Over the course of its more than 80 year existence, Oklahoma! has entertained a heck of a lot of people. Along with launching the careers of Rodgers & Hammerstein, it created one of the most seminal works of the stage with one of the catchiest songbooks imaginable. Even for those who haven’t seen it, there’s a chance that they’re familiar with some part of it. Whether it’s the anthemic title song or the poetic dream ballet that leads into intermission, there’s a lot to appreciate about Oklahoma! that goes beyond its simple smalltown charm. With plenty of humor, it captures theater at its most entertaining, bringing forth memorable characters who want nothing more than to attend a dance and talk about their journeys abroad.
Because of its legacy, there’s a good chance that modern audiences may be turned off by its older approach to storytelling. The characters have an amorous quality, existing of mostly teenagers who sing winking numbers about dating in-between other eyebrow-raising revelations. It paints the appeal of smalltown life through numbers that paint working the farms as a noble tradition. The older generation, who serve just as much as surrogates as the commentators on common sense, sits on the sideline wondering what’s become of the youth. Overall, it’s a lot more risqué than younger audiences may expect, even if a lot of its plotting still feels more infantile.
Credit must be given to The Rose Center Theater for putting on a fantastic rendition of Oklahoma! Their performance brings everything to life with a sense of Midwest flair as the vibrant costumes compete for attention against the brightly colored sets and numbers with more corn than the backdrops. This is an earnest show that rarely has time for deeper thought on what drives characters. It means the humor is often broader than the side of a barn, but it works thanks to the quick pacing and constant jokes that tie in aspects of vaudevillian theater very well.
More than that, the cast and crew do a breathtaking job of bringing the choreography to life. When placed alongside the flamboyance, it paints a stimulating vision of the story. The ensembles twirls and stomps in time with an amusing efficiency in between the momentous harmonies that drive home just how well these songs work as crowd favorites. Still, nowhere is the show better than in the dream ballet which adds an interpretive touch to the show by telling a hallucinatory story through action. The comedy transitions into horror as the dancers reflect the power of movement. It’s most effective without words, finding the strings carrying the fear that stops the audience in suspense of what’s to come.
If there’s any criticisms, it’s less with the production and more the show itself. After a jampacked Act I, the latter half feels rushed. The lack of powerhouse songs is partially to blame, though it does just fine by shifting attention more towards character drama that may not have the most left field of revelations but brings enough crowd-pleasing to make up for it.
Thankfully, the show knows how to do an ending and with that leaves everybody’s heart racing. While the plotting may be a bit confounding, there’s no denying that the titular song still jolts with life from the very opening notes. The performance is nothing but smiles by this point and makes the accompanied curtain call easy to clap along to. It’s the perfect reminder that for anything that may seem off about Oklahoma!, the music is not to blame. It may be silly and at times reliant on cliché dialects, but they work at transporting audiences to a simpler, more carefree world where the boy gets the girl and evil suffers.
While it can be argued that better shows have come in the more than 80 years since Oklahoma! first broke records, it remains one of the most essential pieces of theater. There is a need to revisit it and introduce new audiences to the material every chance possible in hopes of not only appreciating Rodgers & Hammerstein, but seeing how fer the medium has gone in a near century. Thankfully, The Rose Center Theater’s work more than makes a great case for why it remains an all-time charmer that will likely never go away. It makes for an entertaining night and one that will be hard to forget while leaving the theater.
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