`Oklahoma!' homecoming
Tony-winning revival closes on Broadway; next stage is OKC By Brandy McDonnell Features Writer bmcdonnell@oklahoman.com
NEW YORK— Illuminated by the unusual lighting design, several audience members jolted as a gun went off toward the end of the second act of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!," leaving some of the actors spattered in stage blood.
After the reimagined Tony Award-winning revival of the classic musical takes its final bows Saturday and Sunday on Broadway, the proverbial stage will be set for its next iteration: A national tour that will launch in fall at Oklahoma City's Civic Center Music Hall.
"Oklahoma City to launch it was the dream," said producer Eva Price. "For me, there's nothing more rooting in 'Oklahoma!' than the state of Oklahoma. It's literally what it's about, it's where it takes place, it's what speaks to what happens in the show. So, it had been a pipe dream, and I had no idea how the presenters in Oklahoma would think about launching the tour. ... But when I invited them to come see it, they saw it and they loved it."
The 2020 tour will mark the first time a first-class Actors Equity professional production of “Oklahoma!” has toured North America in 40 years.
"The confidence that the producers of 'Oklahoma!' have in OKC Broadway, the Civic Center, and OKC patrons really speaks to what a premiere destination for Broadway that Oklahoma City has become," said Elizabeth Gray, general manager of local Broadway series presenter OKC Broadway.
Timely update
Patrons streaming into Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre last week passed under a giant reproduction of a quote from New York Times critic Ben Brantley, who pondered "How is it that the coolest new show on Broadway is a 1943 musical?"
One of the most influential musicals ever staged, "Oklahoma!" was an instant smash when it made its Broadway debut in 1943, earning a special Pulitzer Prize for its now-legendary creators Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Based on the play “Green Grow the Lilacs" by Claremore writer Lynn Riggs, the show revolutionized musical theater by integrating the songs, the dialogue and Agnes de Mille's choreography completely into the story line.
Set in Indian Territory just before statehood, the show centers on a love triangle between farm girl Laurey and her two suitors, cocky yet affable cowboy Curly and the solitary, troubled farmhand Jud Fry, with a secondary romantic tangle between Laurey's flirtatious friend Ado Annie, her cowboy beau Will Parker and peddler Ali Hakim.
But "Oklahoma!" has traditionally been remembered more for songs like "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" and the title theme than for the narrative.
"My affinity for ' Oklahoma!' only came about in recent history when I went to see this production. As a matter of fact, I'm a giant Rodgers & Hammerstein fan and my least favorite my whole life has been 'Oklahoma!' until this one," Price said in a phone interview.
"I liked the songs ... but I never understood what the play was really about and how I could connect to it."
Her feelings about "Oklahoma !" changed when she got a email in 2015 about director Daniel Fish's reimagined version playing a summer festival at Bard College in upstate New York.
"Daniel's vision for the show had within it these relevant, topical, current themes ," Price said ." I always marvel at how could guys in 1943 be writing about people in 1907 that directly speaks to 2019 ... like what it means to be a feminist right now, what it means to be an outsider right now, what frontier vigilante justice means."
Controversial revival
With Price as producer, the show played a sold-out run at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn in 2018. It transferred to Broadway in spring 2019. It earned eight Tony nominations, winning for best revival of a musical and best featured actress in a musical for dynamo Ali Stroker, who plays Ado Annie.
But the show has been controversial. Mary Testa, who plays Laurey's Aunt Eller, said in a talkback after the Jan. 9 performance that the cast is used to walkouts. But she pointed out that Fish's revival doesn't change the original script. Instead of focusing on big musical numbers, his version takes its time with the story and swaps the original score's brassy sound for a sevenpiece country band.
"It's dark. It's in the script. We just shined a little bit of a spotlight on it," Testa said.
Set in a kind of community dance hall, the show boasts an unusual stage design that features long tables with red slow cookers and seating for audience members. Price said the creative team has spent a year working on how transfer the immersive experience — which includes chili and cornbread served to the audience at intermission — to larger venues like the Civic Center.
Leading up to the September run as part of OKC Broaday's 2020-2021 season, Gray said she is being straightforward about the show.
"This version is dark, it's raw, it's sexy and it is so completely different. ... We took our entire executive board to New York to see it to make the decision to bring it. I know there's going to be a lot of people that are going to be upset by the revival version, and a lot of people that their eyes are just going to be opened," she said.
"I don't think people understand how big of a deal it is to be the testdrive city for it, because they have to come early to figure out what works and what doesn't work. So, our theater becomes the mold of what it turns into for the rest of the country. It's really an honor."