MUSC 398 - Oscar Hammerstein’s Legacy

A study of Oscar Hammerstein’s long career from his early success with Jerome Kern’s Show Boat (1927) to Oklahoma! (1943) and The Sound of Music (1959), his first and last collaborations with Richard Rodgers. We will examine his influence on later musical theater lyricists and composers, particularly on his protege Stephen Sondheim, from Sondheim’s lyrics for West Side Story (1957) to Sondheim’s composer-lyricist role in later works such as Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into the Woods (1987), and others.

Credits 4

Notes
From time to time, departments design a new course to be offered either on a one-time basis or an experimental basis before deciding whether to make it a regular part of the curriculum. First offered Spring 2025.

Compass Attributes
Creative Arts