The classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma, will be hitting the Roger Williams stage the 19th to the 27th, so grab your cowboy hats and get ready to line dance!
For those of you who have not heard of Oklahoma before, it is a musical about a group of farmers in the mid-1900s, when Oklahoma was just a territory and not a state, and all the drama, romance and tragedy that comes their way. The main love story is that of Laurey and her longtime admirer Curly, with a secondary love story in the relationship between the precocious Ado Annie and the cowboy Will Parker.
But that’s the normal version of the musical, what adaptational changes can we expect from the excellent team down at the barn?
For one this production will be taking some cues from the 2019 broadway revival with its modern reimagining of the setting and plot. This includes cutting out some of the more questionable scenes, in order to help audiences better understand the story and feel more comfortable watching it. This cutting does lead to another positive however;
A shorter runtime! While Oklahoma traditionally has a longer runtime, 2 ½ hours plus intermission, the RWU version will be a much more palatable length. This is a major plus for anyone nervous about if they want to go or not as it is now a much shorter time commitment.
As some of you might remember there were flyers around campus a month ago asking for students who played instruments to be a part of this show. And it is thanks to those talented student volunteers that Oklahoma will feature a small live band onstage. Anyone who has been in the barn will know that it is quite small and the crew is hoping this will lead to a more immersive feeling and suck the audience right into the musical.
From what I’ve heard from the theater department, audiences can also expect tons of line dancing, some funny audience interaction and many more surprises. So grab your tickets before they run out and get ready to be transported to the amazing world of Oklahoma.
