Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (1940), and performed during the 1930s in RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century.
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naïve Midwestern townsfolk, promising to train the members of the new band. Harold is no musician, however, and plans to skip town without giving any music lessons. Prim librarian and piano teacher Marian sees through him, but when Harold helps her younger brother overcome his lisp and social awkwardness, Marian begins to fall in love with him. He risks being caught to win her heart.
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, including "Over the Rainbow", Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. "Over the Rainbow" was voted the 20th century's No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 American animated musical comedy film distributed by Warner Bros. under their Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label. It is the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Feature Animation, which was merged during the post-production of Cats Don't Dance into Warner Bros. Animation after the merger of Time Warner with Turner Broadcasting System on October 10, 1996. Turner Feature Animation had also produced the animated portions of Turner's The Pagemaster (1994). It is also the only Turner Feature Animation production to be co-produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation.
Burton Lane was an American composer and lyricist primarily known for his theatre and film scores. His most popular and successful works include Finian's Rainbow in 1947 and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever in 1965.
Lady in the Dark is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fictional fashion magazine who is undergoing psychoanalysis. The musical ran on Broadway in 1941, and in the United Kingdom in 1981. A film version was released in 1944, and a live television special followed in 1954.
Royal Wedding is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Stanley Donen, and starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Set in 1947 London at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, the film follows an American brother-sister song and dance duo who, while performing, each fall in love–he, with a female dancer, and she, with an impoverished but well-connected nobleman. The film marked Donen's second directorial feature. It was released as Wedding Bells in the United Kingdom.
"Popular" is a song from the Tony Award-winning musical Wicked. It is performed by the Broadway company's original Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth, on the original Broadway cast recording. The song is about a popular girl (Glinda) trying to help her unpopular roommate (Elphaba) become more popular.
The Wizard of Oz was a 1902 musical extravaganza based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Although Baum is the credited bookwriter, Glen MacDonough was hired on as jokewriter after Baum had finished the script. Much of the original music was by Paul Tietjens and has been mostly forgotten, although it was still well-remembered and in discussion at MGM in 1939 when the classic film version of the story was made. The show's history is covered in more than 100 pages of the book Oz Before the Rainbow; L Frank Baum's 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' on stage and screen to 1939 by Mark Evan Swartz.
"Big Spender" is a song written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for the musical Sweet Charity, first performed in 1966. Peggy Lee was the first artist to record the song for her album of the same name also that year. It is sung, in the musical, by the dance hostess girls; it was choreographed by Bob Fosse for the Broadway musical and the 1969 film. It is set to the beat of a striptease as the girls taunt the customers.
"The Lonely Goatherd" is a popular show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.
"My Musical" is a musical episode of the American comedy-drama television series Scrubs. It is the 123rd episode of the show, and was originally aired as episode 6 of season 6 on January 18, 2007 on NBC.
Oklahoma! is a 1955 American musical film based on the 1943 musical of the same name by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, which in turn was based on the 1931 play Green Grow The Lilacs written by Lynn Riggs. It stars Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore, and Eddie Albert. The production was the only musical directed by Fred Zinnemann. Oklahoma! was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
Finian's Rainbow is a 1968 musical fantasy film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark. The screenplay by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy is based on their 1947 stage musical of the same name. An international co-production of Ireland and the United States, the film follows an Irishman and his daughter who steal a leprechaun's magic pot of gold and emigrate to the U.S., where they become involved in a dispute between rural landowners and a greedy, racist U.S. senator.
Randy Stewart Rainbow is an American comedian and singer, best known for spoof interviews that blend political satire and musical parodies from a progressive perspective.
The Wizard of Oz is a 2011 musical based on the 1939 film of the same name in turn based on L Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with a book adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams. The musical uses the Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg songs from the film and includes some new songs and additional music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and additional lyrics by Tim Rice.
"Beauty School Dropout" is a song from the musical Grease.
"A-Yo" is a song recorded by American singer Lady Gaga for her fifth studio album, Joanne (2016). It was released to Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show on October 18, 2016, as the record's second promotional single by Interscope Records. Gaga co-wrote and co-produced the song with Mark Ronson and BloodPop, with Hillary Lindsey being the additional songwriter. A funky, electro-tinged and rock-inspired upbeat country pop track, "A-Yo" lyrically delves on leaving behind one's dislikers.
"Cinderella Gets It On!" is a musical comedy sketch featured on the 12th episode of the 9th season of The Carol Burnett Show. It originally aired in the United States on CBS on November 29, 1975, and is an adaptation of Charles Perrault's folk tale Cinderella that is set in the 70's disco era. The sketch was written by Gary Belkin and Roger Beatty and featured music composed by Arthur Malvin. The sketch was directed by Dave Powers.
