OKLAHOMA! Sounds Great at ISU's Center for the Performing Arts

After seeing Rodgers' and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, it's tempting to spell it Ooooooooooklahoma. And now that's stuck in your head, isn't it?

That's the thing with Rodgers' and Hammerstein's first collaboration as composer and lyricist. The songs are incredibly catchy. Whether it's "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," the one about the girl who "Cain't Say No," or the title song that celebrates OK becoming a state, they all stick with you. They're hummable, mummable melodies with bright, snappy little lyrics you can't forget even if you want to. Hammerstein's lyrics push the story forward, while Rodgers' music pushes Hammersein's book and characters along, with "Beautiful Morning" soaring to the skies, "Surrey" clip-clopping like a horse, and "Oklahoma!" running away like, oh, wind sweepin' down the plain. The score defines the world of Oklahoma! It may not be anything like the real Oklahoma in 1906, but it certainly works for this fictional state of mind.

Oklahoma! was a huge hit when it opened on Broadway in 1943 -- it played for over five years and some 2212 performances -- with Agnes De Mille's square-dance-meets-ballet choreography a major piece of its success. If Oklahoma! marked the first time Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the libretto for Richard Rodgers' music, it was also Agnes De Mille's first time choreographing a book musical on Broadway.

The story goes that De Mille insisted on "real" dancers -- from dance companies -- for her inaugural Oklahoma! instead of the usual Broadway chorus boys and girls. For Illinois State University's production, director Richard Corley and choreographer Greg Merriman use their ensemble of singers and actors along with just a few dancers, which means the choreography strays considerably from Agnes De Mille territory. Still, this production's Dream Laurey, Caroline Pilcher, is lovely.

But it's clear that the voices are the strength of this Oklahoma! The players in the main romantic triangle -- Rob Holden as Curly, Ross Kugman as bad guy Jud, and Christie Duffer as Laurey, the girl they both want -- all sing beautifully. Holden sounds terrific on "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" and he and Duffer combine perfectly when they sing out the love song "People Will Say."

Kugman not only has the deep, dark tones to make Jud's songs work, but he's a good actor, too. His Jud is more weasel than thug, which may seem different for Oklahoma! purists, but it certainly works within the confines of the ISU production.

John Ramseyer and Lauren Pfieffer also sound great as the secondary couple, aw-shucks cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious girlfriend Ado Annie, and Nico Tangorra takes the acting honors on the night with his version of peddler Ali Hakim, another of Ado Annie's admirers. Although the original Ali Hakim, a veteran of Yiddish theater named Joseph Buloff, looked a bit like Chico Marx in the role, Tangorra has Groucho's cigar mixed with Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat. Oddly enough, that turns him into a mini Ernie Kovacs, which is a very interesting take on Ali Hakim. Kovackian or not, Tangorra navigates the comedy, as well as Hakim's trunk full of trinkets, like a champ.

Scenic designer Thad Hallstein provides a handsome barn to frame the action, with lots of worn wood and a few hanging quilts -- and real-live, on-stage surrey! -- while costume designer Amy Cain adds an impressive array of boots, hats and dresses in subdued tones from maroon to pale yellow, with a pop of color in a bright orange jacket for Ado Annie. 

ISU's Center for the Performing Arts was packed on opening night, so you would be well advised to get your tickets now. Performances of Oklahoma! continue through February 27.

OKLAHOMA!
Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs
Original dances by Agnes De Mille

The School of Theatre and Dance at Illinois State University
Center for the Performing Arts

Director: Richard Corley
Music Director/Conductor: Glenn Bock
Scenic Designer: Thad Hallstein
Costume Designer: Amy Cain
ighting Designer: Mark Maruschak
Sound Designer: Shannon O'Neill
Hair and Makeup Designer: Shelby Brand
Choreographer: Greg Merriman
Fight Director: Paul Dennhardt
Chorus Master: Dennis Gotkowski
Vocal Coach: Justin Vickers
Stage Manager: Thomas P. Moster

Cast: Rob Holden, Christie Duffer, Lauren Sheffey, John Ramseyer, Lauren Pfeiffer, Nico Tangorra, Ross Kugman, Haley Camire, Thomas Bailey, Scott Guererro, Mitchell Schaeflein, Gabriela Rivera, Monica Hamilton, Theresa Moen, Christina Duris, Eric Trumpet, Kelsey Bunner, Kyle Ayers, Nick Spindler, Nick Lindmark, Josh Gouskos, Jeff Wright, Kevin Alleman, Samantha Barnewolt, Caroline Pilcher, Tess Losada, Emily Kuether, Brooke Kirschsieper.

Remaining Performances: February 23 and 27 and March 2 at 7:30 pm; February 24 at 2 pm

Running time: 3:05, including one 15-minute intermission

For ticket information, click here.

