| Oklahoma! | |
|---|---|
 Original Broadway poster (1943) | |
| Music | Richard Rodgers |
| Lyrics | Oscar Hammerstein II |
| Book | Oscar Hammerstein II |
| Basis | Green Grow the Lilacs byLynn Riggs |
| Productions |
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| Awards |
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Oklahoma! is the firstmusical written by the duo ofRodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based onLynn Riggs's 1931 play,Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town ofClaremore,Indian 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 originalBroadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and anOscar-winning 1955film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions.[1] Rodgers and Hammerstein won aspecial Pulitzer Prize forOklahoma! in 1944.
This musical, building on the innovations of the earlierShow Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play in which the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than amusement.[2] In addition,Oklahoma! features musical themes, ormotifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story.[3][page needed][4] 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 creatingBroadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, withLorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes asBabes in Arms (1937),The Boys from Syracuse (1938) andPal Joey (1940).[5] Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words forRose-Marie (1924),The Desert Song (1926),The New Moon (1927) andShow Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing anAcademy Award for his song withJerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 filmLady Be Good.[6] 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.[7]
In 1931, theTheatre Guild producedLynn Riggs'sGreen Grow the Lilacs, a play about settlers inOklahomaIndian Territory. Though the play was not successful, ten years later in 1941,Theresa Helburn, one of the Guild's producers, saw asummer-stock production supplemented with traditionalfolk songs andsquare dances and decided the play could be the basis of a musical that might revive the struggling Guild. She contactedRichard Rodgers andLorenz Hart, whose first successfulcollaboration,The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Theatre Guild in 1925. Rodgers wanted to work on the project and obtained the rights for himself and Hart. Rodgers had askedOscar Hammerstein II to collaborate with him and Hart. During the tryouts of Rodgers and Hart'sBy Jupiter in 1941, Hammerstein had assured Rodgers that if Hart was ever unable to work, he would be willing to take his place.[8] Coincidentally in 1942, Hammerstein had thought of musicalizingGreen Grow the Lilacs, but when he had approachedJerome Kern about it, the latter declined. Hammerstein learned that Rodgers was seeking someone to write the book, and he eagerly took the opportunity. Hart lost interest in the musical; he preferred contemporary, urbane shows that would showcase his witty lyric writing, and he found the farmers and cowhands inGreen Grow the Lilacs corny and uninspiring. Moreover, spiraling downward, consumed by his longstanding alcoholism, Hart no longer felt like writing. He embarked on a vacation to Mexico, advising Rodgers that Hammerstein would be a good choice of a new collaborator.[9][10]
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 composersRudolf 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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[11]
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. ThoughTheresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggestedShirley Temple as Laurey andGroucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with directorRouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step.[8] The production was choreographed byAgnes de Mille (her first time choreographing a musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act ballet finale (often referred to as thedream ballet) depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly.[11]
The first title given to the work wasAway We Go! which opened for out-of-town-tryouts inNew Haven'sShubert Theatre on March 11, 1943.[12] Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. ProducerMike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No girls, no gags, no chance."[13] But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven andBoston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the dramatic restaging of the show-stoppingmusical number, "Oklahoma" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.[14][15]
Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won aspecial Pulitzer Prize.[16]Brooks Atkinson wrote inThe New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable."[10] TheNew York Post was the only major paper to giveOklahoma! a mixed review. Its critic felt that while the songs were pleasant enough, they sounded much alike.[17] The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre.[10]
In Oklahoma Territory, in 1906, cowboy Curly McLain looks forward to a beautiful day as he visits farm girl Laurey Williams's yard ("Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'"). He and Laurey tease each other, while her Aunt Eller looks on. There will be abox social dance that night, which includes an auction of lunch baskets prepared by the local women to raise funds for a schoolhouse. Each man who wins a basket will eat lunch with the lady who prepared it. Curly asks Laurey to go with him, but she refuses, feeling that he has waited too long. To persuade her, he says he will take her in the finest carriage money can buy ("The Surrey with the Fringe on Top"), but she teases him about it until he says he made it up to get back at her. She flounces off, not realizing that he really has rented such asurrey.
