What Is the Greatest Rogers and Hammerstein Musical

Oklahoma! Probably biased because I have done it 3 times now so it holds a special place in my heart, but everything about it is fabulous

It's like picking your favorite child... I think "Carousel" is probably the deepest of their big musicals with fundamentally flawed leads rather than the usual "black and white"-painted characters that are either just good or just evil. I know the show gets a lot of stick these days for the line where Julie saying that being hit doesn't hurt at all, but I wouldn't dismiss a whole classic for one line that feels unacceptable today. And overall it IS a wonderful story about redemption and forgiveness on a very basic human level, a story that could be anytime and anywhere, while all the others are tied to their locations and times.

"The Sound of Music" is a classic like no other of their shows and the ultimate feelgood show. I did the Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg in January and what stood out to me was how the coach filled up with people from all over world - Chinese, Japanese, Australians, New Zealanders, Americans - that were all much younger than the movie itself and how they would all sing along when the driver played bits from the DVD on the coach system between stops - to see a cheesy old musical uniting all these people from all over the world just warmed my cockles.

"Oklahoma!" holds a special place in my heart because it was the very first musical I saw live - IN Oklahoma, the long-running (but now sadly closed) open-air-version at Discoveryland in Tulsa with genuine horses, carriages, etc. I read in an interview recently that Kelli O'Hara named that as her very first musical experience as well and I wanted to hug her.

"South Pacific" I appreciate for being way ahead of its time in how it tackled racism, but neither that nor "The King and I" feel as special as the other three. Would love to see South Pacific in London (or Broadway) though as I've only ever seen it on stage in German, and also the smaller ones.

Controversially, I don't think any of them are 'great'

Some of them were for their time - but I think they are very much 'of their time'

Of the big 5, they all overstay their welcome in terms of running time. 3 of them have over-extended ballet sequences that I find very frustrating when viewed today.

I put most of the blame on the books - which would never be written that way today.

Rodgers wrote some amazing music. Hammerstein wrote some amazing lyrics. Together they created pieces that have endured - so that must point to something worthy of celebrating. But, for me, they no longer work on stage. Once they fall out of copyright, many of the shows will be taken apart and put back together into tauter forms that could hold my attention better.

I will continue to enjoy the scores in concert or extract form as there are some great sequences. But there is only one of their scores that I still want to see live on stage - and that is Cinderella (as the revisions for the recent Broadway revival seem to work really well)

The Sound of Music. There's probably an argument for Carousel having a better score, but it's still great, with a more-than-solid book, and it's uncharacteristically unproblematic by contemporary standards when compared with other R&H musicals.

This is easy - the Whitney Houston and Brandi Cinderella.


Or The Sound of Music

Having seen the NT's version of Carousel, which I think is one of the best I have seen. I wish they could release it on DVD! I also rate The King & I very highly - first show I saw on Broadway with Brynner. I also like Oklahoma and Cinderella. R&H's Cinderella was the very first panto put on in the Theatre Royal Plymouth when they opened. Lots of moans "its a musical not a panto" just because R&H was before the title but still filled it with the usual panto stuff!

Oklahoma for me.
Carousel has a wonderful score and characters, but the songs just don't stick with me so much.

And thanks for mentioning State Fair. Now I have that song stuck in my head....

'South Pacific'. 'nuff said.

So that's sorted. Next!

My favourite changes regularly. I should probably give a tie between Carousel and The Sound Of Music, with The King And I only slightly behind.

But I do have a real soft spot for the recent (new book) revival of Cinderella. It's not as deep as some of the others, but has a certain magical quality that the other musicals just don't have, as well as a political plot which is very relevant today.

As I remember a child near me saying "that isn't what happens in Cinderella".

Disappointed that it never did transfer here, as it well on Broadway and toured for quite a while (Equity and non-Equity tours).

I have just watched this on Disney +, and whilst not without it’s charms it was hardly full of classic tunes. When was it written because Arif Marden made all of the music seem very modern (or at least late 90’s sounding).

There aren't many better-written musical theatre moments than the bench scene from Carousel

So my favourite is definitely The King and I - everything seems to just flow so well and plenty of cracking tunes. I absolutely loved LCT's production - Kelli O'Hara just the perfect Anna and in my opinion the premier interpreter of R&H as Bernadette Peters for Sondheim.

But in terms of greatest musical? I think there's a case for Sound of Music as that's had the most lasting impact on audiences and is probably still the best loved and most well-known among people today and I think really cemented the legacy of Rodgers & Hammerstein in a way which I think their prior work hadn't. But it depends on how you want to use the word "Great" as perhaps "academically" and "forensically" it probably is a toss up between Carousel and South Pacific. Completely agree with comments about the bench scene and I can't help but well up at the ending despite the implications around domestic abuse etc and of course SP is a Pulitzer Prize winner and Todd Purdum's comments about the show's opening in 'Something Wonderful' really illustrate the cultural impact the show had. 

As you can tell I love Rodgers & Hammerstein and I think they're all "great" whatever great means. But yeah, a really interesting question and one I would be happy to discuss for hours and of course can't wait to see revivals once everything is open again.