DOYLESTOWN, (9/24/2025) – Winners for the nonprofit Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre
Education Center’s International Youth Solo Contest were announced in a pre-recorded awards ceremony broadcast recently. The annual contest attracted over 100 applicants from near and far, including representation from Bucks County, Pennsylvania and as far as Thailand. Thirteen U.S. states and two countries were represented among this year’s competitors.
The contest serves the very important job of educating young musical theatre enthusiasts about the tremendous influence Oscar Hammerstein II had on the development of the modern Broadway musical as we know it. The contest also raises international awareness of the nonprofit’s mission to preserve Oscar Hammerstein’s Doylestown home and expand the museum. Plans include building a theatre education center on the site of the existing bank barn.
A complete list of winners is below. Soloist videos can be seen on Facebook and YouTube @hammersteinmuseum.
High School Division
First Place: Addison Wynkoop, Age 14, Bellefonte, PA
Second Place: Charlotte Raynor, Age 15, Doylestown, PA
Third Place: Gabrielle Arias, Age 15, Newtown, PA
Middle School Division
First Place: Ing Ing Itthiratanakomol, Age 12, Nonthaburi, Thailand
Second Place: Elisabeth Choi, Age 10, Leonia, NJ
Third Place: Ellie Joy Fortson, Age 11, Edgewater, NJ
Elementary School Division
First Place: Elle Campbell, Age 9, Chesapeake, VA
Second Place: Ruby Caramore, Age 8, Norfolk, VA
Third Place: Serena Ryoo, Age 10, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Bucks County Division
First Place: Sarah MacLean, Age 17, Doylestown, PA
Second Place: Reese Leichter, Age 16, Doylestown, PA
Third Place: Roslyn Cooper, Age 8, Holland, PA
This year’s winners will receive a cash prize, and first place winners are invited to perform during the Some
Enchanted Evening Gala benefitting Hammerstein Museum on Sunday October 19, 2025 at the Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm in Bucks County, PA. A prestigious panel of judges evaluated the solo submissions, including Professor Kathleen Wrinn of Syracuse University Department of Drama and Bucks County native Dr. Paul Wolf of McNeese State University. Solo Contest Winner Headshots
In a new educational initiative for the museum, young playwrights from schools in Bucks County, PA
currently in grades 9-12 are invited to submit their original, one-act scripts for the inaugural Bucks County
Young Playwrights Festival. Up to four plays will be selected for a staged reading by theatre professionals in April of 2026. Student writers can visit https://www.hammersteinmuseum.org/bc-young-playwrights for more information and to submit their works.
