“A hopeless shill” is how Oscar Hammerstein III — Andy, to his very dear friends at ART&INDUSTRY — most recently described himself to me when he stopped by a few weeks ago. Of course, mid-book tour (“whoring for the man”) Andy might just be a bit weary, but he remains a charming conversationalist with colorful material.

Hanging above our desk is Andy’s painting, “Theoretical Trees 1”: a vivid abstraction with regal trunks in bright Gaugin colors. It seems the palate of Broadway and Times Square has seeped into even Andy’s naturalist subjects. Or maybe that’s just conjecture; an invented trace of the Hammerstein lineage Andy’s wooded canvas. Either way, there is a liveliness in “Theoretical Trees 1” that echos the stage life.