Oklahoma

First produced in New York in 1943, opened in London 1947 it is hard to believe that this evergreen musical is 69 years old.

A lively and entertaining show from the Warblers, the society brought together a strong cast. Kelly Britton did well in the role of ‘Laurey’, she alternated well between the femininity and feistiness of Laurey, her songs came over well just a little sharp on some top notes, she was well partnered by Chris Isherwood whose singing was as always excellent. ‘Will Parker’ was in the safe hands of Gavin Wells, who danced and acted well. He was a good foil for Mandie Doherty who I thought was great in the part of ‘Ado Annie’.

‘Sinister Judd’, John Haydock was superb he extracted every ounce out of his character and the smoke house duet between Curly and Judd was very effective. Bob Bailey worked very hard as ‘Ali Hakim’, but he didn’t always appear at home in the part. Sally Featon gave a quality performance as the sympathetic but forceful ‘Aunt Eller’ and Zoe Dainty was a very confident and giggling ‘Gertie’. The dream ballet was very imaginative. All the smaller parts made a good contribution to an enjoyable performance of this evergreen musical and it was good to see so many young members in the chorus and also the children were good. But please make sure when you are standing in the wings waiting to make your entrance, remember if you can see the audience, they can see you – I could.

Costumes and sets were good, I also enjoyed the orchestra it was very well balanced. After the finale, there was a proposal of marriage from someone on the balcony to leading lady Kelly – I wonder if she said yes?

A good evening’s entertainment. Thank you.

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