PBS to Air "Oscar Hammerstein II – Out of My Dreams," Hosted By Matthew Morrison, in March

By Adam Hetrick
18 Jan 2012

Matthew Morrison
Matthew Morrison
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

Tony Award-nominated "Glee" and South Pacific star Matthew Morrison will host "Oscar Hammerstein II – Out of My Dreams," a new film tracing the legacy of the late Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist and librettist, which will begin airing on PBS stations across the U.S. March 3.

Morrison appeared as Lieutenant Cable in the Tony Award-winning 2008 Lincoln Center Theater revival of South Pacific. The production went on to enjoy a successful U.S. tour and is currently playing London's Barbican Theatre.

The special includes interviews with Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Stephen Sondheim, who was mentored by Hammerstein. Also featured are Tony-winning director Harold Prince; "Oklahoma!" and "Carousel" film star Shirley Jones; "South Pacific" film star Mitzi Gaynor; Tony winning Memphis book writer-lyricist Joe DiPietro; Ted Chapin, president of Rodgers & Hammerstein; biographer Hugh Fordin; and Hammerstein family members, including his daughter, Alice Hammerstein Mathias; grandchildren, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, Melinda Walsh, and Peter Mathias; and his stepdaughter, Susan Blanchard.

Archival footage also includes a rare 1958 Hammerstein television interview with CBS News' Mike Wallace and a handful of recorded conversations. His late wife Dorothy and son James are also represented in archival interviews.

"Oscar Hammerstein II – Out of My Dreams" also promises clips from the Rodgers and Hammerstein film musicals "Oklahoma!," "Carousel," "South Pacific," "The King and I" and "The Sound of Music"; as well as "Show Boat," co-authored with Jerome Kern, and a performance of the Academy Award-winning Kern-Hammerstein song "The Last Time I Saw Paris." Segments from the 2008 Broadway production of South Pacific appear as well.

The program will also highlight Hammerstein's work as a humanitarian and political activist; his musicals Show Boat and South Pacific offered unflinching looks at racial tension and prejudice.

Here's a preview of "Oscar Hammerstein II – Out of My Dreams":