In Review: "Oklahoma!"
/The first time I saw Oklahoma! live was at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada (in 2006?). I remember turning to my parents and saying:
“That was fantastic, and they really didn’t stray away from the dark part of the show. I don’t think I ever need to see this show again!”
All of this to say that, when the recent St. Ann’s Warehouse production of Oklahoma! first caused a stir at the Warehouse and then again in its move to Circle In The Square, I did not feel the need nor desire to run to see it. I had seen it onstage twice, plus the two filmed versions, and how different could it really be?
So I waited…until last weekend. The second-to-last performance. (How’s that for procrastination?!)
So, was it all that different?
Well, no. But yes? And also really no.
Don’t Throw Bouquets at Me
Most of what I’ve heard people say about this production were things like:
“It’s so dark!"“
“It’s really different!”
“They did some cool, but strange things with it.”
“They took it in a completely new direction.”
“I’ll never see Oklahoma! the same way again!”
“You have to see it. You would appreciate it.”
Some of this I agree with, but some of it I very much do not.
Let’s tackle the idea that this production of Oklahoma! was particularly (thematically) dark: Yes, but no darker than any production of this show really should be.
It seems to me that either - with the number of people whose minds were blown by the production’s darkness - many people had not ever seen Oklahoma! onstage, or just were not aware of the content of the show. But let us not forget - early musical theatre was all dark. It’s written into the DNA of the genre: There is disturbing content (usually intentional, sometimes not) between and underneath all the glitz, glamor, and show tunes.
Examples:
Show Boat - Racism, Prejudice, Abandonment
Carousel - Domestic Abuse, Murder
South Pacific - Racism, Tokenism, War
The King And I - Racism, Colonialism
The Sound Of Music - …I mean, it’s set against the backdrop of Nazism…
And these are just Rodgers/Hart and Rodgers/Hammerstein musicals! Once you start including Lerner & Lowe, Comden & Green, and Kander & Ebb you get more murder, classicism, racism, misogyny, mob mentality, white supremacy, white saviorism, colonialism, capitalism, and so much more.
Now, to be fair, many writers included these themes specifically to subvert them - it’s a large part of why the piece was written (whether or not they accomplished their goal). But it’s undeniable that dark themes have been part of the tradition of musical theatre since its very inception.
Which brings us back to Oklahoma!
This production did not specifically add in dark elements to the story - they already existed. These themes include:
Murder
Rape
Toxic Masculine Behavior
White Male Entitlement
White Privilege
Racism
Misogyny
Mob Mentality
Intentional Othering
Community Crime Cover-Up
Excessive/Irresponsible Gun Usage
White Expansionism/”Manifest Destiny”
Violence or Threatened Violence Used to end Disagreement
And more
What I think this production did brilliantly was something that was ultimately a simple idea, but probably very technically difficult to thread throughout the entire production: They stripped the show of it shiny, musical theatre veneer and let the subtext become the text.
It was very effective.
Don’t Laugh at My Jokes Too Much
What I loved the most about it’s blatant stripping of the musical-theatre-genre-crutch was how often in the show the characters were all just sitting down in chairs spread across the stage, speaking in matter-of-fact tones.
Musical theatre so often relies on stage business, larger-than-life personalities, big voices, over-the-top movements, music, and choreography to provide the “entertainment” side of the evening, all the while hoping that the underlying messages of the show don’t then become lost on the audience.
Oklahoma! took no chances here. When the darkness of the scenes’ text, subtext, or situations were paramount, they stripped all of those other elements away, leaving you to sit with exactly what was being presented to you.
This worked so well that, during intermission and as I was leaving the theatre, I heard people saying things like:
“Is that how it’s always done?”
“Wait, what did they change?”
“There’s no way that’s the actual text.”
But it is! This production just made sure you did not forget it.
Now, that’s not to say that the production didn’t lean into the lighter moments of the show and bring out the comedy, dance, and fun - it totally did. BUT, often the laughter was tentative.
Why?
Much of the humor in Oklahoma! is based upon racist and misogynistic assumptions and, amongst the rest of the stripped down show, you could not laugh your way around that. This was awesome to behold across the audience. (Disclaimer: Not all of the humor is in this vein, and these performers were truly funny.)
The stripping down idea was so pervasive in the show that - at 2 separate moments - there were scenes in complete darkness.
And a couple other times the only light was coming from the live, projected images of the onstage camera capturing the hauntingly intimate moments.
Your senses were heightened, and there was no escaping the show’s text. It was very well done.
Don’t Sigh and Gaze at Me
The sound design was brilliant.
I’m not sure I can stress enough how fantastic the sound design for this show was.
The sporadic and intentional use of handheld mics, live stand mic/monitor setups, wireless mics, no mics, sudden live gunfire, and traveling sound across a circle of rumbling speakers was effective, intelligent, and well-executed.
Additionally, the orchestration was great. I hadn’t been a fan any time I had heard the show performed on award shows or morning shows, but when played live - in the room as intended - the balance was excellent and it added a grounded modernity to the show.
The lighting often confused me.
Some of the choices were beautiful and made a lot of sense: The light for the Act 2 opening dance sequence, the use of the party string lights, having full house lights on for the top of the show, and the pure darkness scene choices.
But then other choices seemed very random and without meaning or intention. Though, perhaps these choices were simply lost on me.
For instance, I was never sure what the intent was behind the full-stage washes of lime green and burnt orange. They seemed to be randomly placed throughout the show. I was also not a fan of taking the entire theatre from pure darkness to full stage and house lights in ~30 fade-ins. This might be due to my light sensitivity though.
The set was purely appropriate and quite effective.
I loved the pervasive wooden look of the entire show. The use of the chairs and tables was excellent. And adorning the walls with rifles was a great touch - not letting you forget what this show is really about.
All in all, the production elements really helped deliver the vision of this production, and often enhanced it far beyond my expectations.
People Will Say We’re In Love
It’s entirely possible that you may gather from this review that I loved the show.
Well, I enjoyed it and I’m glad I saw it.
It was not the mind-blowing experience for me that it seemed to be for many - though this is probably because of that Stratford production I saw in high school that clued me in to the realities of musical theatre’s pervasive dark side.
But I did think it was excellently done and well worth seeing! I appreciate what this production did, and I’m sure I’ll never see an Oklahoma! quite like that ever again.
Only one more comment about the production itself:
Yes, Curly is not a good guy. In fact, no one in this show can be considered a “good guy” - they all have tremendous flaws that negate their more endearing, sympathetic, or empathetic qualities, and can leave you feeling both empty and disgusted.
The choice to change the wedding fight at the end was, in my opinion, not necessarily more effective than having Judd go after Curly openly. It accomplished the same ideas - Judd still threatens by coming to the wedding and bringing a gun, and Curly and Laurey both still want him dead, and everyone is still relieved to have had the excuse to be rid of him. Yay mob justice.
So the change still got the job done. But I remain unconvinced that it was oh-so-different or more effective.
Anywho!
If you missed this one, I would highly suggest (even if just for research) making a trip to TOFT at some point to give it a gander.
OK?
