It’s hard to imagine a cheesier musical theatre premise – boy loves girl, girl secretly loves boy, but ends up going to a box social with the bad guy, who ultimately loses girl to boy to end up being killed by his own knife when he picks a fight with boy. The thing is, it works. Not for every musical with the same similar premise, but definitely for Oklahoma!, which opened recently at the Stratford Festival.
Oklahoma! (the exclamation mark is actually part of its title) opened on Broadway in 1943, and was the first of many fruitful collaborations between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Perhaps you have heard of shows like The Sound Of Music, The King & I, and South Pacific? If you have, you can understand the important role that these two theatre icons played in the development of musical theatre. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Betty Garde, Joan Roberts and Celeste Holm, and was directed by Rouben Maoulian and choreographed by the legendary Agnes De Mille.
The story is simple: Curly loves Laurey, but is too stubborn to ask her directly to the upcoming box social, and by the time he summons up the courage to finally ask her, Jud Fry, one of the hired hands on her farm, has secured her as his date. Meanwhile, Ado Annie is being relentlessly pursued by Will Parker and a peddler, Ali Hakim. Ultimately, love wins out, and Curly and Laurey end up married, and Ado Annie chooses Parker over Hakim. They all live happily ever after – that is, everyone but Jud Fry, who ends up dead after a confrontation with Curly. Two hours and forty-five minutes of lovey-dovey romance and frivolity, so much so that it’s hard to imagine how this show has lasted as long as it has. It offers no real insight into the changing landscape of Oklahoma, or does it delve into any of the characters in a way to allow the audience to feel anything for them, despite how hard the director and performers work to get the audience on board with the story. What you’re left with is a pretty, yet empty shell of a show that leaves you saying “that was nice” rather than evoke tears or any other emotion by the end. Having said all that, this production does everything it can to get you to have a good time and enjoy yourself for an afternoon at the theatre. Even though there are no earth shattering moments per say, you still leave feeling like you’ve spent your money wisely.
The performances all around are top notch, including Dan Chameroy as Curly and Blythe Wilson as Laurey. Both soar to new heights with their performances, achieving a level that hasn’t been seen from them in a while. Nora McLellan, taking the Stratford stage for the first time after a long and successful career at the Shaw Festival, steals scenes (but in a good way) as Aunt Eller, the matriarch of the farm. Her comedic timing is spot on, and while she doesn’t belt out any tunes, she has a way of grabbing your attention whenever she is on the stage. Kyle Blair has some fine moments as Will Parker, as does Lindsay Thomas as Ado Annie. David Keeley shines once again as Jud Fry, and for the first time, you see how tormented his character truly is. Only wanting love and acceptance, Keeley takes us on a journey into the soul of Fry and we feel for him – as much as we can with as little material as the authors have given us – to the point where we almost want him to win over Curly, and have him and Laurey ride off into the sunset.
Donna Feore directed and choreographed the production, pulling double duty again, as she did with last year’s production of Oliver!. She uses the limited space at the Festival Theatre well, especially during the elaborate dance sequences. One highlight in particular is the complicated "Dream Ballet" that concludes the first act. The number is usually done with dance doubles for Curly, Laurey and Jud, but in this production, Feore decided to use Chameroy, Wilson and Keeley in the intricate number. The dance is lengthy and each of these performers was used according to their skill and dance ability. Feore should be applauded for making such a bold choice. While the dance is rather superfluous these days and was added into the original production at the request of the choreographer Agnes De Mille, the performers in the Stratford production should be recognized for their effort. I say that it’s superfluous due to the fact that it measures almost 15 minutes in length, and really doesn’t move the story along at all. Laurey has smelled a potion that Ali Hakim sold to her, and enters into a dream like state that shows her a glimpse of what she thinks might be her future. In my humble opinion, she could have been wrestling with such an idea by singing a shorter, more poignant song, rather than having the cast around her dance for such a length. That beef doesn’t necessarily reflect the Stratford production, but with the original creators and Agnes De Mille herself.
The great thing about Oklahoma! is that you can enjoy it just as it is – simple, with memorable tunes that you’ve heard a million times before, and you leave the theatre smiling, which is a nice change these days. It allows you to escape to a different time when cowboys sang songs about how beautiful the mornings were, how some girls just can’t say no, and when the state of Oklahoma had an exclamation mark at the end of its name.
OKLAHOMA!
Presented by the Stratford Festival of Canada
Now until November 4th, 2007
*** (out of five)
For ticket and show information, click here.
Mike Mackenzie - Mike Mackenzie is an actor, writer, director and theatre producer. Recently, he performed in Man Of La Mancha at the Heritage Theatre in ...
