“Oklahoma!” was written in 1943 and celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. It is part of an extraordinary canon of work by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II which includes the “King and I”, so brilliantly recently staged at the Palladium, “South Pacific”, “Sound of Music”, and “Carousel “. They have some of the best scores ever written and you go into the theatre humming their famous tunes but “Oklahoma! “ is the most heavily rooted in a past American culture set in 1906 at the birth of the state of Oklahoma.
You are reminded immediately during the overture of the shows credentials. The stage is beautifully set with Aunt Eller’s wooden house stage right, the back of Jud Fry’s smokehouse stage left and centre stage the skyline dominated by a prairie wind pump and a large blue moon. As the 16 piece band plays the Overture’s wonderful tunes the light changes and we see the sun rise over the farmyard. It is a delightful scene setter by lighting designer Pete Kramer and sets from Scenic Projects. It leads seamlessly into the opening number “Oh, what a beautiful morning “as Curley enters. Joshua Gannon has a rich clear voice with excellent diction and delivers every one of his numbers wonderfully. He follows this up with two of the other great numbers in the show, “Surrey with a fringe on top” and “People will say we are in love” opposite a charming Carrie Sutton as Laurey.
