The Recent Oklahoma Revival

I didn't get a chance to see it, but for those who saw it- what did you think? I saw Josephina and Shuler on tape, and they were both good. Shuler was absolutely PERFECT. And although Josephina is incredibly talented she was directed the wrong way, and I hated that take on the role.

Yes- I was very impressed with him- more-so, hoever with Maureen Lipman who was totally ideal for Aunt Eller. She was so real, it was unbelievable. I'm thrilled that performance is preserved on video. Vicki Simon as Ado Annie was another standout- why don't these people come to Broadway? And for anyone who saw the show- how was Amy Bodnar?

I only saw the Broadway production, not the video. Shuler was very good as was Josefina. Many people didn't seem to like her because she wasn't as strong a singer but she didn't sound that bad to me and her acting and dancing really made up for it. I liked their take on the role with making Laurey almost more of a tomboy. It worked pretty well. Overall the show was just okay. It was really long (a little over 3 hours with intermission) and some scenes were paced so slow they got boring (especially the scene leading up to "Pore Jud is Daid"). I thought the dances ranged from great ("Farmer and the Cowman") to so-so ("Many A New Day") with "Kansas City" being the biggest showstopper. The design was a good idea but it just didn't work in the Gershwin Theatre. Even with the entire cast onstage it still looked kinda empty. As for the cast, in addition to the two already mentioned, Patrick Wilson, Andrea Martin, Aasif Mandvi and Justin Bohon all gave great performances (as Curly, Aunt Eller, Ali Hakim and Will Parker, respectively). I don't know what they were thinking when they cast Jessica Boevers as Ado Annie though. Listening to her attempt to belt "I Cain't Say No" was painful and she hardly got any laughs at all. She's very talented, no doubt about that, just completely wrong for the role. Wow, that was a really long post. Anyways, overall I enjoyed the show because I enjoy "Oklahoma!" in general. It wasn't horrible but it definately could've been better.