The lonely, disturbed farmhand Jud Fry has become obsessed with Laurey and asks her to the dance. She accepts to spite Curly, although she is afraid of Jud. Meanwhile, cowboy Will Parker returns from a trip to modernKansas City, and shows off his souvenirs ("Kansas City"). He won $50 ($1,700 today) at the fair, which, according to his girlfriend Ado Annie's father, Andrew Carnes, is the amount he needs to marry Ado Annie. Unfortunately, he spent all the money on gifts for her and one for her father: a Little Wonder (a metal tube used for looking at pictures, but with a hidden blade inside). He is unaware of its deadly secret. Later, Ado Annie confesses to Laurey that while Will was away, she has spent a lot of time with Ali Hakim, aPersian peddler. Laurey says she'll have to choose between them, but Ado Annie insists she loves them both ("I Cain't Say No"). Laurey and her friends prepare for the social, while Gertie Cummings flirts with Curly. Laurey notices and tells her friends that she doesn't really care about Curly ("Many a New Day").
Andrew Carnes sees Annie with Ali Hakim; he forces Hakim at gunpoint to agree to marry her. Hakim and the other men lament the unfairness of the situation ("It's a Scandal! It's a Outrage!"). Curly discovers that Laurey is going to the box social with Jud and tries to convince her to go with him instead. Afraid to tell Jud she won't go with him, Laurey protests that she does not love Curly ("People Will Say We're in Love"). Hurt by her refusal, Curly goes to the smokehouse where Jud lives to talk with him. Curly jokingly suggests that since Jud does not feel appreciated, he could hang himself, and everyone would realize how much they care about him ("Pore Jud Is Daid"). Their talk turns into an ominous confrontation about Laurey. After Curly leaves, Jud's resolve to win Laurey becomes even stronger, and he vows to make her his bride ("Lonely Room").
Confused by her feelings for Curly and her fear of Jud, Laurey purchases a "magic potion" (laudanum) from Ali Hakim, which the unscrupulous peddler guarantees will reveal her true love. She muses on leaving her dreams of love behind and joining the man she loves ("Out of My Dreams"). Soon asleep under the influence of the opiate, in an extended ballet sequence, Laurey first dreams of marriage with Curly. Her dream takes a nightmarish turn when Jud appears and kills Curly; she cannot escape him, confused by her desires ("Dream Ballet"). Awakening, she realizes that Curly is the right man for her, but it is too late to change her mind about going to the dance with Jud, who arrives, and they leave for the box social.
At the social, during asquare dance ("The Farmer and the Cowman"), therivalry between the local farmers and cowboys over fences and water rights leads to fighting, which Aunt Eller ends by firing a gun to silence everyone.[18] Laurey is upset when she sees Curly at the dance with Gertie. To rid himself of Ado Annie, Ali Hakim buys Will's souvenirs from Kansas City for $50. Jud also contributes to this by purchasing Will's Little Wonder, knowing of the blade concealed within it. The auction starts and Will bids $50 on Ado Annie's basket, not realizing that without the $50, he would not have the money to pay her father. Desperate to be rid of Ado Annie, the peddler bids $51 to get the basket so that Will can approach Andrew Carnes with the $50 and claim Ado Annie as his bride. The auction becomes much more serious when Laurey's basket comes up for auction. Jud has saved all his money so he can win Laurey's basket. Various men bid, trying to protect Laurey, but Jud outbids them all. Curly and Jud engage in a ferocious bidding war, and Curly sells his saddle, his horse, and even his gun to raise money. Curly outbids Jud and wins the basket. Jud discreetly tries to kill Curly with the Little Wonder, but his plan is foiled when Aunt Eller (knowing what is happening) loudly asks Curly for a dance. Later that night, Will and Annie work out their differences, as she reluctantly agrees not to flirt with other men ("All Er Nuthin'").
Jud confronts Laurey about his feelings for her. When she admits that she does not return them, he threatens her. She then fires him as her farmhand, demanding that he get off her property. Jud furiously threatens Laurey before he departs; she bursts into tears and calls for Curly. She tells him that she has fired Jud and is frightened by what Jud might do now. Curly reassures her and proposes to her, and she accepts ("People Will Say We're In Love" (reprise)). He realizes that he must now become a farmer. Ali Hakim decides to leave the territory and bids Ado Annie goodbye, telling her Will is the man she should marry.
