Arthur Hammerstein Arthur Hammerstein Arthur Hammerstein (December 21, 1872 – October 12, 1955) was an American songwriter, dramatist, playwright and theater manager Born and educated to a Jewish family in New York City, Hammerstein was the son of the theater impresario and composer Oscar Hammerstein I. Arthur started out as a bricklayer and plasterer, working on projects with his father including the Victoria Theater and Manhattan Opera House. In 1908 Hammerstein started working on becoming a producer, signing Italian singer Luisa Tetrazzini to the family's Manhattan Center and negotiating with Otto Kahn before moving to London in 1910. While there Arthur and
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