Hammerstein

Hammerstein'sWhere: 326 N. Charles St.Hours: Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Credit cards accepted: NoFeatures: Gourmet deliNon-smoking section? NoCall: (410) 837-0295Prices: Sandwiches, $2.25-$5.95***This place ought to be packed at lunchtime. The food is good and more interesting than you'll find at a lot of sandwich places, and it's moderately priced. But I'm not complaining. I like not having to wait in line at this pretty little gourmet deli- and I like having my choice of the several cafe tables.

The Manchester Valley High School drama department will debut its production of Rogers and Hammerstein's classic tale, "Once Upon A Mattress," on Thursday, April 26, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at the school, 3300 Maple Grove Road, Manchester. Those who think they know the story of "The Princess of the Pea" may be in for a surprise with this story of royal courtship, filled with music and humor. Additional performances are Friday and Saturday, April 27-28, also at 7 p.m. each night.

Glenn Close seems a little too tenured to be Nellie Forbush. Rade Sherbedgia doesn't radiate much sensual electricity as Emile de Becque. The passion you are supposed to feel when the two are in each other's company is mainly missing in action. Then there's Harry Connick Jr., as Marine Lt. Joseph Cable. Let's just say he's a lot closer to the young Frank Sintra as a singer than as an actor. And let's not even talk about what they've done to some of the marvelous songs of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, dropping one altogether ("Happy Talk")

"South Pacific," the 1949 musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein, enjoyed the distinction not only of being one of the most successful shows on Broadway — nearly 2,000 performances, numerous hit songs, several Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize — but also one of the hardest to revive there. The first full-fledged revival didn't come along until 2008, but the wait was worth it. That production by the Lincoln Center Theater proved to be a revelation. Without the slightest trace of superficiality or trendy deconstruction, this "South Pacific" reconfirmed all of the strengths in the original, including the head-on examination of racial prejudice that was so far ahead of its time, and effectively minimized its occasional weaknesses.

NEXT month marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark show "Oklahoma!" -- the 1943 production by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II that transformed musical theater. It ran on Broadway for over five years and a touring company performed the show around the country for nine years. Music professor Walter Frisch wrote in the winter issue of "Columbia" magazine about the inception of the show:"From the beginning, Rodgers and Hammerstein worked with each other in a way different than either had done with previous collaborators.

The Manchester Valley High School drama department will debut its production of Rogers and Hammerstein's classic tale, "Once Upon A Mattress," on Thursday, April 26, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at the school, 3300 Maple Grove Road, Manchester. Those who think they know the story of "The Princess of the Pea" may be in for a surprise with this story of royal courtship, filled with music and humor. Additional performances are Friday and Saturday, April 27-28, also at 7 p.m. each night.

It was the first modern American musical - the first to fully interweave plot and music, and the first to deal with serious subject matter and themes. "Show Boat" is also, quite simply, a great work - great in terms of its epic story (adapted by Oscar Hammerstein II from Edna Ferber's novel), its magnificent score (by Jerome Kern and Hammerstein), and its physical size. The touring production at the Lyric Opera House reflects some, but hardly all, of that greatness. Directed by Clayton Phillips, a protege of Harold Prince, this version owes a degree of allegiance to Prince's 1995 Tony Award-winning revival.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic "South Pacific," currently on stage at Toby's Dinner Theatre, is a vibrant production that zips along at a roller coaster pace.Smartly directed by Toby Orenstein, the show, one of the most popular of all time, still retains the magic and the marvel 42 years after its initial Broadway opening.An admirable singing an dancing chorus and a bevy of fine performers make this production an outstanding one.Performed in the round with limited opportunity for large set designs, this version, nevertheless, conveys the feel and flavor of a lush island set somewhere in the blue waters of the South Pacific during World War II.Based on James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Tales of the South Pacific," the musical drama with comedy overtones was adapted by Oscar Hammerstein and Josh Logan and set to music by Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers.

Stephen Sondheim has told the story so often, it's nearly a legend. When he was 15, he showed Oscar Hammerstein a musical he had written with two fellow students. He was, he admits, naive enough to think it was worth putting on professionally. Hammerstein, the famed lyricist of such classic musicals as The Sound of Music and Carousel, knew differently, and he spent several hours explaining why. Far from disheartened, Sondheim was encouraged by his mentor's attention. "He treated me like an adult, and because there was no condescension, I was a sponge," he recalls.

Mandy Patinkin makes up his own private story for every song he sings in concert -- but don't ask him what they are. He's not telling."All I want you to see is someone connected to the words," he says, speaking by car phone as he drives along the Palisades Parkway to his home in New York City."