Three weeks later, Laurey and Curly are married as everyone celebrates the territory's impending statehood ("Oklahoma"). Ali Hakim returns with Gertie, whom he has recently married after beingthreatened by her father with a shotgun. A drunken Jud reappears, kisses Laurey and punches Curly, and they begin a fistfight. Jud attacks Curly with a knife, and Curly dodges, causing Jud to fall on his own knife. Jud soon dies. The wedding guests hold a makeshift trial for Curly, at Aunt Eller's urging. The judge, Andrew Carnes, declares the verdict: "not guilty!" Curly and Laurey depart on their honeymoon in the surrey with the fringe on top ("Finale Ultimo").
Sources shown in Productions section except as stated here.
° denotes original Broadway cast
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The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943, at theSt. James Theatre in New York City. It was directed byRouben Mamoulian, choreographed byAgnes de Mille and starredAlfred 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) andGeorge 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 byBambi Linn. George Church danced the part of "Dream Jud".[26][21] Church was replaced byVladimir Kostenko.[citation needed] The production's scenic designer wasLemuel Ayers.[27]
The production ran for 2,212 performances, finally closing on May 29, 1948.[28] "The demand for tickets was unprecedented as the show became more popular in the months that followed" the opening.[26]Oklahoma! ran for over five years, a Broadway record that "would not be bested untilMy Fair Lady (1956)."[26] TheTony Awards and other awards now given for achievement in musical theatre were not in existence in 1943, and therefore the original production ofOklahoma! received no theatrical awards.[29]
The first of several national tours began inNew Haven, Connecticut, in 1943. A 1953 article inThe New York Times reported that the show was "believed to be the only musical to have enjoyed a consecutive run of ten years. It ran on Broadway for five years and two months, grossing $7,000,000. The tour of the national company, which started late in 1943, has grossed $15,000,000."[30] These tours reached 250 cities.[31]Harry Stockwell was Curly.[32]John Raitt played Curly in Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee, before joining the Broadway cast.[33] TheUnited Service Organizations sponsored a tour to U.S. military bases in 1945 that lasted for several years.[34][35]The New York Times reported in 1953:
The tenth anniversary of the Broadway opening ofOklahoma! will be celebrated in Washington, where the Theatre Guild's touring company of the phenomenal musical will be playing at that time. ... According to a Guild estimate, "upwards of 20,000,000 people thus far have seen the show in the United States, England, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa, Australia and through [the U.S.O. shows] during the war".[36]
Oklahoma! was the first of a post-war wave of Broadway musicals to reach London'sWest End. It starredHoward Keel (then known as Harold Keel) andBetty Jane Watson, opening at theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane on April 30, 1947, to rave press reviews and sellout houses, running for 1,543 performances.[37][38] A pre-London run opened a day late at theManchester Opera House on April 18, 1947, after the ship carrying the cast, scenery, and costumes ran aground on a sandbank offSouthampton.[39]
An Australian production opened atHis Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on February 19, 1949.Gemze de Lappe choreographed and played Dream Laurey.[40] It transferred to theTheatre Royal, Adelaide, on September 17, 1949,[41] theTheatre Royal, Sydney, on November 29, 1949,[42] andHis Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, on November 29, 1950.[43]
A 1951 revival produced by the Theatre Guild opened atThe Broadway Theatre on May 9, 1951, and ran for 100 performances.Ridge Bond played Curly, Patricia Northrop played Laurey, Henry Clarke was Jud, and Jacqueline Sundt played Ado Annie. Mamoulian and de Mille returned to direct and choreograph, and the production was restaged by Jerome Whyte.[44] In 1953, a 10th anniversary revival opened on August 31 at theNew York City Center Theatre. It ran for a limited engagement of 40 performances before going on tour. The cast includedFlorence Henderson as Laurey,Ridge Bond as Curly andBarbara Cook as Annie.[23] Mamoulian and De Mille directed and choreographed.[45][46]
A 1979 revival opened at thePalace Theatre on Broadway on December 13, 1979, and closed on August 24, 1980, running for 293 performances and nine previews. William Hammerstein (Oscar's son) directed, and Gemze de Lappe recreated Agnes De Mille's choreography. The show starredLaurence Guittard as Curly,Christine Andreas as Laurey,Mary Wickes as Aunt Eller,Christine Ebersole as Ado Annie,Martin Vidnovic as Jud Fry,Harry Groener as Will Parker andBruce Adler as Ali Hakim.[47][48] Andreas and Groener both receivedTony Award nominations for their performances, and Vidnovic won aDrama Desk Award. This production started as a cross-country national tour, beginning at thePantages Theatre in Los Angeles on May 1, 1979.[49]
