Behind the scenes

“No! It’s not going to be “Doe a dog, a great big dog.” A doe is not a dog it’s a deer.”

Oscar Hammerstein was at his wit’s end. He and Richard Rogers had worked together on a number of very successful musicals. This new one, The Sound of Music, was going to be another big smash; that was if they could ever finish these last songs.

“I don’t agree. It’s not doe as in d-o-e. It’s dō as in the sound. Using your logic, it could just as well be dough, d-o-u-g-h. If that’s the case, how about “Dough a cookie, an oatmeal cookie?”

“Now you are just being ridiculous.”

Simultaneously, both men turned their backs, crossed their arms on their chests and strode to opposite sides of the room signaling the start of the sulking process.

This was how things stood when the key grip walked in. No one really knows what a “key grip” is supposed to do, including the key grip himself. Generally, they make things up as they go along. In this case, he found himself constantly playing the role of peacekeeper between these two dysfunctional geniuses.

He had overheard their conversation from just outside the door as he waited for their next work stoppage.

“Look you two, the musical is just about ready to go. There are really only a couple of things you disagree about. Why not compromise? Oscar wants to say “Climb every really tall tree” and Richard likes “Climb every mountain”. Why not let Richard have his way with that song and Oscar can have his way on the other?

The two men eyed each other suspiciously from across the room.

Finally, Hammerstein said, “Okay, but I get to order dinner.”

“Fine,” Rogers conceded, “so long as it’s not KFC again.”

Word count 300


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