Oscar Hammerstein Award Oscar Hammerstein Award The Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre is named in honor of American lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein, who helped shape American theater music through his collaborations with a number of different composers and writers. The award was created in 1988 by Janet Hayes Walker, the Founding Artistic Director of The York Theatre Company, and is presented with the endorsement of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and the Hammerstein family. The Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala is the major annual fundraising event of The York, a mainstay of the Off-Broadway scene for more than 45
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