Richard Rodgers

Born in New York City, Richard Rodgers was a groundbreaking contributor to musical theater, whose influence continues to this day. He attended Columbia University and the Institute for Musical Art (today’s Juilliard School). Rodgers collaborated on songs and scores with lyricists Lorenz Hart (1895–1943) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960). He wrote more than nine hundred songs and forty Broadway musicals. These include Oklahoma! (1943), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), The Flower Drum Song (1958), and The Sound of Music (1959). The 46th Street Theatre on Broadway was renamed the Richard Rodgers Theatre in his honor.