OKLAHOMA: YOUR OPINIONS — Page 2

When I was eight years old and my mother would play the cast album on the Hi-Fi, during the closing rendition of the title song I would beat away like a nut on the bottom of a brass watering can. In retrospect this might have been a sign that I should have become a percussionist since I never showed any other musical talent.

My main problem with the show was my empathy for pore Jud. This sad guy was never even given a chance to redeem himself. I'm surprised that Oscar wouldn't give him a break.

I respect the right of anyone to dislike a show no matter how popular it is with everyone else. This person may be correct in challenging a herd mentality existing amoung the show's boosters.

But Oklahoma was a huge hit when it opened. It created a new paradigm for Broadway musicals. (Maybe Show Boat should have had that honor, but the musical theater wasn't ready for it yet.)

And over 65 years later Oklahoma still has very long legs.

As a kid especially, I felt bad for Judd (the movie makes him a bit less complex by removing Lonely Room). I need to track down Green Grow the Lilacs, as I really don't know the source material--and am still scratching my head about Sondheim's comments that it was a gay cowboy play or something.

Dented, my Grandma was in the Canadian air force (in administration but still) and they all got a trip to New York where they saw Oklahoma and On the Town--it started her massive love with Broadway,

Shows that I really need to upgrade my CD (actually for all those early R&H recordings I never upgraded from the old early 90s releases--always plan to but then I see something I don't own I wanna buy...)

I wish I lived near Boston so I could see the limited run of OKLAHOMA with the Agnes DeMille dances intact.

Off topic: I happen to love the 1945 film STATE FAIR. The music is catchy and the performances are very good IMO. I especially enjoy the scene where the jars of pickles are in competition. I really like the score.

I still want to know when the most recent Broadway production of OKLAHOMA took place and who was in it. There must have been one since 1979.

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Updated On: 7/15/11 at 06:02 AM

OKLAHOMA is indeed worthy of its legendary status, but is often undermined by directors who play up the sentimentality and nostalgia and gosh-darn-isn't-this-american-frontier-spirit-great aspects and ignore the player's darker aspects, such as Judd's humanity and the fact that Curly is something of an insuffrable braggart with an entitlement complex. The Nunn production absolutely nailed the balance, but your average high school director (and OKLAHOMA is, I believe, the most done musical in schools) often looks to the sappier film for inspiration.

I LOVE Oklahoma! Sometimes I feel like one of the only people in the world who actually likes this show, so it's nice to see that other people are fond of it, too. It was one of the first shows I ever really fell in love with. I had seen the movie when I was a kid but didn't really appreciate it (I was more for The Sound of Music and The King and I, for whatever reason), but my mom took me to see the 2001 (I think?) revival and I thought it was just magic. I was crazy about that production, and have been in love with the show ever since. It isn't perfect, especially by our now hindsightful standards, but seeing things with such legendary historical status always moves me. I really wish I could see this production that's up at Arena now.

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