Oklahoma!

Musical

Music & Lyrics By: Rogers & Hammerstein

Director & Choreographer: Donna Feore

Stratford Festival Of Canada

www.stratfordfestival.ca

Runs: Aug 10^th to November 4^th 2007

Festival Theatre

4 ½ Stars

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

Roger and Hammerstein’s first collaboration, Oklahoma! was perhaps not my primary choice of show to review. Hung up in my own humourless delight of thespian guru Shakespeare my mouth postulated ‘why would I want to see a Musical at the Stratford Festival?’ I was willing to see To Kill A Mockingbird, but candy for the eye such as Oklahoma! had me trepiditious. However, I appear to be the only one to have any reservations, as Oklahoma! is a clear success by seat sales for the festival. Sometimes reviewing productions affords you not the luxury of free will and one must go where the crowds are and ask ‘what’s going on?’ I will be the first to admit when I’m wrong (well about the arts anyway!) and my reservations at seeing Oklahoma! seemed to melt away within the first scene.

The set beautifully captured the scope Oklahoma’s open sky and vast horizons. The Festival Theatre stage is intimate and yet for the production of Oklahoma! The stage was transformed into a presence of landscape; with stained glass chards hung up on either side of the stage which represented the Oklahoma bright sky, and the stage floor was also swirling with soft dusty colours of gentle yellows, tans and hints of pink. The stage alone for Oklahoma! had me captivated and had the audience prepared for the soft-edged storyline that musicals depict.

With bows and spurs, cowboy hats and ribbons, Oklahoma! is the story of Laurey Williams and her Aunt Eller living in the aforementioned state, alone on their farm with Jud Fry as their farm hand. Man’s man Curly McLain has it ‘real bad’ for Laurey, the Disney infected country princess who also has it ‘real bad’ for Curly. Both are determined to push each other away before drawing each other close and falling in love. A Box Social takes place where Laurey ends up by going with the slightly disturbed farm hand Jud and Curly is determined to win fair Laurey’s basket in the auction so that he can spend lunch with her (a truly riveting scene in this production). Laurey would confide in her affections for Curley and her distaste of Jud’s affections towards her to best friend Ado Annie Carnes had her best friend not love problems she is hopelessly hung up on of her own. Ado Annie Carnes appears to be emotionally devoid of moral compass and will attach herself romantically to anyone who will lock lips with her. So is it her old sweetheart Will Parker or peddler Ali Hakim who will marry her? Two women, four loves, lots of turmoil, Archie loves Veronica and Betty loves Archie comics, lots of dancing, lots of singing and a ‘Surrey With The Fringe On Top’ full of entertainment!

In order for musicals to work, lead performers need to have considerable skill in both singing and dancing; Dan Chameroy as Curly and Blythe Wilson as Laurey had dynamic singing voices and Wilson was particularly on point with her ballet dream sequence. Dan Chemeroy seemed to emanates that laid-back Howard Keel performance that seemed both sultry and genteel. My concern was that Chameroy wasn’t playing over the top, so many might have thought his performance understated, whereas I found it hit the mark with an old-fashioned mark of approval worthy of the Sons Of The Pioneers. The chemistry between Wilson and Chemeroy was sweetly suited to the characters romantic and coy attraction towards each other. Wilson played Laurey as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, even when she was rebuking Jud Fry. Wilson seemed to become Laurey in all her sweetness and optimism; it was interesting to see Wilson reveal how Laurey fights against her own good nature and desire for happy outcomes despite herself.

Additional great performances were heralded in my Ado Annie’s love interests Kyle Blair as Will Parker and Jonathon Ellul as Ali Hakim. Blair plays the dim-witted, sweet-natured idealist Parker, to the letter with substantially good ‘roping’ technique and Ellul has cohesively skilled comedic timing that generated a standing ovation. Nora McLellan as Aunt Eller, a Shaw Festival alumnus, seemed perfectly suited for the role and had me in mind of Ethel Barrymore as Aunt Jessie in Young At Heart. A noticeable regard goes to Julius Sermonia who has found his true calling in life; performing in both My One And Only and Oklahoma! as one of the dancers, he shows enthusiasm for every performance and great precision.

