 Rehearsals began in January 1945 ; either Rodgers or Hammerstein was always present . Raitt was presented with the lyrics for " Soliloquy " on a five @-@ foot long sheet of paper — the piece ran nearly eight minutes . Staging such a long solo number presented problems , and Raitt later stated that he felt that they were never fully addressed . At some point during rehearsals , Molnár came to see what they had done to his play . There are a number of variations on the story . As Rodgers told it , while watching rehearsals with Hammerstein , the composer spotted Molnár in the rear of the theatre and whispered the news to his partner . Both sweated through an afternoon of rehearsal in which nothing seemed to go right . At the end , the two walked to the back of the theatre , expecting an angry reaction from Molnár . Instead , the playwright said enthusiastically , " What you have done is so beautiful . And you know what I like best ? The ending ! " Hammerstein wrote that Molnár became a regular attendee at rehearsals after that . 