The famed Rodgers & Hammerstein music publishing business, run by Ted Chapin, has put itself on the market for a mere $250 million. This seems like as good a time as any, what with R&H a hit again at Lincoln Center in the brilliant revival of just one of their famous musicals, South Pacific. But Chapin isn't selling his other gold mine - the music of Irving Berlin. Bloomin' Bloomberg His honor the mayor of New York has peripheral publicity this month. Mike Bloomberg's terrific girlfriend, Diana Taylor, is among the rare few on Vanity Fair's best-dressed list.

Whoops. Only four days till "Christmas Day" and you still "... Need a Little Christmas" -- perhaps even "A New Deal for Christmas"? Or, maybe you're afraid it'll be a "Hard Candy Christmas" because you can't find the right gift for your friend, the theater junkie, the one who can identify the shows these song titles are from. (For everyone else, the answers are below). Here are some suggestions: Photographer Howard Schatz's stunning coffee-table book, In Character: Actors Acting (Bulfinch Press, $50)

Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music isn't just a musical about singing nuns. It's also a musical about a brave Austrian family fleeing the Nazis. The show as a whole, however, is usually sugar-coated, and director Roy Hammond's production at Cockpit in Court adheres to the standard prettified approach. Granted, under Michael Bareham's musical direction, Cockpit's nuns - and especially lead actress Julia Lancione - sing so magnificently, they'd be an asset to any church choir. The opening scene of a tableau of nuns singing their morning hymn a cappella gives an immediate visual and aural sense of spirituality and serenity.

Thursday evening, students at Wilde Lake High School performed the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music, an inspiring story about courage, love and the importance of family. Maria (Callie Goff) is a young postulant sent to work as a governess for the stern Captain von Trapp (Dean Arscott), who has seven children. In Austria, under the advancing Nazi regime, Maria and the captain fall in love and get married. They are forced to flee the country with the children when the captain is commissioned to be a Nazi officer.

Time does funny things. When Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro debuted on Broadway in 1947, the allegorical musical was considered experimental, controversial and, at least in monetary terms, a failure. Seen today in a rare revival at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va., the show seems less daring than prescient. It's not just the passage of time that's responsible for this changed outlook. Granted, a half-century of technological advances and increased audience sophistication have made the musical's stylistic breakthroughs seem much less avant garde.

Chesapeake Music Hall's current production of The Sound of Music - a show mounted locally by Second Star theater in November and by Children's Theatre of Annapolis in December - is distinguished by strong leads, a capable children's ensemble and smooth production that enhances the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. But the story - set in 1938 Salzburg about a free-spirited postulant from Nonnberg Abbey hired as governess to the seven children of autocratic Capt. Georg Von Trapp - gets off to a slow start.

If you have any doubts about the quality of musicals being presented by local groups, head over to Baldwin Hall in Millersville some time over the next two weekends, where the Pasadena Theater Company makes the hills come alive with "The Sound of Music."The 29-member cast, under the direction of Chuck Dick, re-creates the story of the Trapp family, who fled Austria in 1938 just ahead of the Nazis. The players seem to be living their parts rather than merely playing them.Eight musicians provide accompaniment under the confident baton of Roger Compton.

Of the many brilliant minds who settled in Bucks County, Pa., playwright George S. Kaufman was the one who came under a cloud. The lanky, bespectacled co-author of "You Can't Take It With You" and "The Man Who Came to Dinner" was making headlines in 1936, but not because of his work. Actress Mary Astor had documented her affair with Kaufman (among others) in her diary, and the lurid excerpts that wound up in the newspaper during her acrimonious divorce rivaled anything on stage or screen.

A production of Oklahoma! that opens tomorrow seems destined to be the Merely Players' best musical ever, and it could be one of the top offerings yet at the 18-month-old Main Theater at the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts. "I'm in my ninth year here, and have been part of every show since the third one. This is going to be our best show yet," said Evan Brierley, the show's producer and Merely Players president, as he handed out programs at Monday's dress rehearsal. His wife, Helen, board member and costume designer for this production, added, "Evan just finished building the set's house and porch, putting it on stage only about a half-hour ago. He's also just finished designing and putting these programs together."

Stephen Sondheim has told the story so often, it's nearly a legend. When he was 15, he showed Oscar Hammerstein a musical he had written with two fellow students. He was, he admits, naive enough to think it was worth putting on professionally. Hammerstein, the famed lyricist of such classic musicals as The Sound of Music and Carousel, knew differently, and he spent several hours explaining why. Far from disheartened, Sondheim was encouraged by his mentor's attention. "He treated me like an adult, and because there was no condescension, I was a sponge," he recalls.