Oklahoma!

Celebrating its twenty year anniversary, The Production Company decided to repriseOklahoma! This was the musical which changed the face of music theatre in the middle of the last century, introducing a dark character, and a feisty woman who didn’t like to be taken for granted.

As we’ve come to expect from this professional company, it was very well done. Cheeky Simon Gleeson played the cowboy Curly, constantly being wrong-footed by his love interest, Laurey, played by Anna O’Byrne. Both were excellent, but it was the sum of the two which was the highlight. The sexual tension between these two was what lifted this performance to another plane.

Bobby Fox and Elise McCann were the comic lovers, Will and Ado Annie, who sang and danced up a storm. Grant Piro was a very funny Ali Hakim and Robyn Nevin a feisty Aunt Eller.

Receiving almost as much applause on the night as the two leads was the brooding Ben Mingay as Jud Fry. A large, menacing man, his “Lonely Room”, not included in the film, was a powerhouse that sent shivers up the spine.  

The stage appeared to be set inside a covered wagon, to give an authentic Western flavor, with aluminum fences used effectively. One fence descended from the flies to form the ceiling of Jud Fry’s smokehouse. The orchestra was at the back of the stage with the musical director dressed as a cowboy.

The dancing was energetic and tight, and the energy never dropped.

The standing ovation at the end said it all.

Graham Ford