One of the biggest names in Broadway history might be getting a museum and educational center created in his honor. Or maybe not. The grandson of legendary songwriter and librettist Oscar Hammerstein is hoping to convert his farm in the suburbs of Philadelphia into the "Oscar Hammerstein II Music & Theatre Education Center." The icon wrote for classic musicals including The Sound of Music, The King and I, South Pacific and Oklahoma! while residing at the rural property with the other six members of his family.
Unfortunately, officials in Doylestown Township and residents in the area aren't sold on the idea. The proposal comes with $20 million worth of work and officials say that's just too much for the parcel of land. The original property was sold off in 1960 following the director's death and has since been split into many smaller portions for housing development. Those living in the area worry about the congestion and noise that would come with such a project.
Township supervisor Richard Colello told Billboard that a scaled-down version of the idea, featuring just am museum and tour of the home, would be acceptable to the community, however Will Hammerstein and his team doesn't believe that the project could be financially possible without the performance spaces, which leaves the idea in limbo for the moment.
It's tough to argue that there is any area in the history of Broadway outside of the Great White Way itself that's had a wider impact on the world of musical theatre. Hammerstein's son James attended school in the area where he hung out with classmate Stephen Sondheim, who reportedly made frequent trips to the farm before becoming one of the more successful writers in Broadway history himself.
The area also includes museums dedicated to authors James Michener and Pearl Buck...hopefully the area can find some love for music as well as literature.
