The Miranda Family Fund has demonstrated their support for the burgeoning The Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center (OHMTEC) with a significant financial gift to the museum's fundraising effort.
Efforts are underway to raise money towards establishing the museum and theatre education center at Highland Farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where Broadway titan Oscar Hammerstein II spent the final 20 years of his life.
The Show Boat and Oklahoma! writer bought the farm in 1940, just as he was beginning his landmark collaboration with composer Richard Rodgers, as a quiet place to work outside of Manhattan. The property would become Hammerstein's creative epicenter, and it's where he wrote the quintessential Broadway lyrics for, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Edelweiss."
The Miranda Family Fund, which is led by Lin-Manuel Miranda's parents Luis A. Miranda, Jr. and Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda, has been in operation for more than 40 years, with particular funding interest in artists of color, supporting Puerto Rican relief efforts, voter engagement, and attention to critical issues in the U.S.
Said Greg Roth, the board president of OHMTEC: “We are heartened and honored to have the support and strong endorsement from the Miranda family for the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center. Their desire to provide exceptional educational opportunities, especially for historically underserved people, is completely synchronistic to our board’s mission and aspiration. Their support brings global awareness and represents a milestone for this legacy project.”
Highland Farm is also the site where fellow theatrical legend Stephen Sondheim became Hammerstein's protégé. The composer-lyricist became acquainted with the Hammerstein family after Sondheim's mother moved them to an estate near the Hammersteins' farm, after which he became a frequent guest and friend to Hammerstein's son, Jimmy. The elder Hammerstein would ultimately take Sondheim under his wing, teaching him many of the basics of constructing musicals and advising him on his early career choices, including signing on to contribute lyrics to West Side Story, despite Sondheim's reluctance to work on a project that wouldn't see him composing music.
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