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State Fair

In 1945, a Technicolor musical film version of Phil Stong 's novel State Fair, with songs and script by Rodgers and Hammerstein, was released. The film, a remake of a 1933 non-musical Will Rogers film of the same name, starred Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, and Vivian Blaine. This was the only time the pair ever wrote a score directly for film. It was a great success, winning Rodgers and Hammerstein their lone Oscar together, for the song " It Might as Well Be Spring ", but it was also unadventurous material for them, compared with several of their Broadway shows. In 1962, an unsuccessful remake of the musical film was released.

In 1969, the St. Louis Municipal Opera presented the world stage premiere of State Fair starring Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The production was directed by James Hammerstein, supervised by Richard Rodgers and choreographed by Tommy Tune. State Fair finally arrived on Broadway on March 27, 1996, with Donna McKechnie and Andrea McArdle, produced by David Merrick, and received five Tony Award nominations.