Oklahoma

Oklahoma has recently had a revival in the West End, and Brownhills brought it here to the Lichfield Garrick. It is set in Western Indian Territory just after the turn of the 20th Century, the spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the backdrop for the love story between Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a beautiful farm girl. The road to true love is anything but smooth, but there is no doubt that these two romantics will succeed in making a life together.

There is one thing, when you go to watch Brownhills Musical Theatre Company you are never disappointed. The show was once again very professional from start to finish, with the opening song echoing from the auditorium by Curly, played by Connor Brooks, to the finale of the show as the ensemble sang Oklahoma. This was Connor’s first role with Brownhills, he had a sure presence on stage and had a lovely tone to his voice, combining on numerous occasions with the soprano voice of Philippa Wooding who played Laurey Williams. Both were very easy on the ear and complemented each other very well. Another successful duo was the pairing of Adam Gregory as Will Parker with Emma Wyatt as Ado Annie, both were at ease with each other, extracting the humour from their roles. The accents were very believable, however, there were times when the accent affected the diction, making it difficult to understand what was being said. Sonia Cameron, as Aunt Eller, was very dominating and showed that her character was someone not to be messed with, local auctioneer Richard Winterton may have a rival!

Mention must be made of Greg Yates who played Ali Hakim, the pedlar man, captivating the audience with his trickery in ensuring that he did not marry Ado Annie! Jud Fry, played by Jonathan Blake, was truly menacing, his manner on stage led everyone to believe that he would stop at nothing to win the hand of Laurey. These characters were well supported by a well-disciplined ensemble, particularly impressive was the team of young men who performed dance routines without putting a foot wrong. Congratulations must go to Laura and Sian for their choreography, it was a spectacle and reflected the effort put in by everyone.

The musical numbers were well accompanied by an extremely competent orchestra under the direction of Alex Priestley, the balance was spot on. This brings me on to the technical side of the production, lighting and sound were very precise not detracting from the performance but enhancing it as it should do. All scene changes were smoothly executed, and it was nice to see different parts of a set to which is normally associated with Oklahoma. The direction was very precise and everyone knew exactly what Laura had intended within each scene.

Once again, Brownhills have come up trumps with this production and I look forward to enjoying the next show in November.

 

 

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