Shaping the American Audience in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II are musician producers who gained both commercial and artistic success, and the names are always mentioned in the historiography of musical theatre. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musicals have been studied for the new forms they offered, but the story of how Rodgers and Hammerstein shaped the American audience has yet to be explored. This study examines the branding of Rodgers and Hammerstein and how Rodgers and Hammerstein conditioned audience reception with combined methodologies from musicology, sociology, and performance studies in Oklahoma!. It explores the pre-performance advertising strategies―including press releases, critic reviews, public reception and the politics―of Rodgers and Hammerstein that shaped the composition, performance, and reception of Oklahoma!. Ultimately, my research demonstrates the craft of shaping the American audience by Rodgers and Hammerstein, within the context of World War II that links American values and patriotism, and how the publicity tactics helped establish Rodgers and Hammerstein as an all-American brand.