis likes to brag that it has the second-most theatre seats per capita, only falling short to New York).

Overall, I find "The King and I" and "The Sound of Music" to be the best of R&H's musicals, though I find their overall power and impact to be quite diminished unless they are performed by really good actors. "South Pacific" still holds a special place in my heart, though, as it was one of the first musical scores I fell in love with.

It looks as if I'm in rare company for believing that Oklahoma! is a truly flawed musical. I think it has some beautiful parts to it, but the ending is incredibly rushed and Jud Fry is given such poor treatment as a character at his death. Those two aspects are enough to take me out of the story every time I see the musical.

I still regret missing the Encores! production of "Pipe Dream" a couple of years back. As imperfect as it is, I don't think I'll be able to see a professional production of it anytime soon.

Updated On: 2/24/17 at 10:51 AM

Me & Juliet. Seriously.

South Pacific followed by The King and I.

Raised on Musicals said:

"WTF are you talking about?"

First, you need to watch your language.

"Cinderella by R&H was never on Broadway until the adaptation you refer to, and by "horrible" I assume you are referring to Douglas Carter Beane's book. It was never a "show" It was a TV production ."



Oh really, it was a tv show? Who would have ever guessed? Imagine the temerity to consider a tv show a "show." Of course, the fact that that "non-show" was presented on stage before the arrival of that miserable "adaptation" is obviously of no importance to a sage like yourself.

I reiterate. My favorite R & H show is Cinderella--- the REAL one by R & H, not that horrible "adaptation."