Oscar Hammerstein I an early age. His mother died when he was fifteen years old. During his youth, Hammerstein's father wanted him to continue with his education, and to specialize in subjects such as algebra, but Hammerstein wanted to pursue music. After Oscar went skating in a park one day, his father found out and whipped him as punishment; this would spur Hammerstein to run away to North America. After selling his violin, Hammerstein ran away to Liverpool, and from there, took a three-month journey to the United States arriving in New York City in 1864. Hammerstein made ends meet initially by working
James Hammerstein "Oklahoma!" (London and Australia), "The King and I" (Tel Aviv, US and UK tours), and "Carousel". For many years he directed staged readings of notable playwrights, such as Jeff Wanshel, Ron Cowan, and Werner Liepolt as "American Triptych," under the auspices of George White and Lloyd Richards' National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Memorial Theater Center in Waterford, Conn. Hammerstein was nominated for the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical Revue for "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" (as producer) and the 1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical for "The Sound of Music". Hammerstein