Yale Broadway Masters

forthcoming volumes in the series

Irving Berlin, by jeffrey magee Leonard Bernstein, by carol oja George Gershwin, by larry starr Jerome Kern, by stephen banfield Andrew Lloyd Webber, by john snelson Frank Loesser, by thomas l. riis Cole Porter, by patrick o’connor Sigmund Romberg, by william a. everett

R ICHARD

R ODGERS

Geoffrey Block

Yale University Press New Haven & London Frontispiece: Richard Rodgers composing ‘‘Bali Ha’i’’ (1948). This photo was the model for the official centennial portrait painted by Kim Beaty in 2001.

Copyright © 2003 by Yale University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.

Designed by James J. Johnson and set in Electra Roman types by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Printed in the United States of America by R. R. Donnelley and Sons, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Block, Geoffrey Holden, 1948– Richard Rodgers / Geoffrey Block. p. cm. — (Yale Broadway masters) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. isbn 0-300-09747-6 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. Rodgers, Richard, 1902—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title. II. Series. ml410.r6315b56 2003 782.1'4'092—dc21 2003002412

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

10987654321 To my beloved parents Ruth and Stanley Block on their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary with gratitude and love