Social Issues
While Rodgers and Hammerstein's work contains cheerful and oftentimes uplifting songs, they departed from the comic and sentimental tone of early 20th century musicals by seriously addressing issues such as racism, sexism and classism in many of their works. For example, Carousel concerns domestic violence, while South Pacific addresses racist views by westerners of Pacific islanders, and racism generally. Based on the true story of the von Trapp family, The Sound of Music explores the views of Austrians to the takeover of Austria by the Third Reich.
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Famous quotes containing the words social and/or issues:
“The beaux and the babies, the servant troubles, and the social aspirations of the other girls seemed to me superficial. My work did not. I was professional. I could earn my own money, or I could be fired if I were inefficient. It was something to get your teeth into. It was living.”
—Edna Woolman Chase (1877–1957)
“The current flows fast and furious. It issues in a spate of words from the loudspeakers and the politicians. Every day they tell us that we are a free people fighting to defend freedom. That is the current that has whirled the young airman up into the sky and keeps him circulating there among the clouds. Down here, with a roof to cover us and a gasmask handy, it is our business to puncture gasbags and discover the seeds of truth.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)