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For my own amusement, I have added a picture of the Oklahoma! trifecta I reviewed in the early 90s. I think there was actually one more, but I don't have a program for that one. Oklahoma! remains the one show I asked my editor not to assign me because of the four I saw and reviewed in such quick succession.

Opening This Week: JB, OK and SONS

I'm trying to find a through-line to describe the three shows that open this weekend on area stages -- Archibald MacLeish's J.B., the good old Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! and Stephen Karam's Sons of the Prophet -- but those are some pretty disparate shows.

Although Oklahoma! was written and performed first among the three, it's J.B. that looks back the farthest for its literary material. Stick an O between that J and B, and you'll see where MacLeish's play comes from. And that would be the Book of Job in the Bible. You will probably remember Job as a very put-upon guy, one whose faith is tested by God in a sort of celestial bet with Satan, whereby Satan takes away Job's children, his wealth and his physical health to see if he can get Job to turn his back on God.

Job is mightily tested, but he remains strong in his faith. So that's your happily ever after. I don't find it all that happy myself or a terribly good reason to have faith, but... I am guessing I am not the intended audience. I may be closer to MacLeish's intended audience, however, since his version of Job, which sets the action inside a circus tent, has a somewhat different ending.

Archibald MacLeish's J.B. opens on February 21 at ISU's Westhoff Theatre. And, yes, it will be circusey. Matthew Scott Campbell directs this production, with Tommy Malouf as Job, and Andrew Rogalny, Jr. and Matthew Hallahan as the competing forces of good and evil.

Sons of the Prophet, a new play by up-and-comer Stephen Karam, also opens on the 21st. This one is directed by Gary Ambler for Urbana's Station Theatre, with Joel Higgins and David Mor as the sons in the title. Their prophet is not anyone Biblical, however, but instead Kahlil Gibran, who wrote the famous book of poetry called The Prophet. Family legend says that Joseph and Charlie Douaihy are indirectly related to Gibran, and that fact is Joseph's toe in the door to get a book of his own published. But hard luck follows the Douaihy family, not unlike what happens to Job up there. As Karam examines "how people endure the unendurable" through the tragedy and joy in one Lebanese-American family, Sons of the Prophet finds the humor and compassion in humanity.

And then there's Oklahoma! Based on a 1931 play called Green Grow the Lilacs, written by Lynn Riggs, Oklahoma! is a musical exploration of cowboys and farmers, American expansion west, romance down on the farm, girls who cain't say no, all boosted by the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein score and the exuberant choreography of Agnes de Mille. The poster for ISU's production, which is directed by Richard Corley, looks like he's bringing in some jump, jive and wail to pull the show forward from its 1906 setting to something that more approximates the time period of the original Broadway production, which premiered in 1943. Those definitely look like jitterbuggers over there on top of the state. On the other hand, the cowboy seems to riding a John Deere and I don't know that riding lawn mowers were hanging around in 1943. But it would certainly seem to indicate that this will be a more modern Oklahoma! than most.

Whether it's extra jazzy or original recipe Oklahoma!, the show will open February 22 at the Illinois State University Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets or more information, check out the event's Facebook page here.

Got a Fever for Live Performance in February?

 I know it's hard to get used to the fact that it's 2013, but not only are we in a new year, we're now finished with January and dipping our toes in February. No, I'm not ready for Feb. But I'm trying to pretend I am, anyway!

Community Players' production of the operatically inclined farce Lend Me a Tenor finishes up its run this weekend. You have three performances left -- 7:30 pm tonight and tomorrow night or 2:30 pm on Sunday -- with tickets available here.

Red Devils, Debbie Horsfield's play about female football fans in Manchester, England, takes the stage inside the Melba J. Kirkpatrick Lab Theatre at IWU on February 4, 5 and 6, with all performances at 8 pm. Visiting Assistant Professor Christopher Connelly directs this gritty take on "working-class characters festering from a life on the dole, a life where soccer is the only activity to stir the imagination." That quote is from an LA Times review of the play from 1993.

Eureka College's production of Myth and Bricks, a one-act by Dustin Robert Blakeman, starts February 5, with performances through the 7th. Eureka College senior Jarrod Barth directs and stars in this look at a man, a brick and the relationship between the two.

In Bloomington, New Route Theatre opens Katori Hall's The Mountaintop on February 8, with Gregory D. Hicks starring as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Fania Bourn as the hotel maid he meets on the last day of his life, in a production directed by New Route Artistic Director Don Shandrow. The Mountaintop runs from February 8 to 24 at the theatre tucked inside the YWCA of McLean County. You can reserve tickets by emailing new.route.theatre@gmail.com or you can purchase them at the door on the night of performance. For more information, click here for the Facebook event page for The Mountaintop.

