EDMONDS – Against a glowingly lit backdrop of orange and crimson suggesting a prairie sunrise, there are props representing all the icons of rural American farm life: butter churn, clapboard porch complete with broom and rocking chair, clothes on a clothesline, a bale of hay.
Such is the set design of the Driftwood Players’ production of “Oklahoma!” – the groundbreaking Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that focuses on Oklahoma’s transition from territory to state. The show alludes, too, to friction between ranchers and farmers, but only obliquely, choosing instead to zero in on a pioneer romance and the fresh new life awaiting those newlyweds. It’s a story of a cowboy turned farmer, of his new life with a new bride in a new state.
The Driftwood Players’ production comes along in a year that marks the 100th anniversary of Oklahoma statehood, not to mention 50 years of community theater in Edmonds.
Kudos are in order for director Paul Fouhy, costume designer Jeanie Lyons, set designers Gay “Hawk” Hawkins and Kent and Dibra Kildow; lighting designer Syrinda Sharpe; sound designer Bob Rice; choreographer Lee Ann Hittenberger (who also plays a lead role as Aunt Eller); and music director Tom Prince. All have combined their creative talents for a pleasing and polished production.
The show opens with all the classic “cockadoodle-doo” barnyard noises, as one “Beautiful Mornin’” is about to get under way. There’s Curly (Adam Othman) singing, “all the sounds of the earth are like music.” Soon he’ll be trying to woo Laurey (Larisa Peters) by enticing her to take a ride in his surrey with the fringe on top.
There’s a nice playfulness between these two actors. Peters’ UW acting training is put to good use here, and there’s also careful attention to regional dialect.
As way of introduction to the guys’ musical number, “Kansas City,” Aunt Eller declares, “Ain’t nobody can swing a rope like our territory boys.” Said boys then sing and dance as they regale with tales of the burlesque they’ve witnessed in the big city, where “they’ve gone about as fer as they can go.”
The menfolk are led by Will Parker (Bill Walters), who’s sweet on Ado Annie (Rebecca Darnall).
Ado Annie is the seemingly innocent gal who nonetheless plays it fast and loose with her suitors. “With or without the mistletoe I’m in a holiday mood,” she sings in “I Cain’t Say No” as she parades in her frock, pantaloons and bustles.
Ever lurking on the sidelines is the menacing hired hand Jud Fry (played in convincingly evil fashion by Michael McFadden), who would try to wrest Laurey away from Curly.
Another colorful character is the Persian peddler Ali Hakim (Royce Napolitino), who cleverly extricates himself from unwanted relationships. Watching “Oklahoma!” in a post 9/11 world, there are some awkward moments when one confronts the politically insensitive 1940s attitudes toward the Middle East (the play was written in 1942).
“Many a New Day,” with the gals singing in gingham frocks, acts as Laurey’s feminist anthem. “Why should a woman who is healthy and strong, blubber like a baby if her man goes away?” she sings.
Counter that with Ali and the guys singing of their aversion to romantic commitment in “It’s a Scandal! It’s an Outrage!” and you see the dynamic of gender roles here.
One humorous, audience-pleasing scene finds Curly in Jud’s shack, stroking Jud’s ego with the idea of his posthumous popularity in “Poor Jud is Daid.” Curly tells Jud, “You never know how many people like you lessen you’re dead first.”
Act One ends with the famous dream sequence in which Laurie imagines her nuptials interrupted by threatening characters, as the farm girls do ballet movements behind veiled drapery as wisps of fog envelope their feet.
Act Two bursts forth with the box social, complete with square dancing, and a rendition of “The Farmer and the Cowman.” After the men bid on the belles and their picnic baskets, Laurey and Curly finally become engaged, and all is looking up in their future. “The country’s a changin’ and ya gotta change with it, make somethin’ of yourself,” Curly proclaims.
Amidst all this sunny optimism, there’s the jarring intrusion of a death scene when, just after the marriage, Curly kills Jud in self-defense. But, thanks to some rushed justice Oklahoma-style, Curly’s cleared, and Aunt Eller sternly advises Laurey to put the incident out of her head.
The show concludes on a triumphant note with the finale’s medley of “Oklahoma!,” “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’” and “People Will Say We’re In Love.”
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