R&H Brand: Breeding of American Paternalism and the Inception of Flower Drum Song

Abstract

Rodgers and Hammersteins musicals of the golden era of Broadway musical theatre have been analyzed for its musical conventions and rich historical context. While recent musical theatre scholarship has investigated Flower Drum Songs musical and socio‐political contexts fruitfully, such studies have not reflected sufficiently on the inception of the show and Rodgers and Hammerstein as a brand. This study combines methodologies from musicology, sociology, and performance studies including extensive archival research on how the all‐American R&H brand contributed to the genesis of Flower Drum Song, and the real story behind why the most American producers of Broadway musical theater came to create an Asian American musical. This essay ultimately demonstrates the inception of Flower Drum Song, and how the R&H brand encapsulates American paternalism―as America emerged as the international super power in the late 1950s―to illuminate a new dimension of American Broadway musical theatre.