Dorothy Hammerstein in 1969 until her death, Dorothy Hammerstein was actively involved with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, both as a board member and as a member of its national advisory board. She died in her sleep on 3 August 1987. She was survived by her 3 children and 2 step-children, 10 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. 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
Rodgers and Hammerstein Favorite Things", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "So Long, Farewell" and "Sixteen Going on Seventeen". "Edelweiss" was the last song that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote together. Rodgers and Hammerstein re-worked the musical theatre genre. Early 20th-century musicals, except for the Princess Theatre musicals and a few important examples like Hammerstein and Jerome Kern's "Show Boat", were usually whimsical or farcical, and typically built around a star. Because the efforts of Rodgers and Hammerstein were so successful, many musicals that followed contained thought-provoking plots with mature themes, and in which all the aspects of the play, dance, song, and drama, were combined in