# Stage & Screen: - "Oklahoma!" - (1998 Royal National Theatre Recording)



## Guest (Sep 3, 2018)

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"Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Oklahoma Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.

The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box-office smash and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Academy Award-winning 1955 film adaptation.

Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.

This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story with serious dramatic goals that are able to evoke genuine emotions other than laughter. In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story. A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.

By the early 1940s, Rodgers and Hammerstein were each well known for creating Broadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940).

Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words for Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good. By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.

This partnership allowed both Rodgers and Hammerstein to follow their preferred writing methods: Hammerstein preferred to write a complete lyric before it was set to music, and Rodgers preferred to set completed lyrics to music.

In Rodgers' previous collaborations with Hart, Rodgers had always written the music first, since the unfocused Hart needed something on which to base his lyrics. Hammerstein's previous collaborators included composers Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, and Kern, who all wrote music first, for which Hammerstein then wrote lyrics.

The role reversal in the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership permitted Hammerstein to craft the lyrics into a fundamental part of the story so that the songs could amplify and intensify the story instead of diverting it. As Rodgers and Hammerstein began developing the new musical, they agreed that their musical and dramatic choices would be dictated by the source material, Green Grow the Lilacs, not by musical comedy conventions. Musicals of that era featured big production numbers, novelty acts, and show-stopping specialty dances; the libretti typically focused on humor, with little dramatic development, punctuated with songs that effectively halted the story for their duration.

Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act.

The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943 at the St. James Theatre in New York City. It was directed by Rouben Mamoulian and choreographed by Agnes de Mille. It starred Alfred Drake (Curly), Joan Roberts (Laurey), Celeste Holm (Ado Annie), Howard Da Silva (Jud Fry), Betty Garde (Aunt Eller), Lee Dixon (Will Parker), Joseph Buloff (Ali Hakim), Jane Lawrence (Gertie), Barry Kelley (Ike) and George S. Irving (Joe). Marc Platt danced the role of "Dream Curly", Katharine Sergava danced the part of "Dream Laurey" and the small dancing part of Aggie was played by Bambi Linn. George Church danced the part of "Dream Jud" but was replaced by Vladimir Kostenko only two months after the premiere.

The production ran for 2,212 performances, finally closing on May 29, 1948. "The demand for tickets was unprecedented as the show became more popular in the months that followed" the opening. Oklahoma! ran for over five years, a Broadway record that "would not be bested until My Fair Lady (1956)." The Tony Awards and other awards now given for achievement in musical theatre were not in existence in 1943, and therefore the original production of Oklahoma! received no theatrical awards.

Character Description:

Curly McLain - A cowboy in love with Laurey

Laurey Williams - Aunt Eller's niece, an independent young woman

Jud Fry - A hired hand on Aunt Eller's ranch, a mysterious and dangerous loner

Aunt Eller - Laurey's aunt, a respected community leader

Ado Annie Carnes - A flirtatious, gullible young woman

Will Parker - A simple young man in love with Ado Annie

Andrew Carnes - Ado Annie's father, eager to have her marry

Ali Hakim - A Persian peddler, enamored of Ado Annie

Gertie Cumming - A local farm girl, fond of Curly, marries Ali Hakim

Dream Curly - Curly in the dream sequence

Dream Laurey - Laurey in the dream sequence

A new production of the musical was presented by the National Theatre in London at the Olivier Theatre, opening on July 15, 1998. The production team included Trevor Nunn (director), Susan Stroman (choreographer) and William David Brohn (orchestrator).

The international cast included Hugh Jackman as Curly, Maureen Lipman as Aunt Eller, Josefina Gabrielle as Laurey, Shuler Hensley as Jud Fry, Vicki Simon as Ado Annie, Peter Polycarpou as Ali Hakim and Jimmy Johnston as Will Parker.

Musical director John Owen Edwards, Brohn and dance arranger David Krane adapted Robert Russell Bennett's original orchestrations and extended some of the dance sequences. A brand new Dream Ballet was composed for Susan Stroman's new choreography and the dances to "Kansas City", "Many a New Day" and "The Farmer and the Cowman" were all radically redesigned. The overture was also altered, at the request of Nunn.

The production received numerous Olivier Award nominations, winning for Outstanding Musical Production, supporting actor (Hensley), set design (Anthony Ward) and choreography (Stroman).

According to the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, the limited engagement was a sell-out and broke all previous box office records, and so the show was transferred to the Lyceum Theatre in the West End for a six-month run. Plans to transfer to Broadway with the London cast were thwarted by Actors' Equity, which insisted that American actors must be cast. Eventually a U.S. cast was selected.

1.) - *Overture* - Royal National Theatre Cast






2.) - *Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'* - Hugh Jackman






3.) - *The Surrey With The Fringe On Top* - Hugh Jackman, Josefina Gabriele, & Maureen Lipman






4.) - *Kansas City* - Royal National Theatre Cast






5.) - *I Cain't Say No* - Vicki Simon






6.) - *Many A New Day* - Royal National Theatre Cast






7.) - *It's A Scandal! It's An Outrage!* - Royal National Theatre Cast






8.) - *People Will Say We're In Love* - Royal National Theatre Cast






9.) - *Pore Jud Is Daid* - Royal National Theatre Cast






10.) - *Lonely Room* - Royal National Theatre Cast






11.) - *Out Of My Dreams* - Josefina Gabriele






12.) - *Ballet* - Royal National Theatre Cast






13.) - *The Farmer and the Cowman* - Royal National Theatre Cast






14.) - *All Er Nuthin'* - Royal National Theatre Cast






15.) - *People Will Say We're In Love (Reprise)* - Royal National Theatre Cast






16.) - *Oklahoma!* - Hugh Jackman, Josefina Gabriele & Royal National Theatre Cast






17.) - *Finale Outro* - Royal National Theatre Cast


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

I saw this twice. The first time I could only get standing tickets and then went with the Mrs. when it transferred.
These series of threads have had me rethinking why I broadened my musical choices when I felt Rock was losing its interest FOR ME in the mid 70's. Then in 1980 there was a WE stage production of Rogers and Hart's Pal Joey and form that moment I started taking musical comedy and The Great American Songbook seriously. I had always loved old Hollywood musicals on TV, but until then it was something well... you kept quiet about to your mates and you certainly didn’t want any soundtrack albums seen in your collection,


But sometimes I think that in 500 years time, the 20th Century will be best remembered for Jazz and the music of Richard Rogers. I was late to the Rogers and Hammerstein ones but until you've seen Oklahoma, The King and I, Carousel, South Pacific and yes The Sound of Music (on stage not keen on the film) I don’t think you have a complete picture of the century’s music. Live they are just tremenjus. Also, with the prior exception of Show Boat, they really revolutionised the Musical to where the plot was more than an excuse to squeeze songs in. The title song was previously of little interest to me until the band and chorus vigorously nailed me back to my seat! People will say we're in love is georgeous...I could go on and on.

I would say I prefer TKAI, SP and Carousel but this one needs to be seen.


Trevor Nunn is Directing Fidler on the Roof at the Menier this autumn. Do not miss.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

There's a radical new production running on Broadway now (through 1/9/20). Check out "I Can't Say No" on the website. Ali Stroker won a Tony for her performance.

https://oklahomabroadway.com/


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

jegreenwood, that was an interesting watch


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Corn as high as an elephant's eye...

I lived in Oklahoma and my childhood home was saturated with R&H... there ain't much corn in OK tho


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