Oklahoma!

Musicals have been a long-standing way audiences have been able to escape into another world in, perhaps, a different time with a multitude of interesting characters. I was invited by a friend to see a musical revival of Rogers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" today and after seeing it I was impressed by the production on many levels.

 

Most people have undoubtedly seen a production of this play somewhere along the way since it has been around since 1943 and Hollywood produced a version in 1955. It's a story that involves the tension between farmers and ranchers and how they dealt with every day life. Set in 1906 in the Oklahoma Territory, this story centers on a myriad of characters, including Curley McLain (Tanner Vidos), Laurie Williams (Lindsay Jolliff), Jud Fry (Bryce Ayers), Aunt Eller Murphy (Joanne Kissinger), Ado Annie Carnes (Rachael Hodge), Will Parker (Timothy Cabal), Judge Andrew Carnes (John McCoy) and Ali Hakim (Samuel Hayden Sproul), and how their lives intertwine into each other--whether for the best or not. Between feelings of the young couples and the difficulty they have with each other to the difficult time people of that era had in co-existing, especially this being a new territory of our country, this musical is a testimony to the endurance of a land at its origins and how its people were able to cope.

 

Others to round out the cast are Sawyer Henderson as Gertie Cummings, Maxwell Dannenberg as Ike Skidmore, Don Naegele as Cord Elam, Alex Smith as Tom, Zachary Ryan Elliott as Joe, Lucas Goodman as Mike, Josef Emmenegger as Fred and Alex Tanner as Slim.

 

As aforementioned, this production excelled on many levels between its choreography, direction, lighting and acting. It was cleverly directed by Tracy Williams. She has quite the gift of being able to extract just the right emotion out of her actors that transcend above a lot of local theater I have seen. This is certainly not her first rodeo and it shows in this production. Kudos to her! The next 'star' of this has got to be the choreographer, Dave Massey. The original choreographer was Agnes de Mille, but Massey's work on this play was every bit as consummate as de Mille's. The synchrony of the dance numbers were executed with precision and the actors were able to make it look effortless. The lighting by Justin Smiley in conjunction with Andrew Layton's set design melded so well, one could only imagine being sent back to 1906 Oklahoma. And what can I say about the cast? Certainly Tanner Vidos' Curley along with Lindsay Jolliff's Laurie was simply amazing. Their chemistry and soul in their respective roles was a delight. The comic reliefs in Timothy Cabal's Will, Rachael Hodge's Ado Annie and Samuel Hayden Sproul's Ali Hakim practically stole the show. Certainly the seasoned pro here is Joanne Kissinger's Aunt Eller. she was the rock of this performance as she is with all her work. The entire cast was amazing. In fact the friend that invited me to this play, Anjelid Menses was involved in that her daughter Annabella Rojas played the Skidmore daughter, and although this was a small role, she has promise to continue in this field for sure. This is the last performance, so there aren't any future shows, but I just had to write this up, because of the polished production that it was. And since I review so many films, it is a pleasure to, not only see a theater production, but to review one as well.

 

Between Williams amazing direction to Massey's stunning choreography, this production had it all. And all with a Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II music and lyrics, how could this play fail? This was a gem for all to see.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 4                        Rated: NR                           2:35 (w/intermission)