Oklahoma!

Friday night and we went sweeping down the plain to join the sell-out audience for the Norbury’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic Oklahoma!  Last performed at the Norbury in 1993 (amazing to think that was thirty years ago!), this revival was neatly timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the first performance of the show, back in March 1943.

Oklahoma! charts the romance between farm girl Laurey and cowboy Curly, which is complicated by the competing suit of the loner farmhand Jud Fry.  Alongside this runs the parallel romance of another cowboy, Will Parker and the flirtatious Ado Annie.  Things come to a head at the annual ‘box social’ dance, at which the two sets of lovers are finally united.  The happy ending of Laurey and Curly’s wedding is tempered, though, by the death of Jud at Curly’s hand, and the hasty actions of the locals to absolve Curly of wrongdoing.

Amanda Blockley and Paul Steele gave strong performances as Laurey and Curly, both showing off strong singing voices and good characterisation.  I particularly liked their awkwardness around each other in the early scenes, which was nicely acted.  They were believable as a couple, and got the show off to a very confident start with their performances of classic songs ‘Oh What a Beautiful Morning’ and ‘The Surrey with the Fringe on Top’.  As the third member of their love triangle, Chris Newbould invested the brooding Jud Fry with a wounded dignity, inviting the audience to empathise with him, particularly as Curly encouraged him to commit suicide in the frankly bizarre song ‘Pore Jud is Daid’.

Meanwhile, Tom Dalton and Hayley Gass took the opportunities for humour provided by the roles of Will Parker and Ado Annie with both hands.  Showing good comic timing alongside Alex Stallard as the awkward peddler Ali Hakim, their story provided plenty of laughs, and the performances did these famous characters justice.  Lisa Jones and Adrian Over also did well as the (relative) oldsters Aunt Eller and Andrew Carnes.  A word too for Abii Ward, who gave Gertie Cummings a horse-like guffaw that never failed to get a reciprocal laugh from the audience! 

The principals were very ably supported by a twenty-six strong ensemble who sang and danced their way through the show’s group numbers, providing great colour during the box social and wedding scenes in particular.  Their energetic performance of the title song, with great harmonies clearly presented, was a particular highlight.  ‘Many a New Day’ was also charmingly performed by Laurey and the girls, whilst ‘The Farmer and the Cowman’ launched us in to a very enjoyable hoedown. 

Director Jimmy Hill kept the story flowing – this is quite a long show (with a 100 minute first half!) and it was impressive to see the energy and momentum maintained throughout.  Musical Director Laurence Nicholas martialled the band – on display throughout at the rear of the stage, in true Norbury fashion – impeccably.  The lengthy dream ballet that concluded the first half was well executed by the whole cast – clearly telling the story of Laurey’s uncertainty, hopes and fears.  Well done to choreographer Emma Waters, and to the band, for whom this concluded a very long play and who didn’t miss a beat. 

The set was a fairly open affair, with a white fence separating the acting area from the band and a washing line to the rear which saw plenty of action in the first half.  I liked the setting of Jud’s rooms in the smokehouse - the addition of a couple of flats and some furniture was well combined with effective lighting to produce a nicely claustrophobic atmosphere.  Costumes were also very good and entirely suitable to the period, with the requisite amount of gingham on display, although perhaps a little more attention could have been paid to footwear.  Well done also to the sound team, who delivered the required gunshots right on cue! 

My thanks to all at the Norbury for inviting me to this show, and congratulations for delivering a very entertaining performance of this classic musical.  I’m already looking forward to my next visit, with Private Peaceful just around the corner!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.