Oscar Hammerstein Videos

How did some of your favorite songs come to be? BroadwayWorld is getting the story behind the song in exclusive interviews from your favorite Broadway composers. Below, watch as Lynn Ahrens, currently represented on Broadway with Once on This Island and Anastasia, explains how she and collaborator Stephen Flaherty came to write an Act 2 anthem from Ragtime, 'Back to Before.'

Actor Mark Rylance (Academy Award and 2-time Tony Award winner) and playwright Claire van Kampen discuss her new play in which he stars, Farinelli and the King, with co-hosts playwright Warren Leight and Susan Haskins. Also, co-host Michael Musto goes backstage at The Oscar Hammerstein Awards for a conversation with this year's honorees, the legendary songwriting team of Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt (The Fantasticks; I Do, I Do; 110 in The Shade).

In honor of today's Martin Luther King Day, BWW brings you rare footage of Oscar Hammerstein, setting the mood for 'Brotherhood Week,' an annual event created by the National Conference for Christians and Jews in 1934.

Just last night, the York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and preserving musical gems from the past, honored legendary musical theatre writing team Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (The Fantasticks, I Do! I Do!, 110 in the Shade, Celebration) with the 2017 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre at the 26th Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala.

The cast of OKLAHOMA! at Goodspeed Opera House put together a video to share a message of hope, love, and unity following this week's tragedy in Las Vegas.

In the video below, get a sneak peek at Michael Feinstein and Betty Buckley dueting before Feinstein's 'Showstoppers' series continues tonight, September 1st, through September 3rd at Feinstein's/54 Below!

'People will say we're in love' with this wild western cast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's beloved Oklahoma! Having directed last summer's hit Bye Bye Birdie Jenn Thompson returns to Goodspeed to take on the show that changed American musicals forever. For the first time at Goodspeed, this country classic will welcome city slickers, cowboys and everyone in between! So kick up your boots and join us for this lively and legendary musical which runs now through September 23 at The Goodspeed in East Haddam, Conn. The show opens tonight, August 2, and BroadwayWorld has highlights below!

Composer Stephen Sondheim sat down with CBS this week to discuss the importance of teachers and the profound effect his own teacher, Oscar Hammerstein, had on his own life and career. 

For #FlashbackFriday BroadwayWorld is looking back on Live from Lincoln Center's CAROUSEL following the exciting news that the musical will be revived on Broadway next season!

On this day in 1994, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Carousel opened at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre.

International song stylist Iris Williams returns to the Los Angeles cabaret scene in a one night only solo performance at Catalina's located on Hollywood's storied Sunset Boulevard on February 28 at 8:30pm.  During Ms. Williams' set, themed "Let the Music Begin," she interprets standards by the likes of Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein, Nat King Cole, Carole King, Ashford & Simpson and Edith Piaf. http://www.catalinajazzclub.com

Will Hammerstein, grandson of Oscar Hammerstein II and President of the Oscar Hammerstein Museum & Theater Education Center, needs your help! In the video below, he is standing outside Oscar's former home, Highland Farm, where all Oscar's most famous works where created - including the landmark musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. The property is being turned into a museum and is seeking donations to make the project a reality. 

Tony and Grammy award-nominated Michael McElroy and Broadway Inspirational Voices released the seventh video in their 'Broadway Our Way' series today, offering 'Edelweiss' from the legendary musical The Sound of Music, music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (Oklahoma; South Pacific; Carousel; King and I). Check it out below!

International song stylist Iris Williams returns to the Los Angeles cabaret scene in a one night only solo performance at Catalina's located on Hollywood's storied Sunset Boulevard on February 28 at 8:30pm.  During Ms. Williams' set, themed "Let the Music Begin," she interprets standards by the likes of Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein, Nat King Cole, Carole King, Ashford & Simpson and Edith Piaf. http://www.catalinajazzclub.com

Musical theatre is a global phenomenon, drawing millions of fans every year to sell-out shows in the West End, on Broadway, and in cities across the world. And for writer and composer Neil Brand, the best musicals can stand shoulder to shoulder with any other art form.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater presents Carousel, directed by Artistic Director Molly Smith, with music by Richard Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Featuring Musical Direction by Paul Sportelli and Choreography by Parker Esse, Carousel runs now through December 24 in the iconic in-the-round Fichandler Stage. Click below to watch a brand-new trailer for the show!

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater presents Carousel, directed by Artistic Director Molly Smith, with music by Richard Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Featuring Musical Direction by Paul Sportelli and Choreography by Parker Esse, Carousel runs October 28-December 24 in the iconic in-the-round Fichandler Stage. BroadwayWorld has highlights of the company in rehearsal below!

The national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical Rodgers + Hammerstein's CINDERELLA welcomes Tatyana Lubov, stepping into the glass slippers in the title role of Cinderella, and Hayden Stanes plays the role of Prince Topher, Cinderella's dashing love interest. Click below to watch highlights of the new touring company onstage!

On 31 August 1918, Alan Jay Lerner was born - and he went on to become one of the most popular lyricist and librettists in musical theatre's history. A native New-Yorker, Lerner studied at the Juilliard School before being mentored by both Oscar Hammerstein and Lorenz Hart. His first big hit was Brigadoon, written with Frederick Lowe, and it is for his collaborations with Lowe that he is best-known - especially for My Fair Lady.

Today in 1980, the second Broadway revival of Oklahoma! closed at the Palace Theatre, where it ran for 293 performances. Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams. The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943.