Oscar Hammerstein II six for lyrics or book, and two as producer of the Best Musical ("South Pacific" and "The Sound of Music"). Rodgers and Hammerstein began writing together before the era of the Tonys: "Oklahoma!" opened in 1943 and "Carousel" in 1945, and the Tony Awards were not awarded until 1947. They won a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for "Oklahoma!" and, with Joshua Logan, the annual Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950 for "South Pacific". The Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies at Columbia University was established in 1981 with a $1-million gift from his family. His advice and work
Oscar Hammerstein I (1896). While it was positively received by "The New York Times", Hammerstein's personal experience was less than peaceful, with the production being plagued by monetary issues with the cast and stage set. In the end, Hammerstein had profited only one-tenth of the costs that were put into the "Santa Maria" production. Nine years later, Longacre Square was renamed Times Square, and the area had become, through his efforts, a thriving theater district. Hammerstein built three more theaters there, the Victoria Theatre (1899), which turned to vaudeville presentation in 1904 and was managed by his son, Willie Hammerstein before closing in