Oklahoma

So many musicals have been written through the years, but very few get given the accolade of a ‘Timeless Classic’ like Oklahoma. It continues to  enchant audiences with its vibrant energy, memorable music, and heartfelt storytelling with the delivery of this done by the exceptionally competent Pickering Musical Society. This show paired spectacularly well with the lovely venue to bring you back into the nostalgic corner stone of American Theatre.

To go with the traditional style theatre the set and staging was minimal yet very effective. This was cleverly engineered so one main piece of set transformed at different points through the show to create three main backdrops. This allowed for plenty of room on stage for the cast to freely move, which made to whole show flow easily. The creative team not only made excellent use of space on the stage, they also cleverly included space in the aisles of the auditorium to start the show off which was a lovely starting element.

I always love hearing a live band as part of a show and this bands performance was flawless. This consisted of 2 Violinists (Marcus Bousfield & Sarah Bancroft), a flautist (Catherine Sign), a clarinettist (Julie Alder), Trumpeter (Richard Wood), Percussionist (Judy Day), a double bassist (Georgia Johnson), all led by the shows Musical Director Clive Wass on Keys. Every song was expertly played, and they worked so well with the cast so that timing and overall performances were excellent. As usual with this talented group, harmonies were excellent by both principal cast and the chorus.

The chorus were very animated throughout the show and developed a lovely sense of atmosphere and anticipation. The costumes were exceptionally well put together and fit with the traditional running of the show. The incorporation of the six dancers (Isobel Davison, Rosie Goode, Delilah Pearson, Amelia Dobson, Ruby Harland and Eleanor Rowntree) was seamless. These girls executed the routines with great professionalism and poise. Indeed, the dream sequence at the end of Act one was wonderful with different dance styles incorporated alongside members of the main cast.

All the main cast had a variety of strengths and attributes which showed how well this show was cast. Paula Paylor played the robust and resilient Aunt Eller to perfection. Every element of this actress’s delivery screamed Aunt Eller and in a variety of moments the audiences’ eyes were pulled towards her.  In combination with Aunt Eller the role of the overprotective father, Andrew Carnes, was played by Michael O’Brien who showed he was a father not to be crossed. I still can hear the memorable high-pitched giggle of Gertie Cummings played by Dannielle Long. Rick Switzer-Green who portrayed Ali Hakim was perfectly cast and portrayed the resigned exasperation this character portrays at different moments through the show with ease. John Brooks as Jud Fry was terrifyingly sinister and the audience at various points were almost looking for somewhere to hide. Marcus Burnside as Curly gave a lovely laid-back approach to the character and his articulation was superb, fully encompassing the leading man gravitas. Ado Anni played by the brilliantly talented  Courtney Brown was such an all-round fabulous actress that I’m sure she would have been a joy to direct. Her comedic timing coupled with her excellent vocals was simply breath taking. I have to admit one of my favourite characters Will Parker played by Stephen Temple, one could argue the Rogers and Hammerstein had written the part for him. The wonderfully talented Rachel Anderson rounded off this talented cast with her exceptional singing talent and wonderful delivery and mannerisms. She truly was a perfect Laurey.

I am so pleased to see some of the classics being done to such an exceptional standard and by a cast who with every smile, step and note oozed their enthusiasm. Whilst sitting in the audience I heard countless members of the audience waxing lyrical about the fabulous show. For a theatre of that size the creative team led by Luke Arnold worked well to make sure that space was optimised, cast was well set, and technical enhancements were handled professionally. A massive round of applause to  everyone involved and make sure you keep giving it a 110% for the rest of the shows run.

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