"The sun never sets on Rodgers and Hammerstein," Brian Kellow pointed out in Opera News. That was certainly true in 2002, the year of the Richard Rodgers centennial celebration which included award-winning Broadway revivals of such classics as Oklahoma! and The Flower Drum Song, as well as publication of biographies, CDs, and tributes. Indeed, with over 2,700 new productions of their musicals in North America alone, Rodgers and Hammerstein have proved their staying power in the theater as well as in the American psyche.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II teamed up in the 1940s after each had enjoyed a successful musical career singly and in collaboration with others. Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart had collaborated on a series of musical comedies known for their wit and sophistication that had become hits on Broadway, in Hollywood, and in London from the 1920s to the 1940s. Some of their best-known shows...