Oklahoma Youth Edition

Opening on Broadway in 1943 Oklahoma! the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II rang for 2212 performances. The show opened in the West End in 1947 to rave reviews. Set outside Claremore in Oklahoma Territory the musical is based on the 1931 play “Green Grow the Lilacs”. It tells the story of Laurey Williams and her two rival suitors. There is also a secondary romance between Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée Ado Annie.

As the overture started Curly McLain entered played by Abraham Collishaw, he commanded the stage from the beginning singing ‘Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’. This set the scene and what followed was nothing less than what would be expected from LEOS Youth Group, a show of high quality, great singing and good movement from the whole company.

Alongside Curly was Bella Syson playing the feisty Laurey Williams. Bella has a beautiful tone to her voice and her rendition of ‘Many a New Day’ and their duet of ‘People will Say We’re in Love’ was beautiful.

Aunt Eller played by Phoebe Mellor portrayed a wonderful character throughout the whole show and I particularly enjoyed the opening of Act 2 ‘The Farmer and the Cowman’.

Laurey’s other suitor – Jud Fry, was played by Frazer Brown, this misunderstood and alienated character came across well through Frazer’s acting.   

The second love match involved Findlay Parker who played Will Parker superbly, bringing life to the stage every time he entered. He sang and danced ‘Kansas City’ very well, a really enjoyable, lively number. Gracie Foster played Ado Annie and gave a great performance especially in ‘I Cain’t Say No!’ Their duet ‘All or Nuthing’ was also a delight to watch. Gabe Scott played Ali Hakim and the three of them worked well together. Gabe had some good comic timing especially during the scene involving the Persian goodbye! 

Other supporting roles were equally well cast, Ivan Hager as Andrew Carnes and a hilarious performance from Chloe Creswell as Gertie Cummings with just the right laugh required for this character!  

This show was a youth edition which is a shortened version from the original show. I would have loved to see this company perform the full version as I enjoyed their performances so much and wished some of the numbers had been a bit longer.

Congratulations to Siobhan Parker, Director and Claire Collishaw Assistant Director for the production of an excellent show providing all the company with their moment to shine.

The Choreography was created by Carol Lawson and was just right for the time period of the show. The chorus were well rehearsed and performed all the musical dance numbers with confidence.

The Musical Director was Giles Pettit and Assistant Musical Director Hannah Pettit, the show was accompanied by musical tracks, the harmony singing was very impressive and all the principals were strong in their delivery.

The set was very effective and scene changes were carried out well with no disruption to the flow and pace of the show. The costumes were bright and vibrant and added to the production. Lighting was bright and sunny and there were some dramatic changes in the ballet number. The sound was clear and the projections enhanced the show, I particularly enjoyed the moving projections during the opening.

Many congratulations to all involved, it was so great to see a youth group perform an old favourite. I look forward to what LEOS Youth Group have next in store for us with Aladdin Jr being performed in June later this year.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.