EDGE Interview: Ben & Brad & Cynthia Celebrate Rodgers & Hart & Hammerstein

Getting further into Hammerstein's lyric prowess, Sears has a favorite anecdote attributed to Hammerstein's wife Dorothy. "During an extravagant New York gala Dorothy overheard a man effusively praising the song 'Ol' Man River,'" begins Sears. "The man's remarks concluded with acclaim for the genius of Jerome Kern. Dorothy stepped forward and responded energetically, 'Jerome Kern wrote 'dum, dum, dum-dum'. My husband wrote 'Ol' Man River.'"

But Sears & Conner have plenty of love for composers, too. Conner, who is the pianist of the Sears & Conner duo (and the Sears, Conner, and Mork trio) waxes effusive over Rodgers' music exclaiming, "Rodgers' music is astounding! With Hart, he can be bouncy, and lush, and romantic. Then with Hammerstien, his music shifted to something more like an operetta-like sound. That goes to the way they worked together. With Hart, Rodgers wrote the music first and Hart put the lyrics to the melody. With Hammerstein it was the opposite." Sears jumps in with another amusing anecdote, "When someone asked Rodgers how long it took to compose a melody, he would quip, 'How long does it take to play it?'"

When asked to identify their favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein or Rodgers & Hart moment, Sears grumbles, "That's not a fair question. There are just too many. My favorite Hart song is the one I'm singing at the moment. They are all so amazing. Even the ones that aren't as good are still amazing." Conner adds, "In rehearsal, after we sing a song we exclaim, 'That is the best song ever,' and we say that after every song!"

Sears says he never stops learning more about each of their songs, because the next time he sings it, he is older and has more life experience to bring to it. "In 2002, we were celebrating Richard Rodgers' Centennial, and I sang 'Surrey with the Fringe on Top,' and twenty-plus years later, I'm still finding new things in the song."

Conner contemplates why standards from the Great American Songbook have had so much staying power nearly a century since the earliest of these were written. "The Great American Songbook is still expanding, still happening. Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein were finding a way to express themselves in a poetic, concise way.

Where we are now is not so concise," muses Conner. "It is the evolution of how writing goes, and people have a lot more to say these days. In the golden age of the Great American Songbook, they all knew each other, and they would challenge each other to find out how many ways you could say 'I love you' without saying 'I love you.'"

Ben Sears, Brad Conner, and Cynthia Mork perform "Rodgers & Hart & Hammerstein on Saturday, December 7, 2024, 4 PM at the Club Café's Napoleon Room, 209 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA 02116. No Cover, but $20 donation recommended. For reservations, click here.