This seemed to be an overall exceptional and tightly coordinated cast. I have become enamoured with David W Keeley’s fine performances as the villain in both Oklahoma! and as Prince Nicoli in My One And Only. Keeley brings so much passion and rage into the character of Jud Fry in Oklahoma! that the audience can easily see he is a ticking time-bomb of sexual frustration towards Laurey. Yet, Keeley somehow manages to also make you feel sorry for Jud Fry’s unrequited existence as he makes you feel pleased when Prince Nicoli has found his true, if not unfortunate love, in My One And Only. Both musicals, both villains, and both played with dimension and presence; the Stratford Festival cast Keeley well.

So much of the quality of a production rests on the shoulders of the director. I can remember seeing Donna Feore being pushed aside by media this last February at the Genie awards in their attempt to get to her husband Colm Feore over his popular role in Bon Cop Bad Cop. Well now it is Donna’s time to shine as she has outdone herself and her peers as an intimately hands-on type director. Feore has revealed her greatest talent as a choreographer and director at the helm of the Oklahoma! production; with Broadway stage dances on a considerably smaller stage surface area. You see all the same lifts, jumps, spins and coordinated barn dances that blow your mind on Broadway within Feore’s rendition of Oklahoma! at the Stratford Festival Of Canada. Possibly the greatest achievement besides a tightly organized and consistently performed crew, was the ballet dream sequence which showcased a tumultuous love triangle within stage fog and non-verbal dialogue that told the story of Laurey all too well. Props to Donna Feore for her ample skill as a director and a choreographer of Oklahoma!

Of course the familiar songs of ‘Kansas City,’ ‘Oh What A Beautiful Mornin,’ ‘People Will Say Were In Love’ and a truly eerie and meaningful rendition of ‘Pore Jud Is Daid’ were performed and the audience left in a delightful mood which a Roger and Hammerstein production will often generate. So from one who has been converted, consider this the best opinion to be had, don’t furl your eyebrows at Oklahoma! at the Stratford Festival, simply purchase a songbook beforehand so you know all the words and can sing along!

Artistic credits
Director and Choreographer / DONNA FEORE
Musical Director / BERTHOLD CARRIÈRE

Designer / PATRICK CLARK
Lighting Designer / ALAN BRODIE
Sound Designer / PETER McBOYLE
Fight Director / JOHN STEAD The cast
Will Parker / KYLE BLAIR
Cord Elam / MATT CASSIDY
Ike Skidmore / MARK CASSIUS
Curly / DAN CHAMEROY
Ali Hakim / JONATHAN ELLUL
Gertie / STEPHANIE GRAHAM
Jud Fry / DAVID W. KEELEY
Fred / JAMIE McKNIGHT
Aunt Eller / NORA McLELLAN
Slim / PAUL NOLAN
Ado Annie Carnes / LINDSAY THOMAS
Laurey Williams / BLYTHE WILSON
Andrew Carnes / BARRIE WOOD

Also Appearing:
TESSA ALVES, ASHLEY BURTON (Swing), NAOMI COSTAIN, STEPHEN COTA, RACHEL CROWTHER, BARBARA FULTON, ÉLODIE GILLETT, SEAN HAUK, RAY HOGG, PHILLIP HUGHES, VICTORIA LAMOND, CHAD McFADDEN, STEPHEN ROBERTS, JULIUS SERMONIA, HEATHER E. WILSON, RYAN WILSON (Swing)

Stage Manager / CYNTHIA TOUSHAN
Assistant Stage Managers / A. NAOMI DUNCAN, ZEPH WILLIAMS
Production Assistant / KRISTOPHER WEBER
Production Stage Manager / MARGARET PALMER