A Path to Saving Oscars' Home as New Board Members are Announced

Doylestown, PA—Today, The Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center announced two new members to their board. Linda Leffingwell Paton is a long-time resident of Doylestown and a lover of musical theatre. She was an executive with Sears Roebuck & Company for twenty years dealing with accessories and fine jewelry for Sears, and managed over thirty people in the buying and administrative end in New York City and then in Chicago. After leaving Sears in 1989, Linda started her own fine jewelry consultant company, selling to major department and chain stores and for five years was a guest host on QVC.

After retirement, Linda pursued her love of antiques and is now an antique dealer. She is recently married to Jon Paton and they enjoy theatre, art, music, standardbred horses and travel. Linda stated "Jon and I are very pleased to be a part of this local Oscar Hammerstein project! With my love of antiques and history, and knowing what a huge influence Hammerstein was for Broadway and American Theatre, I am so happy to join the Executive Board at The Museum.” (Executive Board Members at The Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center agree to contribute a substantial financial donation and are available as mentors and networkers to the working board of directors.) The Museum currently operates with no paid employees as the working board is filled with volunteer professionals who are dedicated to raising enough funds to purchase the Highland Farms property from its current owner.

Additionally, The Museum recently set up an Honorary Advisory Board filled with well-known theatre and performance professionals to include Shirley Jones, Mariel Hemingway, Gerald Dickens, and Morten Lauridsen. This week, local celebrity and former 2002 American Idol participant Justin Guarini was added to the Honorary Board. Justin’s stage appearances since then include Broadway productions of American Idiot, Romeo and Juliet, Wicked and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Justin has hosted the Oscars, the Emmys and the Grammys. He continues to reprise his role as the lovable Lil’ Sweet in commercials for Diet Dr. Pepper. A strong proponent for music education in schools, Justin has advocated for funding on Capitol Hill by lobbying for the International Music Products Association. He has also worked with Education Through Music Los Angeles, a nonprofit that promotes using music education as a catalyst to improve academic achievement, motivation for school and self-confidence in underserved communities. In 2019, Justin founded Artist Mindset Mastery (ILiveToPerform.com) to help performers achieve success.

The Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center is raising funds to purchase, restore, and preserve Oscar Hammerstein's former home and workplace. The entire project will cost approximately five million dollars. With the goal to create a multifaceted and dynamic museum experience, with a strong theatre education component, serving as a place of inspiration for Broadway fans and humanitarians alike, the organization is on a quick timeline to gather the support needed to preserve this treasure. Adding these two new local board members will help the group get closer to their goal to preserve the property. If you are interested in supporting these efforts, please reach out to: hammersteinmuseum@gmail.com or visit the organization’s donation page.