Arts and Culture | Theater

Drag, Bolsheviks, and ‘Rip Van Winkle’: The lost Varsity Shows of Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, and Lorenz Hart

Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein formed two of the most iconic composer-lyricist teams of all time. Before Broadway, they all got their start with the Varsity Show.

By Eva Vu Stern / Staff Illustrator
The Varsity Show marked the only time the Broadway legends all collaborated on a production.
By Beatrice Moyers and Sarah Shapiro • April 9, 2025 at 11:18 AM











Photo by Varsity Show Archives / Courtesy of
The Hotel Astor in Times Square.





















Photo by Varsity Show Archives / Courtesy of
A picture of Richard Rodgers, CC 1923, and Lorenz Hart, CC 1918, in a Varsity Show program.







Photo by Varsity Show Archives / Courtesy of
Actors in “You’ll Never Know.”


Photo by Varsity Show Archives / Courtesy of
Rodgers’s handwritten transcription for “Will You Forgive Me?” from “You’ll Never Know.”




Photo by Varsity Show Archives / Courtesy of
A poster for “Half Moon Inn.”




















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