A musical is a unique combination of words and music, and behind every successful production, is a partnership of a composer and a lyric writer. Sometimes these collaborations are a one-off, but there are also many partnerships who have become legendary, in association with musical theatre.

Kander and Ebb
Kander and Ebb were a highly successful team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. Their first musical was Flora the Red Menace, in 1965 which marked the debut of Liza Minnelli, but their greatest fame came with the opening of Cabaret the following year. Cabaret was a major success, and it was nearly ten years before Kander and Ebb’s second great hit, the musical Chicago, which opened in 1975, and enjoyed an even greater revival in 1996. The partnership’s other notable successes were Woman Of The Year in 1981, Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1992, and Curtains in 2006. The final collaboration between the two was The Scottsboro Boys, which played on Broadway for a short time in 2010.

Lloyd Webber and Rice
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice first collaborated on The Likes of Us, a musical based on the life of Thomas John Barnardo. In 1968, the partnership created Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which retells the biblical story, interwoven with a variety of eclectic musical styles such as country, rock’n'roll and country music. In 1971, they produced Jesus Christ Superstar, a rock opera based on the Gospels’ account of the last week of the life of Jesus, and which was first staged on Broadway.

Another Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice collaboration is Evita. The highly successful musical based on the life of Argentinian heroine Eva Perón ran for ten years in the West End before transferring to Broadway in 1979. Rice and Lloyd Webber didn’t work together again until 1986 when they came together on a project for the Queen’s 60th birthday, and later again on the revival of The Wizard of Oz, which opened in 2011.

Rodgers and Hart
Composer Richard Rodgers worked in partnership for more than twenty years with lyricist Lorenz Hart, creating shows which have stood the test of time, from A Connecticut Yankee in 1927, Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Pal Joey (1940), and By Jupiter (1942), as well as many successful film projects.

Hammerstein and Kern
Meanwhile, Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern worked together on four well known musicals, as well as individual songs and operettas. Sunny which opened in 1925, was their first big hit. Two years later, Show Boat opened and rapidly became recognised as one of American musical theatre’s masterpieces. Other Hammerstein/Kern collaborations include Sweet Adeline in 1929 and Very Warm for May in 1939. By the early 1940s, Lorenz Hart had fallen prey to alcoholism and unreliability, which led his creative partner to approach Oscar Hammerstein to form a new collaboration.

Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein is the partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, an American songwriting duo who created a string of popular musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what’s known as the golden age of musical theatre. With Rodgers composing the music and Hammerstein writing the lyrics, five of their shows, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music, were outstanding successes.

Throughout the history of musicals, great names have appeared and re-appeared, each making their mark and even today, guaranteeing a great show and a great night out.