The Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center (OHMTEC) announced the addition of award-winning Broadway and West End Producer Judith Ann Abrams to its board.
Abrams is founder and producer of the family musical theater company, The Broadway Pixie Abrams Troupe, discovered by composer Richard Rodgers. Abrams was hired by Rodgers to produce three of her troupe’s cast albums with The London Symphony Orchestra for The Rodgers and Hammerstein Music Library.
Abrams is one of the original creators of The Equity Children’s Theatre Contract. Her troupe performed in every top theater in the U.S. and London and for two U.S. Presidents and their children at The White House.
The troupe’s special performances, given to introduce live theater to underserved populations of the inner cities, were hosted by guest stars such as Helen Hayes, Hal Prince, Liza Minnelli, Cy Coleman, Elaine Stritch and Diana Ross, and garnered Abrams three Mayoral Appreciation Awards and the coveted Jefferson Award for Community Service.
The third generation of her family to go into theater, Abrams has won multiple Tony and Olivier Awards for several of her Broadway, West End and national and international touring productions such as, “Spring Awakening,” “Kinky Boots,” “Funny Girl,” “Company,” “Lehman Trilogy,” and “Come From Away.” Abrams recently received rave reviews for the London productions of “Mrs. DoubtFire” and “Crazy for You.”
Regarding her appointment to the board, Abrams had the following comment, “I am deeply humbled and honored to accept this invitation to be on the board of OHMTEC, created to preserve the home and the extraordinary work of this great theater icon. I’m especially excited that there will be an educational center for school groups to learn about Oscar Hammerstein, his glorious music and our great art form – The American Musical Theater.”
OHMTEC is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to purchase, restore, and preserve Oscar Hammerstein II’s former home and creative epicenter at Highland Farm in Doylestown. Recently a group of local philanthropists joined forces to fund a $500,000 matching gift challenge to raise the funds necessary for the nonprofit to secure Highland Farm by Aug. 1. All donations received through Aug. 1 will be matched. In recent weeks the Miranda Family Fund and Broadway icon Lin-Manuel Miranda have thrown their support behind the museum with a generous gift.
Visit OHMTEC’s donation page at HammersteinMuseum.org. Contributions of any amount can be made by check, credit card or appreciated securities. Naming opportunities are available for rooms and spaces in the house and barn. For information. email hammersteinmuseum@gmail.com.
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