The following year,James Hammerstein directed a production at theHaymarket Theatre, Leicester, in January 1980, produced byCameron Mackintosh andEmile Litler.[50] The De Mille choreography was again adapted by de Lappe. A UK tour followed, and it eventually settled in the West End, opening at thePalace Theatre, London, on September 17, 1980, and running until September 19, 1981.[51] This production starredJohn Diedrich as Curly andAlfred Molina as Jud Fry, both of whom were nominated forOlivier Awards.[52] Rosamund Shelley played Laurey,Madge Ryan was Aunt Eller andLinal Haft was Ali Hakim.[50][53] The production wasMaria Friedman's debut in the West End, initially in the chorus role of Doris, but she was eventually promoted to the leading role.[54] Sets and costumes were designed byTim Goodchild.[50] Ray Cook was Musical Director andJohn Owen Edwards Conductor (Owen Edwards became Musical Director for Mackintosh's 1998 London revival). A cast recording of this production was issued by JAY Records and on theShowtime! label.[55]
John Diedrich reprised his role as Curly for the national 1982–1983 tour of his native Australia. Again presented by Cameron Mackintosh, the tour was produced by theAdelaide Festival Centre Trust,Edgley International and The MLC Theatre Royal Company. It opened at the Adelaide Festival Theatre on April 30, 1982,[56] transferred to theTheatre Royal, Sydney on June 5, 1982,[57] then toHer Majestys Theatre, Melbourne on November 8, 1982,[58] and concluded atHer Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane in April 1983. The cast includedHenri Szeps as Ali Hakim andNeil Melville in an ensemble role. Direction was again by William Hammerstein, the De Mille choreography again adapted by de Lappe, with sets and costumes again by Tim Goodchild. This was the musical theatre debut forCaroline O'Connor as an ensemble player and swing/understudy.[59]
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A dark-themed production of the musical was presented by theNational Theatre in London at theOlivier Theatre, opening on July 15, 1998. The production team includedTrevor Nunn (director),Susan Stroman (choreographer) andWilliam David Brohn (orchestrator). The international cast includedHugh Jackman as Curly,Josefina Gabrielle as Laurey,Maureen Lipman as Aunt Eller,Shuler Hensley as Jud Fry, Vicki Simon as Ado Annie, andPeter Polycarpou as Ali Hakim.[20][60] Musical director John Owen Edwards, Brohn and dance arranger David Krane adaptedRobert Russell Bennett's original orchestrations and extended some of the dance sequences. A new Dream Ballet was composed forSusan Stroman's new choreography, and the dances to "Kansas City", "Many a New Day" and "The Farmer and the Cowman" were all redesigned. The overture was also altered, at the request of Nunn.[citation needed] Jackman and Gabrielle performed the ballet themselves.[citation needed]
The production received nineOlivier Award nominations, winning for Outstanding Musical Production, supporting actor (Hensley), set design (Anthony Ward) and choreography (Stroman).[61] According to the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, the limited engagement was a sell-out and broke all previous box office records,[62] and so the show was transferred to theLyceum Theatre in the West End for a six-month run.[60] Plans to transfer to Broadway with the London cast were thwarted byActors' Equity, which insisted that American actors must be cast.[63][64] Eventually a U.S. cast was selected.[65] The production was filmed live and issued on DVD, as well as being broadcast on USpublic television in November 2003.[66] The live recording was given alimited theatrical re-release on July 16 and 19, 2023, celebrating its 25th anniversary and the musical's 80th anniversary.[67]
The London production was repeated on Broadway at theGershwin Theatre on March 21, 2002, with direction by Nunn. The production closed on February 23, 2003, after 388 performances. Only two of the London cast, Josefina Gabrielle as Laurey and Shuler Hensley as Jud, were in the production, which also featuredPatrick Wilson as Curly,Andrea Martin as Aunt Eller,Jessica Boevers as Ado Annie andAasif Mandvi as Ali Hakim. It was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (which was awarded to Hensley). The musical was also nominated for nine Drama Desk Awards, with Hensley winning as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and Susan Stroman winning for choreography.[68]
