GetWiki

{{Short description|American theatre director and producer}}{{more citations needed|date=August 2011}}

factoids

| birth_place = 199973|23}}| death_place = New York City, U.S.Theatre director|producer}}| spouse = | children = 5Oscar Hammerstein IIDorothy Hammerstein>Dorothy Blanchard

• Susan Blanchard (maternal half-sister)
• Willie Hammerstein (paternal grandfather)
• Oscar Hammerstein I (paternal great-grandfather)
• Arthur Hammerstein (paternal granduncle)
• Stella Hammerstein (paternal grandaunt)

{edih}}} James Blanchard HammersteinWEB,weblink The New York Times Biographical Service, 1987, WEB,weblink Workspace not found, (March 23, 1931 – January 7, 1999) was an American theatre director and producer.

Life and career

Hammerstein was the son of interior designer Dorothy Hammerstein (née Blanchard) and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. He had four half-siblings, two through each of his parents' earlier marriages: William and Alice Hammerstein from his father's side, and Henry Jacobson and Susan Blanchard from his mother's side.Hammerstein attended George School in Newtown, Pennsylvania, where he met fellow student Stephen Sondheim."Sondheim timeline" artsedge.kennedy-center.org {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427211512weblink |date=April 27, 2007 }} He began his Broadway career as a stage manager, notably for shows such as South Pacific, Me and Juliet, and Flower Drum Song, all co-written by his father Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers. The first play he produced was Blue Denim, by James Leo Herlihy and William Noble, and the first play he directed was the comedy Absence of a Cello in 1964. The New York Times wrote: "James Hammerstein has staged the piece with a great deal of verve."Taubman, Howard. "The Theater: 'Absence of a Cello'", The New York Times, September 22, 1964, p.45 His other directing credits include The Indian Wants the Bronx, Wise Child and Butley.Hammerstein directed the New York City Opera production of The Sound of Music in 1990.Rockwell, John. "Review/Music; 'Sound of Music' Takes On The Icons of a Heroic Past", The New York Times, March 9, 1990, Section C; p.3 He co-directed the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical State Fair in 1996.Canby, Vincent. "Theater Review.Farm-Family Values of Mid-40's Iowa" The New York Times, March 28, 1996 Among the other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals he directed were Oklahoma! (London and Australia), The King and I (Tel Aviv, US and UK tours), and Carousel."Biographies" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830103302weblink |date=2007-08-30 }} rnh.com, accessed May 24, 2012For many years he directed staged readings of notable playwrights, such as Jeff Wanshel, Ron Cowen, and Werner Liepolt as "American Triptych," under the auspices of George White and Lloyd Richards' National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill 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)"Drama Desk Picks Performers, Presenters & Venue, May 18" {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714133937weblink |date=2014-07-14 }} playbill.com, May 13, 1997 and the 1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical for The Sound of Music.Hammerstein had one child (Oscar Andrew) with his first wife Basia, two children (Will and Jennifer) with his second wife Millette Alexander, and one child (Simon) with his third wife Geraldine Sherman.WEB,weblink 'I was on the road to make-believe', He died in Manhattan after suffering a heart attack.Jones, Kenneth. Producer-director James Hammerstein, Son of Oscar Hammerstein II, Dead at 67 playbill.com, January 7, 1999

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• {{IBDB name|15010}}
• Internet Off-Broadway Database

{{Authority control}}