Oklahoma!

From the very opening of this production through to the final curtain you felt the enthusiasm of the company coming over the footlights.   At the start  Aunt Eller (Judith Barron) set the dreamy smooth pace that you might expect this followed by the entrance of Curly  (Eddie McDowell) got the evening of to a flying start. As the rest of the principal characters joined the action the mood and style of the evening was set.  The comedy of Ali Hakim (Kevin Reed)  and his foil for the evening Ado Annie gave us some hilarious laughs.  Will Parker (Alan Gow)  added to the humour especially with hi s rendering of Kansas City. With the moodiness and darkness of the performance of Jud Fry the hot and coldness of the characters was well played.  The bareness of the setting help the audience to feel the vastness of the Oklahoma territory.  The ballet at the end of act one was well choreographed and the dancing was excellent. The company sung and performed well throughout the evening. Special mention must be made of the style of the auction in Act two as it flew by whereas on some occassions it tends to drag.  Great detail had been made to the costuming by Kate Dixon with some colorful ensembles for both men and women.  Great thanks must be given  to Kevin Reed for stepping into the part at approximately two weeks notice after Peter Tomassi, who was originaly playing the part tokk ill.  The pace of the show sometimes dragged but this is due to the dialogue and has always been a long show. Congratulations to everybody on a good evenings entertainment.

PS  Best Wishes to Laurie, Jud, Andre Carns, and all the rest of the characters for some interesting performances.

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