Ben Brantley wrote inThe New York Times: "At its best, which is usually when it's dancing, this resurrection of Rodgers and Hammerstein's epochal show is dewy with an adolescent lustiness, both carnal and naive, exuberant and confused." The review stated that "Anthony Ward's harmoniously curved set, in which the sky seems to stretch into eternity, again pulses with the promise of a land on the verge of transformation."[69] TheNew York Daily News review commented that "Visually, this one is stunning – at times, Anthony Ward's sets have a pastoral, idyllic quality, like Thomas Hart Benton's paintings. At other times, especially in lighting designer David Hersey's lustrous palette, they convey the bleakness of the frontier." The review also stated that the Royal National Theatre "brought it back to us in a way that makes it seem fresh and vital."[70] However,USA Today gave the production a tepid assessment, its reviewer writing: "A cold breeze blows through this beautiful mornin', and that golden haze is never quite bright enough."[71] The production went on to tour nationally from 2003 to 2005.[72]
Following a 2015 workshop atBard College and a 2018 run atBrooklyn'sSt. Ann's Warehouse, a 75th anniversary staging ofOklahoma! transferred to Broadway atCircle in the Square Theatre. The production was directed byDaniel Fish in an intimate, immersive in-the-round style, set in a community hall, with chili and cornbread served to the audience at intermission. The production's most important tonal change involved the character of Jud Fry. Instead of the sinister brooding and threatening Jud of the original production, in the revival he was described byElisabeth Vincentelli inThe New Yorker as "a proto-incel",[73] and his death came not as an accident but as an intended act at the hands of Curly, followed by a sham trial to clear Curly of the blame.[74]
The production began preview performances on March 19, 2019, and officially opened on April 7 for a limited run through January 19, 2020. It starredDamon Daunno as Curly,Rebecca Naomi Jones as Laurey,Ali Stroker as Ado Annie,James Davis as Will Parker,Will Brill as Ali Hakim, Patrick Vaill as Jud andMary Testa as Aunt Eller.[75] The production featured choreography by John Heginbotham and music arrangements byDaniel Kluger, performed by a seven-piece band.[76] The production was nominated for eightTony Awards and wonBest Revival of a Musical andBest Featured Actress in a Musical for Stroker, making her the first wheelchair user to win a Tony.[77][78]
For the 2021–2022 national tour, Fish rethought the presentation, which remained expressionistic but substituted aproscenium back-drop, which "renders the original authorial intents far more in balance with the radical ideas of the production", allowing the cast to play their parts with a contemporary naturalism, according toChicago Tribune criticChris Jones. The cast includedSasha Hutchings as Laurey,Sean Grandillo as Curly andBarbara Walsh as Aunt Eller.[79][80]
In May 2022, the production reopened at theYoung Vic in London for a seven-week limited run, starringArthur Darvill as Curly and Anoushka Lucas as Laurey, withMarisha Wallace as Ado Annie,Liza Sadovy as Aunt Eller, and James Davis and Patrick Vaill reprising their roles as Will Parker and Jud, respectively.[81] The production transferred to the West End'sWyndham's Theatre in February 2023.[82] It received positive reviews[83] and won the 2023Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.[84]
Oklahoma! was presented nightly except Sundays each summer at the Discoveryland amphitheater, an outdoor theatre inSand Springs, Oklahoma, from 1977 until 2011.[85][86] In 1993,Mary Rodgers (daughter of Richard Rodgers) and William Hammerstein (son of Oscar Hammerstein II) designated Discoveryland the "National Home of Rodgers and Hammerstein'sOklahoma!"[86]
In 2006,Oklahoma! was performed in Japan by the all-femaleTakarazuka Revue. This revival starred Yuu Todoroki, Ai Shirosaki, and Hiromu Kiriya.[87]
In the summer of 2009, British directorJohn Doyle directed the musical at theChichester Festival Theatre. The production was dark in concept and featured new orchestrations byJonathan Tunick. On a spare stage, decorated only with blue sheets, "Confetti of rose petals stains the floor like drops of blood, and a nightmarish dream-dance sequence has Freudian overtones as Laurey's bridal gown becomes her shroud."[88][89] It received mixed reviews.The Times reviewer wrote: "This is a very stylised, overdrilled production, no friend of intimate moments or quiet depth of emotion."[90]The Guardian liked it the most, stating that "it's a delight, with one brilliant tippy-tappy-toed song after another and a nugget of darkness lodged in its sweet heart."[88]Whats On Stage, like most of the papers, gave the show three out of five stars and wrote that this is a "downbeat vision" and that "all told it's a somewhat disappointing show", but their "average reader rating" was four stars.[91] A review inThe Telegraph commented, "Doyle uses shadow and silhouette to bring out the musical's nightmarish aspects but doesn't over-labour them. There are enough sunny spots – no more so than in Act 2's rousing title song – to keep the tone evenly textured."[89]
The show toured England for nine months in 2010 in a new staging byJulian Woolford, withMarti Webb as Aunt Eller andMark Evans as Curly.[92]
