OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN MUSEUM BROADWAY GALA
RAISES $165,000 TO SUPPORT
THE PURCHASE OF HIGHLAND FARM
Broadway Stars Christy Altomare, Derek Klena and Justin Guarini
Featured in Intimate Evening of Hammerstein FavoritesIt was a celebratory summer evening as theatre-lovers from far and wide gathered in Buckingham, Pennsylvania to support the nonprofit Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center (OHMTEC) in its quest to raise funds to purchase Oscar Hammerstein II’s historic Pennsylvania home, Highland Farm. Nearly $165,000 was netted from “Broadway Sings The Sound of Hammerstein,” an exclusive gala held on July 11, 2022 at The Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm, the former estate of George S. Kaufman, a contemporary of Hammerstein’s.
The glamorous evening included cocktails and a three-course dinner and featured entertainment by Broadway stars Christy Altomare (Anastasia, Mama Mia, Carrie), Derek Klena (Jagged Little Pill, Wicked, Anastasia) and Justin Guarini (In Transit, Wicked, American Idol, American Idiot). The talented and dynamic Ted Chapin (former President and Chief Creative Officer of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization) hosted the event. David Manning (Silence: The Musical, Reefer Madness) provided accompaniment on a Steinway Spirio grand piano donated by Jacob’s Music for the evening.
Over two hundred supporters attended the gala, heralding from Vermont to Florida and west to California. Luminaries in attendance included Will Hammerstein, grandson of Oscar, and Melinda Mathias Walsh, Oscar’s granddaughter and member of OHMTEC’s Honorary Advisory Board. Also in attendance was Sam von Trapp, the grandson of Baroness Maria von Trapp, from whom Rodgers and Hammerstein derived the inspiration for their blockbuster musical, The Sound of Music. Von Trapp is also a member of OHMTEC’s Honorary Advisory Board and provided the beer for the event from the family’s brewery, von Trapp Brewing in Stowe, Vermont.
Other members of OHMTEC’s advisory board who supported the event included actress and author Mariel Hemingway, who was scheduled to attend, but had to cancel due to her filming schedule. She instead provided a welcome video for attendees. Teen actress Kassie Mundhenk, whose home is in Bucks County, PA, spoke in support of OHMTEC via recorded video. National Medal of the Arts winning choral composer Morten Lauridsen provided a private consultation as an offering for the silent auction.
Over seventy businesses and individuals from the community came together in support of OHMTEC’s mission through sponsorships and by providing in-kind donations of goods and services for the event and auction. Premiere sponsors included Visit Bucks County through a generous grant from the Bucks County Tourism Grant Program, Café with Soul, Capital Health, Class-Harlan Real Estate and Gemmi Construction, Inc. Event sponsors included Byers’ Choice Ltd., Concord Theatricals, Doylestown Health, Eastburn and Gray PC, Golden Blossom Honey, Judith Abrams Productions, Parx Casino, Snap Divorce, The Doylestown Inn and Van Cleef Engineering Associates, LLC.
A very special part of the evening was performances by winners of OHMTEC’s International Youth Solo Contest. Winners who attended and sang during the cocktail hour hailed from Plymouth, Massachusetts; Davis, California; and Naperville, Illinois; as well as towns in Pennsylvania. Listeners’ attention was help rapt by these talented young performers, who rose to the top of 151 entrants in the contest from five continents.
The capstone of the memorable evening was an audience sing-along of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “It’s a Grand Night for Singing,” led by Altomare, Guarini and Klena – and indeed it was a grand night!
