Quotes from Mary Rodgers

When I woke up this morning, I found I'd turned into my mother.

What I still can't hear, after all these years, is the specific tip of the hat Steve hid in a countermelody in the title song: "Hank and Mary get into town tomorrow.

Despite this pressure, Rodgers and Hammerstein wouldn't cut it—and if you license South Pacific legally, neither can you.

Frightened, I ran into the study to tell him and asked, "Are you going to call Dr. Schloss?"5 By which he deduced that I had eaten the pennies to get attention. I hadn't, but that's what having a reputation means. It's like getting a carved owl for your birthday and politely saying how much you like it; soon, everyone thinks that's what you want and you're overrun with owls.

George especially loved the new number for the Queen, "Sensitivity," which wasn't even supposed to be in the show until Jane White, who played the role in New York, said, "Why don't I have a real song? I need a song!" And I loved it, too, because it's just a waltz in the bridge but 5/4 in the A section, even though the musicians always said it was really 5/8. I don't think Daddy ever wrote a song in 5/4 or 5/8.

We never discovered what exactly, but she was a moving violation. Thus was born the Nightingale of Samarkand, who was lowered in a cage during the bed scene while shrilling an insane modal tune to keep the Princess awake. Do not seek to know how the musical theater sausage is made.

I don't know, I thought it sounded good?" Actually, I was really proud of the unexpected change of key and rhythm, especially because it gave the song, and the scene, a sense of propulsion. "Well, I wouldn't have done that." Which is when I decided never to play him my music again.

No, it's the situation that makes it so good: the mute father trying to teach his child about love.

Finally, in his thick German accent, Max politely explained that all musical phrases must consist of an even number of bars.

Until Oklahoma! they were, despite the money he made, always very hand-to-mouth, a situation my mother managed with great agility, a nose for bargains, and a flair for double-entry bookkeeping. I used to brag about that last one, having no idea what it meant.