Songwriter Lorenz Hart, 47, sits in Sardi's Bar on the evening of March 31, 1943, on the opening night of the successful musical "Oklahoma!" which was written by his former partner Richard Rodgers. Lorenz's life and career had gone downhill, he had begun to abuse alcohol, and this musical was the first that Richard had written as a duet with another poet. However, Hart has come to the bar not only to complain about life to the bartender: the institution is holding a party on the occasion of the premiere, and Lorenz himself came for a date with Elizabeth, a young student at Yale University.