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New Rabobank Arena features music by Richard Rodgers Februar

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New Rabobank Arena features music by Richard Rodgers Februar
By: Phillip Scott, Bakersfield Community Concert Association Member
Description: Richard Rogers composed the music of 900 songs for 70 shows.

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Posted by pscott99 Fri Feb 11, 2005 10:11:00 PST
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"Music by Richard Rodgers."

That credit appears on the playbills of more than 4,000 productions worldwide each year.

It stands as a seal of quality.

It also is the theme of the fourth show of the Bakersfield Community Concert Association's 2004-05 season.

"One Enchanted Evening: Remembering Richard Rodgers" will be staged at Wednesday, Feb. 23, at Rabobank Theater by Matt Davenport Productions.

That Nashville, Tenn.,-based company presented the Gershwin revue, "American Rhapsody," and "Birth of the Beat," a revue that covered the development of American music for the Bakersfield Community Concert Association.

As in those two shows, Davenport will bring a Broadway-quality production, complete with sparking costumes, exciting choreography and rich musical arrangements. The 15-member company includes eight singer-dancers and an orchestra of five.

When the curtain fell on his last creation, Rodgers had written 900 songs for more than 70 shows --- more than any other theatrical composer in American history.

During his long career, Rodgers worked primarily with two lyricists, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. Act I features Rodgers and Hart songs, while the second act focuses on the ones penned by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The partnership with Hart came first, beginning in 1919 and continuing for more than two decades until Hart succumbed to chronic alcoholism, which contributed to his death in 1943.

The Rodgers and Hart songs in "One Enchanted Evening" include "Isn't It Romantic" from the film "Love Me Tonight;" "My Romance" from "Jumbo;" "My Funny Valentine" and "The Lady is a Tramp," both from "Babes in Arms;" "Mimi" from the musical by the same name; and the duo's only pop song, "Blue Moon."

The partnership between Rodgers and Hammerstein was the most successful of Broadway history and included "Oklahoma!" "Carousel," "South Pacific," "The King and I" and "The Sound of Music."

In Act II of Wednesday's revue, the company of "One Enchanted Evening" will perform songs from those musicals, including "The Sound of Music," "People Will Say We're in Love," "Climb Every Mountain," "Getting to Know You," "Oklahoma," "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Some Enchanted Evening."

Such songs are timeless.

"American Masters," the Thirteen/WNET New York series seen on PBS stations, dedicated a 2001 episode to Rodgers, who died Dec. 30, 1979. Susan Lacy, creator and executive producer of the series, said of Rodgers: "His music transcends the ages. A hundred years from now, music composed by Rodgers will still be playing all over the world."

Wednesday, Feb. 23, Rodgers' music will definitely be playing in Bakersfield.

General admission is $25. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show at Rabobank Theater, 1001 Truxtun Ave. For more information phone 326-0838 or http://www.mykernlife.com/8...

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