RICHARD RODGERS - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 03/03/1950 - HFSID 1565

RICHARD RODGERS
Songwriter and Broadway producer Richard Rodgers, one-half of Rodgers & Hammerstein, sends a typed letter expalining how to get tickets to see South Pacific.
Typed Letter Signed: "Richard Rodgers", 1p, 7¼x10½. New York, New York, 1950 March 3. To Mrs. Russell Lavezzo, Englewood, New Jersey. In full: "It was wonderful to hear from you and get the snapshots of Linda. Both she and Dorothy will be happy to see them. In this same envelope there will be a letter of instructions from my secretary telling you what to do about acquiring seats for SOUTH PACIFIC. Please forgive me for being so brief but I am pretty busy. With all kindest regards to all of you." South Pacific was awarded the 1950 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. The award was shared by composer Richard Rodgers, lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II and book writer Joshua Logan. The musical swept the 1950 Tony Awards, winning Best Musical, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Director, Score (Rodgers), Author (Hammerstein and Logan) and Producer (Rodgers, Hammerstein, Logan and Leland Hayward). Needless to say, it was very difficult to obtain tickets for South Pacific, which ran on Broadway from 1949-1954 (1,925 performances). When it closed, the only musical that ran longer was Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! (1943-1948, 2,212 performances). Rodgers (1902-1979) collaborated with lyricists Lorenz Hart and later Oscar Hammerstein II to produce dozens of America's most beloved popular songs and many of its most successful musicals. Collaborations with Hart produced such standards as With a Song in My Heart, The Lady Is a Tramp, My Funny Valentine and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. After Hart's death (1943), Rodgers teamed up with Hammerstein to produce one Broadway hit after another, including Oklahoma, South Pacific (which won a Pulitzer Prize), The Sound of Music and The King and I. Richard Rodgers and Marvin Hamlisch are the only two composers to win an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Pulitzer. Paper clip stain at upper left corner. Fine condition.