Over the past decade we have seen musicals that had reputations for big productions be re-examined through the prism of something more intimate and less splashy. The end result has been the ability to peel away layers of shows like Sweeney Todd and Company to discover qualities that made those revivals seem like entirely new shows. Joining that group is Daniel Fish’s new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! just opened to rave reviews at Circle in the Square Theatre in New York after a run at St. Ann’s Warehouse. If you know that theatre you are already asking yourself, “How the hell did they put that musical on there?Isn’t this a big musical that also includes Agnes DeMille’s famous ballet sequence?” It’s a shoebox shaped space with the ability to put the audience all around the action.
What Fish and his talented ensemble do here is make us, the audience, feel as if we are part of the community where this story takes place. House lights are on for most of the performance, seating is available right on the stage and at intermission we’re invited to taste the chili that has been cooking in crock pots on tables all around the stage. And that famous ballet has been reinvented.
For the uninitiated, Lauren Williams (Rebecca Naomi Jones) is the object of affection by two men, Curly McLain (Damon Daunno) and Jud Fry (Patrick Vaill.) She’s smitten with Curly (but won’t let on immediately) and she’s afraid of Jud. Will Parker (James Davis) is in love with Ado Annie (Ali Stroker), but she’s hot and heavy with Ali Hakim (Will Brill.) It seems as though only Aunt Eller (Mary Testa) can see what’s going on with all these couples.
Oklahoma! features songs you’ve heard for years: “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “People Will Say We’re in Love,” the title song and “Surrey with the Fringe on Top.”
This is not your parents’ production of Oklahoma! Ado Annie is in a wheelchair (as is Stroker), the casting is color-blind and the ballet is performed by a single dancer (Gabrielle Hamilton) with choreography by John Heginbotham. The orchestrations and arrangements of the music by Daniel Kluger utilize a small ensemble that befits this setting of the story.
When Tony Award nominations are announced, look for this production to be figuring very prominently. Oklahoma! has been extended to run through January 19th. For tickets go here.
Main image: Damon Daunno in Oklahoma! All images by Little Fang/Courtesy of DKC/O&M
Update: This post has been updated to include the extension of the run through January 19, 2020.
2nd Update: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! was nominated for 8 Tony Awards
3rd Update: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! won 2 Tony Awards – Best Revival of a Musical and Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Ali Stroker
