Broadway Shines a Little Dimmer
As The Sound of Music entered its third rehearsal week, Oscar Hammerstein created the requisite “emotional heart wrenching” moment every musical has. But it wasn’t part of the show. During a physical, doctors discovered the award-winning lyricist had stomach cancer. He continued to work, although he had to miss some of the early runs of the show.
He had written the last full song he would ever write, “Edelweiss,” a love song to Captain Von Trapp’s homeland. Hammerstein passed away from the cancer in 1960, at age 65. The theater community showed Hammerstein the same love he showed the community. The theater lights that made Broadway glisten every night were dimmed for a full minute in Hammerstein’s honor.