Dorothy Hammerstein Dorothy Hammerstein Dorothy Hammerstein (7 June 18993 August 1987) was an Australian-born American interior designer and decorator. She was the second wife of the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Dorothy Marian Kiaora Blanchard was born to Henry James Blanchard (1862–?), a New Zealand-born master mariner (Dorothy's second middle name Kiaora is a traditional greeting in the Māori language of New Zealand). Her mother was Marion (née Parmenter; 1867–1946), born in Scotland. There were four other daughters of the marriage. Henry Blanchard became a ship's pilot on Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay, and they resided in the bayside suburb of Williamstown, in a
Willie Hammerstein He was talented at promoting his shows, and was skilled at finding and booking profitable acts. The Victoria had been staging variety acts, plays and musicals. Willie Hammerstein started putting on popular low-brow vaudeville shows at low prices. He signed up stars and unknown new performers, celebrities of all types, physical freaks, illusionists and risqué exotic dancers. The highly varied programs drew large and often noisy audiences. Hammerstein ran the only vaudeville theater in Times Square, and had no other theatres. He was able to develop shows uniquely fitted to his local audience. The crowd at the Victoria like the