4Z
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s
as
topics in his musicals. People tend to
forget that, at its core, South Pacific is
about racial intolerance. It was daring in
1962 to write a musical revolving
around an interracial relationship, but
Rodgers did precisely that in No Strings.
If Rodgers was an often bitter man, he
at least had some reason to be. A life-
long smoker, Rodgers developed mouth
cancer in the 1950s and had part of his
jaw removed. He also suffered a heart
attack and a nervous breakdown. In the
`70s he had a stroke and a laryngectomy,
rendering him virtually speechless. By
then, Rodgers was severely depressed.
But more dispiriting to Rodgers was
the belief that he was becoming a has-
been. The musical-theater climate had
changed drastically by the late 1960s
and early '70s, and Rodgers felt irrele-
vant. Shows were typically cynical or
vulgar, and Rodgers' musicals were
deemed anachronistic. He continued to
compose, but musicals like Rex and Two
By Two were quickly forgotten.
But the theater, like most things, is
Theater Maverick
cyclical.
Rodgers is "in" again, and it's
It's astonishing, too, how many inroads
not
only
because of his centennial. The
Rodgers made in the theater. The 1936
terrorist
attacks
have made us a less self-
included
choreog-
musical On Your Toes
ish and bitter nation. Rodgers' musicals
raphy by George Balanchine, at a time
when ballet and Broadway rarely rubbed serve as a balm.
But regardless of world events,
shoulders. Rodgers' musical score for
Rodgers'
music would still endure. "I
that show was particularly striking,
don't
write
for posterity," he once told
including the ballet music called
an
interviewer.
"Slaughter on Tenth Avenue." Its rakish
Of course, like all true artists, he was
charm and syncopated rhythms recall
writing
for posterity. He just didn't
West
Side
Stag,
Bernstein's music for
know it.
though it preceded it by 21 years.
Rodgers also freely addressed taboo
New York some 80 years after its cre-
ation.
"My Heart Stood Still" is probably
the most perfect declaration of starry-
eyed love in the musical theater: "I took
one look at you,/That's all I meant to
do./And then my heart stood still."
The languid melody of "It Might As
Well Be Spring" captures the dreamy
sensation of falling in love, resulting in
feeling "as restless as a willow in a wind-
storm."
Like Jerome Kern's "Bill," Rodgers
and Hart's "My Funny Valentine" tells
of an imperfect lover whose figure may
be "less than Greek," but still the heart
swoons. More than 40 years after the
premiere of The Sound of Music, "brown
paper packages tied up with strings" and.
"silver-white winters that melt into
springs" remain some of our favorite
things.
Rodgers' music doesn't just live on, it
thrives.
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