Getting to Know Him

This is the first authorized biography of one of America's best-loved lyricists, Oscar Hammerstein II. To write this book, the author was given exclusive use of Hammerstein's archives, which cover his entire life, and the right to tape the personal recollections of Dorothy Hammerstein and the five children. In addition, the author has included firsthand stories and anecdotes from personal interviews with many of Hammerstein's illustrious colleagues, including Stephen Sondheim, James Michener, Irving Berlin, Agnes de Mille, Pearl Buck, Mary Martin, Joshua Logan, Jerome Robbins and Dorothy and Richard Rodgers. Clifton Fadiman once wrote, "The Hammerstein family is to the American theatre what the Adams family is to American politics and is equally worth the study." And here in this book is all the color and glamor that was a part of young Oscar's formative years, from the Victoria (the vaudeville theater that was famous before the palace) that his father ran, where songs and freak acts (including a woman who murdered her husband) vied for the audience's attention, to the enormously extravagant productions of grand opera that his grandfather produced, much to the outrage of the Metropolitan Opera House. This book goes into detail showing how Oscar, who was at first forbidden to make his living from the theater, forged ahead to become the most illustrious member of his family in a career spanning four decades. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Hammerstein's career was his close, personal relationships with his collaborators. Working with Sigmund Romberg on The Desert Song was oftentimes a hilarious enterprise, largely due to Rommy's malapropisms ("You look like a race track trout"). A more difficult man to get along with, Jerome Kern eventually became Hammerstein's closest friend. With Richard Rodgers, however, the collaboration of twenty-seven years was always at arm's length. Said Rodgers, "I didn't know whether Oscar liked me or hated me." Using these relationships as a backdrop, the author reveals the stories behind the creation of such classics as The Sound of Music, Carmen Jones, Rose-Marie, Flower Drum Song, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Oklahoma! and Show Boat. --Adapted from dust jacket.