The Theatre Guild Presents Oklahoma! and Carousel

Abstract n his autobiographical The Magic Curtain, Lawrence Langner (1890-1962), a founding member of the Theatre Guild, whose fund-raiser in 1925 created the opportunity for the initial success of Rodgers and Hart, expresses his gratitude that the success of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! saved the Guild from precarious financial straits brought about by World War II. He also conveys his view that their Theatre Guild sequel, Carousel, developed into “the finest American musical play of our time: In one final paragraph Langner addresses the failure of the Guild’s third Rodgers and Hammerstein show, Allegro, a failure he attributes to the production rather than the essential artistic material. Langner describes the long and difficult fund-raising process for Oklahoma!, surveying the changes made during the out-of-town tryouts and numerous insider details related to the production history of both Oklahoma! and Carousel. He also offers insights into the working methods and character of Rodgers and Hammerstein, concluding that it is a “generous endowment of friendliness for others which has been at the base of Oscar’s poetic quality in his verse, and of Dick’s popular appeal in his music.” Theresa Helburn (1887-1959), the Theatre Guild’s executive director, revisits this material in her autobiography, A Wayward Quest (Boston: Little, Brown, 1960), 281-95.