The Oscar Hammerstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre is named in honor of American lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein, who helped shape American theater music through his collaborations with a number of different composers and writers.
The Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala is the major annual fundraising event of The York, a mainstay of the Off-Broadway scene for 50 years.
Past recipients include Stephen Sondheim, Angela Lansbury, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, Harold Prince, Cy Coleman, Charles Strouse, Arthur Laurents, Jerry Herman, Stephen Schwartz, Peter Stone, David Merrick, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Terrence McNally, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Carol Channing, Tony Walton, Joseph Stein, Thomas Meehan, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick,[1] Barbara Cook, Paul Gemignani, Alan Menken, Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty.
In December 2016, the 25th Oscar Hammerstein Award was presented to Joel Grey in a star-studded tribute evening.
[2] In 2018, the 27th Oscar Hammerstein Award was presented to award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman.