A Note From The Director
A quick synopsis: OKLAHOMA! is set outside the town of Claremore, Oklahoma Territory in 1906, before Oklahoma became a state in 1907. The musical tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship with two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and farmhand Jud Fry. A subplot centers around the love triangle between sex-positive Ado Annie Carnes, cowboy Will Parker and the unscrupulous, traveling salesman (who claims he’s from Persia) Ali Hakim.
OKLAHOMA! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II who went on to create many popular Broadway musicals including THE SOUND OF MUSIC, CAROUSEL, SOUTH PACIFIC, and THE KING AND I.
Barlow’s production of OKLAHOMA!, inspired by the 2019 Broadway revival, is perhaps as you’ve never seen it before. Without changing the original lines or lyrics, it has been interesting to explore the text with a 21st century lens. This re-examining allowed us to reveal darker truths inherent within the core of the musical. It is a story about the nature of a community and how its members value themselves and those they consider to be outsiders. There is violence and tension and a statement on mental health. Who knew all of this could be found in a musical written in 1943, and what does that say about us as a society in 2022 in regards to how we deal with those who are different as well as our collective emotional, psychological, and social well-being?
There is prop gun use and firing sound effects in this production which have varying significance. Aunt Eller fires her gun to put a stop to potential violence. Jud fires his gun out of, perhaps, an uncontrollable impulse. Curly responds by using Jud’s gun to prove his own manliness and skill. Carnes uses his shotgun to mandate marriage. The gun in Curly’s hand, gifted to him by Jud himself in the final scene, is the catalyst that transforms the community.
This production serves to entertain as well as make you reflect.
~ Matthew Farina
