Editing Richard Rodgers (section)

===Rodgers and Hart===
{{Main|Rodgers and Hart}}
[[File:Rodgers and Hart NYWTS.jpg|thumb|right|Richard Rodgers (seated) with [[Lorenz Hart]] in 1936]]
In 1919, Richard met [[Lorenz Hart]], thanks to Phillip Levitt, a friend of Richard's older brother. [[Rodgers and Hart]] struggled for years in the field of musical comedy, writing several amateur shows. They made their professional debut with the song "Any Old Place With You", featured in the 1919 Broadway musical comedy ''A Lonely Romeo''. Their first professional production was the 1920 ''[[Poor Little Ritz Girl]]'', which also had music by [[Sigmund Romberg]]. Their next professional show, ''The Melody Man'', did not premiere until 1924.

When he was just out of college Rodgers worked as musical director for [[Lew Fields]]. Among the stars he accompanied were [[Nora Bayes]] and [[Fred Allen]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VVpeiKxbHk Rodgers & Hammerstein as mystery guests on What's My Line?], February 19, 1956, video on YouTube</ref> Rodgers was considering quitting show business altogether to sell children's underwear, when he and Hart finally broke through in 1925. They wrote the songs for a benefit show presented by the prestigious [[Theatre Guild]], called ''[[The Garrick Gaieties]]'', and the critics found the show fresh and delightful. Although it was meant to run only one day, the Guild knew they had a success and allowed it to re-open later. The show's biggest hit—the song that Rodgers believed "made" Rodgers and Hart—was "[[Manhattan (song)|Manhattan]]". The two were now a Broadway songwriting force.

Throughout the rest of the decade, the duo wrote several hit shows for both Broadway and London, including ''[[Dearest Enemy]]'' (1925), ''[[The Girl Friend]]'' (1926), ''[[Peggy-Ann]]'' (1926), ''[[A Connecticut Yankee (musical)|A Connecticut Yankee]]'' (1927), and ''[[Present Arms (musical)|Present Arms]]'' (1928). Their 1920s shows produced standards such as "[[Here in My Arms]]", "[[Mountain Greenery]]", "[[Blue Room (1926 song)|Blue Room]]", "[[My Heart Stood Still]]" and "[[You Took Advantage of Me]]".

With the [[Great Depression|Depression]] in full swing during the first half of the 1930s, the team sought greener pastures in Hollywood. The hardworking Rodgers later regretted these relatively fallow years, but he and Hart did write some classic songs and film scores while out west, including ''[[Love Me Tonight]]'' (1932) (directed by [[Rouben Mamoulian]], who would later direct Rodgers's ''[[Oklahoma!]]'' on Broadway), which introduced three standards: "[[Lover (Rodgers and Hart song)|Lover]]", "[[Mimi (song)|Mimi]]", and "[[Isn't It Romantic?]]". Rodgers also wrote a melody for which Hart wrote three consecutive lyrics which were either cut, not recorded or not a hit. The fourth lyric resulted in one of their most famous songs, "[[Blue Moon (1934 song)|Blue Moon]]". Other film work includes the scores to ''[[The Phantom President]]'' (1932), starring [[George M. Cohan]], ''[[Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (film)|Hallelujah, I'm a Bum]]'' (1933), starring [[Al Jolson]], and, in a quick return after having left Hollywood, ''Mississippi'' (1935), starring [[Bing Crosby]] and [[W. C. Fields]].

In 1935, they returned to Broadway and wrote an almost unbroken string of hit shows that ended shortly before Hart's death in 1943. Among the most notable are ''[[Jumbo (musical)|Jumbo]]'' (1935), ''[[On Your Toes]]'' (1936, which included the ballet "[[Slaughter on Tenth Avenue]]", choreographed by George Balanchine), ''[[Babes in Arms]]'' (1937), ''[[I Married an Angel]]'' (1938), ''[[The Boys from Syracuse]]'' (1938), ''[[Pal Joey (musical)|Pal Joey]]'' (1940), and their last original work, ''[[By Jupiter]]'' (1942). Rodgers also contributed to the book on several of these shows.

Many of the songs from these shows are still sung and remembered, including "[[The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (1935 song)|The Most Beautiful Girl in the World]]", "[[My Romance (song)|My Romance]]", "[[Little Girl Blue (song)|Little Girl Blue]]", "[[I'll Tell the Man in the Street]]", "[[There's a Small Hotel]]", "[[Where or When]]", "[[My Funny Valentine]]", "[[The Lady Is a Tramp]]", "[[Falling in Love with Love]]", "[[Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered]]", and "[[Wait till You See Her]]".

In 1939, Rodgers wrote the ballet ''Ghost Town'' for the [[Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo]], with choreography by [[Marc Platt (dancer)|Marc Platoff]].<ref>Anna Kisselgoff, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E1D9173CF930A15753C1A9649C8B63 "DANCE REVIEW; Rodgers As Ideal Dance Partner"], ''The New York Times'', October 23, 2002.</ref>