Oklahoma

Oklahoma is my absolute favorite musical of all time. Oklahoma was the first musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The idea came from a 1931 play by Lynn Riggs called Green Grow the Lilacs. The musical debuted on Broadway on March 31, 1943. It was an instant success. It ran straight for 2,212 performances.

Rodgers and Hammerstein were the creators of Oklahoma. Rodgers composed the music and Hammerstein wrote the lyrics. They created many productions in the 1940's and 1950's. These include The King and I, The Sound of Music, Carousel, State Fair, South Pacific, Cinderella, and Flower Drum Song. After doing some searching, I found that Rodgers and Hammerstein changed the theatre world. They added the aspect of music and dance to shows. Their music was used to continue telling the story of the plot and of the characters. Unlike productions before them, music was just used as a diversion from the story. It made me see that without Rodgers and Hammerstein that musicals may not exist or in a different manor. They brought the idea of musicals to the stage and have had an impact on theatre up to now. Some plays use only music to tell the story and use the dialogue as fillers. If a musical by them had never been wrote, productions may still use music as a diversion. We have them to thank for the wonderful music in productions we see today.

There are two stories that occur within Oklahoma. The first is between cowboy Curly McLain and farm girl Laurie Williams. The second is between Ado Annie Carnes and Will Parker. The stories take place in a town called Claremore in 1906 in the Oklahoma territory. Laurie's romance lies between the characters Jud Fry, a farm hand, and Curly. Ado Annie's romance lies between Will Parker and Ali Hakim, a Persian peddler. The entire play goes through telling of the girls struggles of which guy to pick. There is a box social that night and both get stuck in a bind of who to go with. Each girl takes a lunch basket to be auctioned off to raise money for the schoolhouse. Which ever man bids the highest gets that basket and eats lunch with the girl who prepared it. In the end, both girls end up with the guy that they wanted.

One reason that I absolutely love this musical is because it is a good production. The concept of the story is great and the music is wonderful. The dancing dream scene in production was the first of its kind. No musicals had a scene where only music and dancing occured. Many musicals still do not offer that. The music and lyrics are very well composed. Not only is the story told through the dialogue but also through the music. This was one of the first musicals to still portray the story of the plot and characters through music. The music was not used as a diverion while scenes were changed, people walked on and off stage, or other things going on stage. The music is also very catchy. It makes you want to sing and hum after you are done watching it. No other musical takes place out in the west during the time of cowboys and farmers like this does either. That is also very intriguing to see the lives of how those people lived in the early 1900's. They were real life cowboys and farmers!

Another reason I like this musical is because of the story of love. Both girls are dealing with a love triangle. I think that most girls can say that they have been in a love triangle. It may have been the girl likes a guy but his friend likes her. Or it could be that the girl likes a guy, but he likes another girl. We have definitely all been caught in that one at some point in our lives. Watching the story progress makes you think how you would deal with the situation. Yes both girls are in love triangles, but I viewed them as opposites. Annie had Will Parker, but because he was in Kansas City she started to fall for the Persian peddler. Laurie had Curly and Jud both vying for her and she was unsure of which one to pick. I think we have all been in similar situations. Depending on the point you are in your life, it's up to you to pick which story to relate to as you watch the show.