Oklahoma! opened in October 2010 at theArena Stage to critical acclaim.[93][94] Artistic Director Molly Smith cast African-American actresses as Laurey and Aunt Eller to mirror both modern Washington, D.C., demographics and the diverse population of the musical's 1906 Oklahoma territory setting.[95] The production received ten 2011Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning as Outstanding Resident Musical (tying with Shakespeare Theatre'sCandide) and for choreography (Parker Esse), lead actor (Nicholas Rodriguez as Curly) and musical direction (George Fulginiti-Shakar).[96] The production returned to the Arena Stage for a second run in 2011.[97]
The5th Avenue Theatre's 2012 production, directed by Peter Rothstein, included African-American dancers and an African-American actor as Jud.[98] The choice was intended, as in the Arena Stage production, to reflect the historical presence of African Americans in the Oklahoma territory, but it "has some audience members squirming in their seats ... they're seeing on stage one of the ugliest stereotypes in our history: an imposing black man ravaging a petite white woman [and] the white hero ... all but urges Jud to hang himself – and even pantomimes the act. Some see a clear reference to lynching."[99][100] The "Dream Ballet" had a sinister, sexual tone and ended with Jud dragging Laurey away to be raped. One critic noted the historical "license taken when an African-American farmhand is allowed to escort a white woman to the box dance. ... Maybe some people ... left with not so much a song in their head, but a question in their heart. And isn't that part of what theater is supposed to do?"[99] Another wrote: "Rothstein'sOklahoma! is now the story of a crazy, sex obsessed black man ... lusting violently after his white mistress, who ends up murdered at the hands of a white man, who gets off scot free after a mock trial."[98]
A UK tour ran from February to August 2015, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and starring Ashley Day as Curly,Charlotte Wakefield as Laurey,Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller andGary Wilmot as Ali Hakim.[101]
The 1955 film adaptation starredGordon MacRae,Shirley Jones (in her film debut),[102]Rod Steiger,Charlotte Greenwood,Gloria Grahame,Gene Nelson,James Whitmore andEddie Albert. It was the only musical film directed byFred Zinnemann,[103] andAgnes de Mille choreographed. It was the first feature film photographed in theTodd-AO70 mmwidescreen process.[104][105]
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations, such as interpolating new songs by others. The film followed the stage version more closely than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation, although it divided the long first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs. For example, "Kansas City" is performed at the train station, where Aunt Eller and other cowboys meet Will Parker just after he returns from Kansas City. Lyrics in the song about aburlesque stripteaser were slightly changed to passfilm censorship.[103] In a nod toGreen Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of the musical, Jud attempts revenge on Curly and Laurey by burning a haystack they stand on, before Curly jumps down, landing on Jud and causing him to fall on his own knife. The film omits only "It's a Scandal, It's a Outrage" and "Lonely Room".[104] The film wonAcademy Awards forBest Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture andBest Sound, Recording.[106]
Bing Crosby andFrank Sinatra both recorded versions of "People Will Say We're In Love" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in 1943.[107] Due to the1942–1944 musicians' strike, however, these recordings featured no instrumental accompaniment and instead "were lugubriously weighed down bya cappella backup."[108] Producers ofOklahoma! lamented the lack of high-quality official recordings, withTheresa Helburn writing to a colleague in August 1943: "There are no records ofOklahoma! that we can send you. As you know, thePetrillo ban on the union musicians still holds. They cannot play for broadcasting so the only record that has been made is a singing of "People Will Say We're in Love" with Frank Sinatra, which if it sounds anything like his radio singing of the same must be terrible."[107]Decca Records presidentJack Kapp settled with the union in September 1943, and three weeks later he hastily booked the original cast and orchestra ofOklahoma! into a recording studio.[108]
