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Richard Rodgers: "Slaughter on 10th Avenue"

Blue Lake Public Radio | By Foley Schuler
Published November 6, 2025 at 7:01 PM EST
Richard Rodgers (left) and Lorenz Hart (right), 1936.
By World Telegram staff photographer—Library of Congress. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, Public Domain.
Richard Rodgers (left) and Lorenz Hart (right), 1936.

With composer Richard Rodgers currently appearing on the silver screen—as portrayed by acclaimed actor Andrew Scott in Richard Linklater's brilliant Blue Moon (starring Ethan Hawke in a career-best performance as lyricist Lorenz Hart)—Foley delves into a landmark ballet work by the composer on Friday afternoon's program.

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is a ballet with music by Richard Rodgers and choreography by George Balanchine that appears within Rodgers and Hart's 1936 Broadway musical comedy On Your Toes. It appears near the end of the show and tells the story of a professional dancer, or "hoofer," who falls in love with a dance hall girl who is then shot and killed by her jealous boyfriend, with the hoofer then shooting the boyfriend. Along with being the first time Richard Rodgers would attempt a ballet score, it carried with it a number of other significant firsts as well, including being the first time an extended ballet sequence ever appeared within a Broadway show, and it represented the first choreography for Broadway by the legendary George Balachine. We'll hear Slaughter on 10th Avenue, and much more, on Friday afternoon's Classical Music With Foley Schuler.

In the meantime, care of the Turner Classic Youtube Channel, you can watch the ballet here, danced by Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen, as it appears in another film biography of the songwriting duo Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Words and Music from 1948:

You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selections—and stories behind the music—every weekday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.

Foley Schuler
Encouraged by creative parents, Foley began his music career at age 7, studying violin with Jean Manning at North Muskegon Public Schools. As a Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp camper, he became Blue Lake Public Radio’s first high school intern. Foley earned an English Literature degree from Hope College, and Masters in Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the Warren Wilson College. He has performed with the West Michigan (formerly West Shore) Symphony; served on the English Department faculty at Muskegon Community College, and been the Music, Art & Theatre reviewer for the Muskegon Chronicle. He follows his love of the arts around the globe, but says, “There is no place like the Blue Lake setting, sharing extraordinary music with our listeners.” Foley hosts Blue Lake Public Radio’s weekday classical music from 1 to 4 p.m. and “Sunday on Blue Lake”.
See stories by Foley Schuler