Quotable Rodgers and Hart
“They developed into a conglomerate—composer, lyricist, dialogue writer, situation developer, and play doctor, all in one. Character-wise and temperamentally, the boys were entirely different, but their thinking meshed. Their judgments of the theater and their ambitions at that time were alike, and they spliced into one corporate individual.”
~ Phil Leavitt, the mutual friend who introduced Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart formed one of the most dynamic partnerships Broadway had ever seen. Their collaboration produced numerous hit musical and beloved songs that remain standards in the musical theater canon. The story of their historic partnership has been told many times over, but what did Rodgers and Hart have to say about each other?
Reflecting on his first meeting with Hart in 1919, Rodgers expressed excitement at meeting a kindred spirit, one that hoped to push the boundaries of songwriting: “I heard for the first time about interior rhymes, feminine rhymes, triple rhymes and false rhymes. I listened with astonishment as Larry launched into a diatribe against song writers who had small intellectual equipment and less courage, the boys who failed to take advantage of every opportunity to inch a little further into the hitherto-unexplored in lyric writing.” Indeed, Hart’s motto at the time was, “Don’t have a formula—and don’t repeat it.”
Rodgers had similar convictions. In a radio interview, he described his own unconventional style of composing: “I didn’t need a piano. I didn’t wake up in the night screaming for a pencil. I could write songs sitting at a desk; melodies were always coming into my mind.”
Their partnership would produce fantastic results, but it wasn’t without its share of struggles. The duo soon learned of each other’s differing work ethic, a source of conflict throughout the years. “It practically is impossible to start him working,” Rodgers spoke of Hart, “but it is a feat of genius to make him stop once he has begun.”
Though Rodgers and Hart’s partnership would end tragically with Hart’s untimely death, their collaboration is characterized by a mutual respect for the other’s craft. When asked to give his impression of his partner for a profile in the New York World, Hart quipped, “Of all the people engaged in any kind of artistic work, Dick Rodgers is the most methodical and the least temperamental, but he becomes infuriated if a cat walks across a carpet while he is composing. He has regular working hours and never varies from his schedule—from eleven in the morning until six at night. He is practically the Beau Brummel of Broadway.”
In that same interview, Rodgers spoke fondly of his partner: “His sophistication is much more sincere than his sentimentality and he is generous to a fault. The characteristic and subtle sense of humor that he exhibits in his lyrics colors his entire life.”
--Payden Ackerman
