Another Oklahoma Question from me!

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 3:44pm

Okay with my design project, I'm also designing for the Ensemble characters too.
Who is who in the script?

I going to divide them up into three groups

1) Farmers- Andrew Carnes

2)Cowman- Ike, Slim, Fred

3)Girls- Ellen, Kate, Slyvie, Armina, Aggie

Anyways are there more? I went to ibdb.com but have no idea who is who! There were more girls listed and they are pretty easy cause they only go into 1 group, but I'm having trouble deciding which of the guys are farmers and cowmen!
Do you know?
Here's a link to the ibdb.com cast list of the latest revival incase you're not sure what the names are:
http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=12938

[The Grovers Corners Yenta2]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 3:56pm

I played Aunt Eller in OKLAHOMA!. Feel free to ask me anything.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 4:05pm

Hos. Don't forget the Hos.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 4:13pm

Yes, the hos are the "dance hall girls" or "post card girls" in the Dream Ballet.

Since it's seen from Laurey's naive perspective, these girls are done up in a way that Laurey assumes they would look... having never seen women of ill-repute like this before herself. They're usually overdone and a little creepy, since they come from her own vivid imagination.

(The "post card girls" is a reference to the cards that Jud Fry keeps in his shack.)

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 4:14pm

The Hos? Who are they?

Are you refering to the Saloon Girls in the Jud Fry Ballet section?

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 4:18pm

Yes, Jud is dancing with the "girls" seen on the many postcards from his collection inside his shack.

This assumes that Laurey has been down to his shack before and seen the porno he has pinned up on his walls, though. It's a fairly safe assumption though.

But Ms. De Mille mentioned this before in her analysis and breakdown of the ballet.

Pretty creepy (and also ingenius) when you think about it.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 4:24pm

This is not meant as catty, but have you read the script? Everything you need is in there. And, if you want another reference, the film is very good.

But, remember that in "Farmer and the Cowman", there are female farmers and female ranchers as well as those men listed.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 4:26pm

Thanks! At first I wasn't even going to include them because I'm having enough trouble with this costume project as it is! So far in all the costume books I've found for the early 1900's only a Victorian look is really shown, so I've been having trouble finding picture for my research.

However, I may include some pictures of Saloon girls in the Chorus girl section. What you said about them being the images of Laurey's imagination will make it somewhat easier for me to defend my choices.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 4:30pm

Well, you really hit the nail on the head because I have not been able to FIND a script of Oklahoma yet, but I have the film version and the stage version with Hugh Jackman and have seen them MANY times and own two recordings of it.
But I figured I knew Oklahoma pretty well and liked it enough to choose it for my design project. So I have looked for the script, but I have had no luck yet and it's this type of question where I really need the script.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 4:31pm

Well, if you get stuck, there is nothing wrong with looking at pictures from various productions and/or the film for ideas. You don't want to copy those designs, but they may inspire you. And they will inform you of what the lines are for that period and region--and that's not copying, that's doing your research so you know where to put the waist on the women's dresses and how puffy the sleeves are and what kind of collar the men wore, etc.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 5:23pm

Oh I'm doing some of that! Which was a be reason why I re-watched both films and looked at the photographs in the R&H Illustrated Songbook! However, if my instructor found out, she would give me an 'F' and probably turn me in for plagarism!

So I am looking, I'm just not going to put anything in my project that says that I am!

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 5:29pm

I always thought the colors of the saloon girls' costumes were so wacky and vivid, because Laurey had seen (or probably only glimpsed) the black & white or hand-tinted scandalous post cards in Jud's shack. She would have to imagine the actual colors they wore... and she has a "vivid" imagination!

(Just my hunch, but it makes sense that she would "project" really freaky, strange, exotic colors... .especially in her drug-induced dream.)

Updated On: 3/17/06 at 05:29 PM

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 5:48pm

One thing about this project is I need to decide on a concept.

I for sure keeping it in the time periods. But I need to decide about the colors and give a good reason why. For example the movie and the OBC used a lot of bright colors, like pink. Colors that would never have been worn, I assume anyways :)

And the Hugh Jackman stage version had a very natural take on the costumes.

For my concept, I think I want to do something like a celebration of Oklahoma and its legacy. It's the first R&H collaboration, one of the first musicals to feature a more dramatic story line, my favorite musical and IMO America's Favorite Musical too!

So whether that means more vibrant color......I don't know yet, but I think it might :)

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 5:53pm

Well, I'm not talking about plagiarism. I'm talking about research and knowing what came before.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 7:34pm

Well, remember that the big social event in "Oklahoma!" is the barn-raising/fund-raiser/dance that everyone is getting ready for. So the costumes should reflect that. The first part of the show is early in the day. The clothes should be average "working" clothes for the period. As the show progresses and the day goes on, everyone is getting ready for the big event, so they would be wearing more colorful, party, or special ocation clothes. Not your everyday attire. The "chorus" of visitors that stop over would likely be wearing traveling clothes or over-garments (to keep the dust off of them on the trip), etc.

I think you need to pick apart the action in the show, and figure out not just what "folks were wearing in the Midwest" back at the turn of the last century, but find the appropriate clothing for the actual events at hand.

"Functional as well as ornamental..."

Hope that helps.

Creatively, you'll have to decide on your own if you're going for realism or a more stylized interpretation overall.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 12:49pm

Thanks so much!
I found some more books at the Library last night and I'm even using a geneolgy book about my family.
Updated On: 3/18/06 at 12:49 PM