At a time when Broadway numbers were typically recorded by popular singers with smaller bands, it was unique forOklahoma! to record its original cast with full orchestration.[109] Although some tunes were not included due to time and cost constraints, most of the songs fromOklahoma! were released on a record album byDecca Records in 1943 containing six 10-inch double-sided discs in 78 RPM format. It sold more than one million copies, prompting the label to call the cast back into the studio to record three additional selections that had been left out of the first set. These were issued asOklahoma! Volume Two. In 1949, Decca re-released the first set on LP but not the second set, which soon became a very rare collector's item. All subsequent LP releases were similarly incomplete. Finally in 2000, Decca Broadway went back to the original glass masters to generate a new high fidelity transfer of the complete song program and released it on CD, utilizing the original 78 album artwork.[110]
The success of the originalOklahoma! cast album set a precedent for the production oforiginal cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which became an essential part of a musical's dissemination and endurance in popular culture.[111] Later cast recordings ofOklahoma! include the 1979 Broadway cast recording, the 1980 London cast recording, the 1998 Royal National Theatre cast recording, the 2019 Broadway cast recording, and asoundtrack album of the1955 film. There have also been more than 20 studio cast recordings of the show, featuring stars such asNelson Eddy,John Raitt andFlorence Henderson in the leading roles.[112]
The original production ofOklahoma! was an unprecedented critical and commercial success. John Anderson of theNew York Journal American pronounced the musical "a beautiful and delightful show, fresh and imaginative, as enchanting to the eye as Richard Rodgers's music is to the ear. It has, at a rough estimate, practically everything".[44] In theNew York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote, "Songs, dances, and a story have been triumphantly blended. ... The Richard Rodgers score is one of his best, and that is saying plenty. Oscar Hammerstein 2nd has written a dramatically imaginative libretto and a string of catchy lyrics; Agnes de Mille has worked small miracles in devising original dances to fit the story and the tunes, while Rouben Mamoulian has directed an excellent company with great taste and craftsmanship."[44] Louis Kronenberger ofPM opined that "Mr. Hammerstein's lyrics have less crispness and wit than Lorenz Hart's at their best, but the songs inOklahoma! call for less sophisticated words, and Mr. Hammerstein has found very likeable ones."[44]
In theNew York Daily News,Burns Mantle declared that "Oklahoma! really is different – beautifully different. With the songs that Richard Rodgers has fitted to a collection of unusually atmospheric and intelligible lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd,Oklahoma! seems to me to be the most thoroughly and attractively American musical comedy sinceEdna Ferber'sShow Boat".[44]New York World-Telegram criticBurton Rascoe particularly emphasized the groundbreaking choreography, stating that "Richard Rodgers has written for the show one of the finest musical scores any musical play ever had. Next to Mr. Rodgers, however, must stand the amazing Agnes de Mille, whose choreography, carried out to perfection by her ballet [corps], is actually the biggest hit of the show. The "Out of My Dreams" and "All Er Nuthin'" dances are such supreme aesthetic delights. ... They are spinetingling, out of this world."[44] InThe New York Sun,Ward Morehouse commented that "Oklahoma! is charming and leisurely. And tunely. And certainly not topical," as other shows had been in the early years of World War II. "It reveals Mr. Rodgers, shorn only for the moment of Larry Hart, in good form indeed. And nobody in last night's audience seemed to have a better time than Mr. Hart himself, who applauded the proceedings from a seat in Row B."[44] Lorenz Hart himself "pushed his way through the crowd at the after-show party inSardi's restaurant and threw his arms around his ex-partner, grinning from ear to ear. He told Rodgers he had never had a better evening at the theater in his life."[8]
The only negative review of the musical appeared in theNew York Post: The critic wrote that "it all seemed just a trifle too cute", stating that the score consisted of "a flock of Mr. Rodgers's songs that are pleasant enough, but still manage to sound quite a bit alike ... without much variety in the presentation." She concluded that the show was "very picturesque in a studied fashion, reminding us that life on a farm is apt to become a little tiresome."[44]
According to playwright and theatre writer Thomas Hischak, "Not only isOklahoma! the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. ... It is the first fully integrated musical play and its blending of song, character, plot and even dance would serve as the model for Broadway shows for decades."[113] William Zinsser observed thatOklahoma! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot.[114] The show "became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship toOklahoma!"[115]Oklahoma! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form. ... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own".[116]
