Oklahoma! (1999)

Curiosità

Oklahoma! is a musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play Green Grow the Lilacs, it is set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, and tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.

Production history

The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943, at the St. James Theatre in New York City. It was directed by Rouben Mamoulian, choreographed by Agnes de Mille and starred Alfred Drake (Curly), Joan Roberts (Laurey), Celeste Holm (Ado Annie), Howard da Silva (Jud Fry), Betty Garde (Aunt Eller), Lee Dixon (Will Parker), Joseph Buloff (Ali Hakim), Jane Lawrence (Gertie), Barry Kelley (Ike) and George S. Irving (Joe).

The production ran for 2,212 performances, finally closing on May 29, 1948. "The demand for tickets was unprecedented as the show became more popular in the months that followed" the opening. Oklahoma! ran for over five years, a Broadway record that "would not be bested until My Fair Lady (1956)." The Tony Awards and other awards now given for achievement in musical theatre were not in existence in 1943, and therefore the original production of O…

The first of several national tours began in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1943. A 1953 article in The New York Times reported that the show was "believed to be the only musical to have enjoyed a consecutive run of ten years. It ran on Broadway for five years and two months, grossing $7,000,000. The tour of the national company, which started late in 1943, has grossed $15,000,000." These tours reached 250 cities. Harry Stockwell was Curly.

The tenth anniversary of the Broadway opening of Oklahoma! will be celebrated in Washington, where the Theatre Guild's touring company of the phenomenal musical will be playing at that time. ... According to a Guild estimate, "upwards of 20,000,000 people thus far have seen the show in the United States, England, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa, Australia and through [the U.S.O. shows] during the war".

Oklahoma! was the first of a post-war wave of Broadway musicals to reach London's West End. It starred Howard Keel (then known as Harold Keel) and Betty Jane Watson, opening at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on April 30, 1947, to rave press reviews and sellout houses, running for 1,543 performances.

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