Oklahoma!

‘Oklahoma!’ is based on the original 1931 play 'Green Grow the Lilacs’, this was the first musical by the now renowned duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. It's a typical love story with the twists and turns that makes a musical. To top off the show it concludes with a wedding of the main characters, along with a secondary sub written comical romance.

The show opened with the orchestra sounding very good. The quality of sound was carried throughout the show, with balance between music and vocals being well managed. The extra effort also that the musicians and musical director went to, dressing in checked shirts and cowboy hats was also noted and appreciated. 

The authentic accents had obviously been worked on and definitely added to the accuracy of the production. Although on the odd occasion some of the dialogue was hard to understand due to the accents being so strong. With this came some well considered characterisations, which helped the production seem more realistic and move along at a good pace. Principle singing was again to a fine standard with the classic songs oh ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Morning’ being a highlight.

The single static set was well constructed and looked good. It was well utilised as it enabled the show to be understood as differing locations could be easily identifiable. The double sided truck was used well with the house having a functioning window that worked well. The costuming was fitting for the show and looked good on the stage. 

There was quite a large cast which did make some of the full company scenes look overcrowded at times. Although the wall of sound that was created from the full chorus numbers was superb. The shows feature song ‘Oklahoma!’ was particularly memorable for the great vocals and energy of delivery. The truly mixed age ranges helped to create a real community feel to the production, with it being set in a village. Choreography was fitting for the production, with some traditional figures and movements that would be associated to such a show, being utilised throughout.

Lighting design was well thought out with the nice use of moving heads to highlight specifics. They were also used well to create certain moods in scenes, such as the blue used for The Smoke House. Sound balance was good, however there were a number of missed sound cues, which did result in spoken dialogue being missed. 

This is truly a traditional musical, which the company managed to create a real community theatre feel. For many watching the show would have enabled them to reminisce and remember the classic songs that this show has to offer. We would like to congratulate the company with what they managed to achieve and wish them well on their next adventure, which is ‘Whistle Down the Wind' in 2018.

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