Theater historianEthan Mordden points out that, althoughOklahoma! has been called "the first integrated musical, the first American folk musical",Show Boat "got there first on both counts."[117] Even earlier, thePrincess Theatre musicals, followingGilbert and Sullivan and Frenchopéra bouffe, began the reintegration of song and story after decades of thinly plotted British and American musicals, paving the way forShow Boat andOklahoma! by showing that a musical could combine popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs.[118] These Princess Theatre shows, which featured modern American settings, "built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters.Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization."[119][120] Mordden also notes thatOklahoma! was called the first great dance musical, but other musicals had earlier focused on dance, among themGay Divorce andOn Your Toes. He concludes: "ButOklahoma! was the first American musical with an ethnic sound, words and music entirely in the folk idiom."[117]
Critic Andrea Most argues that the musical reflected its author's and composer's Jewish heritage and desires for Jewish Americans. Most asserts that the musical was written at a time when America presented Jews with an opportunity to gain privileged status by assimilating into mainstream American culture and passing as white Americans. Most claims that although there were rarely any identifiably Jewish characters in plays of this time period, characters such as Ali and Jud allowed for subtle Jewish representation, Ali embodying an accepted and friendly ideal for Jewish-Americans and Jud embodying Jewish-Americans' fear of becoming a marginalized minority like black Americans.[121]
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Pulitzer Prize[122] | Pulitzer Prize Special Awards and Citations | Richard Rodgers andOscar Hammerstein II | Won |
| 1947 | Theatre World Award | Dorothea Macfarland | Won | |
| 1993 | Tony Award | Special Tony Award (50th anniversary) | Won | |
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Christine Andreas | Nominated |
| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical | Harry Groener | Nominated | ||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Martin Vidnovic | Nominated | |
| Harry Groener | Nominated | |||
| Theatre World Award | Won | |||
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Laurence Olivier Award | Actor of the Year in a Musical | John Diedrich | Nominated |
| Most Promising Newcomer of the Year in Theatre | Alfred Molina | Nominated |
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Critics' Circle Theatre Award | Best Musical | Won | |
| 1999 | Laurence Olivier Award | Outstanding Musical Production | Won | |
| Best Actor in a Musical | Hugh Jackman | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress in a Musical | Josefina Gabrielle | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Performance in a Musical | Jimmy Johnston | Nominated | ||
| Shuler Hensley | Won | |||
| Best Director | Trevor Nunn | Nominated | ||
| Best Theatre Choreographer | Susan Stroman | Won | ||
| Best Set Designer | Anthony Ward | Won | ||
| Best Lighting Designer | David Hersey | Nominated | ||
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Tony Award | Best Revival of a Musical | Nominated | |
| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical | Patrick Wilson | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical | Shuler Hensley | Won | ||
| Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical | Andrea Martin | Nominated | ||
| Best Direction of a Musical | Trevor Nunn | Nominated | ||
| Best Choreography | Susan Stroman | Nominated | ||
| Best Lighting Design | David Hersey | Nominated | ||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Patrick Wilson | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Shuler Hensley | Won | ||
| Justin Bohon | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Andrea Martin | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Director of a Musical | Trevor Nunn | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Choreography | Susan Stroman | Won | ||
| Outstanding Set Design | Anthony Ward | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Lighting Design | David Hersey | Nominated | ||
| Theatre World Award | Justin Bohon | Won | ||
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Musical Revival | Won | |
| Best Actor in a Musical | Arthur Darvill | Won | ||
| Best Actress in a Musical | Anoushka Lucas | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical | Liza Sadovy | Nominated | ||
| Marisha Wallace | Nominated | |||
| Best Sound Design | Drew Levy | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Score or New Orchestrations | Daniel Kluger | Nominated | ||
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Oklahoma! has frequently been quoted or parodied in films, television and other media. The following list includes some of the more noteworthy references.
Films
Television
Other media
