OVERTURE AND FINALE (BIOG) RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN)

 Max Wilk, Back Stage Books paperback edition,1999.

In this tale of the most phenomenal collaboration in Broadway history – that of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 11 – Overture and Finale revisits the creation of their two most beloved hits; Oklahoma!, as Rodgers & Hammerstein boldly broke away from the prevailing approach to musical comedy.

At the end of their careers, The Sound of Music was a throwback to the outmoded operetta style and became an all-time audience favourite. A short time later it inspired the famous film – the huge and unforeseen success of which is also part of this fascinating account.

Full of eyewitness accounts based on interviews with people involved in the original productions, Overture and Finale makes the reader present at the creation of these Rodgers and Hammerstein hits. Among the illustrations there are some rare archival photographs from rehearsals and out-of-town tryouts. Here is a story that will delight theatre lovers, devotees of the Broadway musical, and the thousands who are involved in productions of Oaklahoma! Or The Sound of Music themselves, each and every year.

Apart from minor corner turns relative to most paperbacks, the book is in very good condition, clean and tightly bound.