Grammy-Award winning a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock sings in celebration of the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana on February 9. This all-female vocal group shares "the legacy of African American music through jazz, hip hop, the blues, spirituals, rap, reggae, and gospel hymns." For the complete schedule of events devoted to that sesquicentennial celebration at the University of Illinois, click here.

Although Donald Margulies' Tony-nominated play Time Stands Still looks at love, marriage and commitment, it really isn't what you'd call romantic. Instead, photojournalist Sarah is wondering whether a safe, secure life with her longtime partner James can possibly mean as much as the time she's spent recording war and strife in the world's hot spots. Love? Career? Safety? Danger? Connection? Detachment? Which of these is the most important? Sandra Zielinski directs Time Stands Still for Heartland Theatre, with Cristen Susong as Sarah and David Krostal as James, in performance beginning February 14. Click here for ticket information and here for performance dates and times.

Illinois State University's spring theatre season begins February 21 with J.B., the allegorical verse play by Archibald MacLeish that tells the Biblical story of Job, but set in a circus. Yes, that's right. Job under the Big Top, with a balloon vendor and a popcorn guy standing in for God and the Devil. MFA director Matthew Scott Campbell is at the helm of this ISU production of J.B., with a cast that includes Tommy Malouf in the Job role, Andrew Rogalny, Jr., as the godly balloon man, and Matt Hallahan as the evil popcorn seller. J.B. runs through March 2 in ISU's Westhoff Theatre. Click here for event details.

As the battle between good and evil rages inside Westhoff, ISU's Center for the Performing Arts will host Oklahoma!, the Rodgers and Hammerstein cowboys vs. farmers musical with corn as high as an elephant's eye, a surrey with fringe on top, a girl who cain't say no, and all the attendant box lunches, square dances and souvenirs from Kansas City. Will Oklahoma become a state right before your eyes? Is there any doubt? For ISU, Richard Corley directs Christie Duffer and Robbie Holden as Laurey and Curley, the couple who might just be in love, in this Oklahoma! The show opens February 22 and closes March 2. To see a list of performance dates and ticket information, click here.
Oklahoma? OK!

Over in Urbana, the Station Theatre warms up with Stephen Karam's provocative Sons of the Prophet from February 21 to March 9. The play, which explores a hard-luck family who may be descended from Kahlil GIbran, author of The Prophet, was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. Longtime Celebration Company member Gary Ambler will direct Sons of the Prophet in the Station's cozy confines.

Liz (left) and Ann Hampton Callaway

On the 22nd, the University of Illinois' Krannert Center for the Performing Arts hosts sisters Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway and Boom!, their musical revue for Baby Boomers and everyone else who enjoys the song stylings of Carole King, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles and Joni Mitchell. Click here for more information.

Illinois Wesleyan is offering a little Shakespeare to brighten your February days, with As You Like It, the romantic comedy set in the Forest of Arden, playing February 26-28 and March 1-3 at McPherson Theatre. Assistant Professor Thomas Quinn directs.

And closing out the month, the Opera Program Series from U of I's School of Music presents a semi-staged concert version of My Fair Lady, featuring all the music and the dialogue from the Lerner and Loewe musical. You can see this concert, featuring the work of Eduardo Diazmunoz, Artistic Director and Conductor (as well as chair of the Opera program at U of I), director Ricardo Herrera, and choreographer Rebecca Nettl-Fiol on February 28 and March 1, 2 and 3. For more information about this My Fair Lady, click here.

Casting Announced for OKLAHOMA at ISU

With auditions for next semester's productions still on-going, Illinois State University's Department of Theatre and Dance has finished casting for its version of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!  ISU's production of Oklahoma! will brings all its cowboys and farmers to the Center for the Performing Arts in performances from February 22 to March 2, 2013.

Richard Corley, who directed last semester's Anon(ymous), takes the reins of Oklahoma! with Robbie Holden as Curly, the cowboy with the lovely locks who likes to sing about the bright golden haze on the meadow and those fetching surreys with the fringe on top. Laurey, the object of Curly's affections, will be played by Christie Duffer, while Lauren Sheffey will portray Laurey's Aunt Eller, and Ross Kugman will take on bad guy Judd Fry.

In terms of the subplot/second love triangle, Lauren Pfeiffer, who appeared in Mother Courage earlier this year and the Electra that went to Chicago, will play Ado Annie, the girl who cain't say no, with John Ramseyer as Will Parker, her cowboy beau, and Nico Tangorra, fresh off Noises Off, as peddler Ali Hakim, the other man in Ado Annie's life.

Tickets for ISU's Oklahoma! are already available, and it's probably not a bad idea to get them now if you're interested. It promises to be a hot item since ISU doesn't often choose this kind of material.