Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Bentley Operatic Society

Capstone Theatre

26/6/24

Unbelievably It’s seventy years since Oklahoma the Rogers & Hammerstein classic first took to the Broadway stage. With its gorgeous, downbeat opening of ‘Oh What a Beautiful Morning’, sung by cowboy Curly to the butter-churning Aunt Eller. The musical has rarely been off the stage ever since, when Bentley Operatic brought it to the stage at the Capstone Theatre Liverpool last night, there was still a thrill as the opening number begins.

There is a real sense of innocent fun to the playful interchange between Elliott Tutt as laid-back Curly and Jan Monkley as sleepy Aunt Eller: the wise old feisty matriarch. Curly arrives on stage singing the immediately recognisable ‘Oh what a beautiful Morning’ to welcoming hoots & holla’s from an enthusiastic Capstone audience. What a magnificent voice Elliot has, very easy to listen to. Sarah Carroll as Laurey joins Curly on stage to grow the number into a duet, we know these two are made for each other, reinforced by the ensuing performances of ‘The Surrey with the Fringe on Top’, then there is absolutely no doubt about it in ‘People Will Say We Are in Love’. The only issue is they both will not admit it and bicker constantly, culminating in Laurey accepting an invitation to the much-anticipated Box Ball with the reclusive menacing farmhand Jud Fry played by Aaron Barker. Curly in defiance invites Laureys friend Gertie Cummings, Annaliese Crook to the go with him much to Laureys dismay. The two men both desire Laurey’s love, fuelling tension between them. The Smokehouse scene with Curly and Jud has Curly’s ruthlessly mocking song ‘Pore Jud is Daid’ followed by Jud’s poignant, isolating song ‘Lonely Room’, exposing the darker side of this classic story, excellent performance from two very talented actors

Where there is darkness there is light in Bentleys case, the comic romantic antics of sprightly Ado Annie wonderfully played by Kizzy Leigh. Openly admitting her love of flirting with men Ado Annie, the girl who’ Can’t Say No’. The Capstone audience loved Kizzy, she has stage presence in spades, a fine comic performance. Ado’s beau the dim but dutiful cowboy Will Parker, Chris Griffiths-Smith was a joy to watch. Just back from Kansas with $50 in his pocket, just enough cash to make Ado Annie’s gun-toting dad, Andrew, Steve Riordan grant her hand in marriage. Being the girl who can’t say no, Abo also has a dalliance with the travelling peddler Ali Hakim, the very talented Omar Hussein.  The camaraderie between these actors is excellent, a highlight for me. However, Ali does not reciprocate Abo Annies feelings, he flees later to return with Gertie who he has reluctantly married, to attend the wedding of Curly and Laurey.

As we all know it is not always about the principal characters. Every musical production need expertise, we have the chorus, dance numbers ensemble pieces to perform. Bentley has such talent in depth. The ensemble numbers are worked well into the plot, with the tricky Act II mass fight sequences that underpin ‘The Farmer and the Cowman’ particularly well thought through and choreographed. The death of Jud Fry was excellently executed, well done to all concerned. Thank you, Farmers & Cowmen, thank you Wives, Aunts and Gals and thank you Dancers, you are all amazing.  Every single member of this production put their heart and sole into their performance, they were all enjoying every single moment, as was I.

Jim Craig put together an exceptional cast for this show, the actors bringing out some telling and tender moments, the relationships between the characters well portrayed. When it comes to choreography, the long, some say overlong dream sequence that closes Act 1 is very demanding. Choreographer Emily Brunton’s chosen dancer Aubrie Rosenkoetter becomes Laurey. Aubrie was a delight as she explores Laurey’s romantic dilemmas, mixed up with Jud’s own fantasies Excellent performance. Without an orchestra pit, the excellent orchestra under the superb direction of Wendy Tucker were strategically placed on either side of the stage in the boxes above our heads overlooking the auditorium. Very clever indeed.  The cast was truly remarkable, the orchestrations were exceptional, lighting and sound spot on, the production design was sparse yet worked perfectly.

 Oklahoma! first opened in New York City on March 31, 1943, at the St. James Theatre where it would be performed 2,212 times before ending its run. The song “Oklahoma!” from the musical became the official state song of Oklahoma in 1953.

The song Oklahoma itself finished the evening, with full cast sing their hearts out, I think with a good number of audience participation. What a splendid evening of musical theatre this was. Congratulations, Bentley.

Joanne Rymer

NODA

District 4

 

 

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