Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” has a reputation for being the ultimate corn ball musical. And, indeed, when the curtain rose last night at the Memorial Theater on a woman sitting in the yard churning butter, it made me wonder just how long the evening would be.
But the first clue that the Mount Vernon Players production of the classic show is going to overcome the hurdles is that actress Geri Schultz, playing churning Aunt Eller, isn’t churning in rhythm with the orchestral overture as the curtain comes up. Instead of making the easy, cheesy choice, she invests the movement with realism, drifting in her thoughts as the music unfolds. Schultz went on to set the tone for the whole show, strongly characterized and with a piquantly tart accent.
As the lead romantic couple, Asa Cormier as Curly and Sara Burke as Laurey had a warm chemistry and an easy likeability combined with attractive singing voices. The comic second pair of lovers, Will and Ado Annie, was played with a strong sense of fun by Ben Bettscher and Caitlin Croswell. Croswell’s handling of the famous song “I Cain’t Say No” sharpened its impact with skillfully executed ditziness. Bettscher had a star moment leading the male chorus in the first of many wonderful dance numbers choreographed by Katie Delozier.
Not only were the dances given a wide variety of attractive moves, the dancers must have been drilled rigorously, because their moves were sharp, committed, and full of energy. Delozier also had a star moment as Laurey’s double in the dream ballet, where she danced with expressive poise.
As the brooding bad guy Jud, Dayne Baughman cut through the corn like a summer thunderstorm. Not content to leave Jud a two-dimensional, cardboard villain, Baughman found the genuine note of loneliness and despair at the heart of this character, making him sympathetic and tragic in his inability to express himself to the woman he obsessively adores. When Curly’s mocking song “Pore Jud is Daid” became a duet, Baughman proved to have a gorgeous, operatic tenor voice, further enhancing his portrayal of a rough man with a secretly delicate heart.
Ira Mowery as the faux-Persian peddler Ali Hakim and Allison Kahrl as the horse-laughing Gertie had fun with their comic moments, further adding to the show’s generous energy. Choral director Nancy Jantsch achieved strong and shapely singing in the choral numbers that were both energetic and musically accurate.
That energy peaked in the opening party scene of Act Two in the song and dance number “The Farmer and the Cowman.” Looking for all the world like Uncle Jesse from the old “Dukes of Hazzard” TV show, Robert Bennett led the song with the same feisty energy that made his gun-totin’ Andrew Carnes a memorable character. As the farmers and cowboys started fighting, the dance turned into a high-energy free-for-all that must have been as carefully choreographed as the dances, for it involved every square inch of the stage in a riot of color and chaos.
That and the subsequent return to dancing that was every bit as high-spirited demonstrated that even a worn chestnut like “Oklahoma!” can spring to startling life when invested with fearless energy and passionate commitment. Director Corey Ward deserves credit for giving this show a spark that all too many productions simply never find.
Orchestra director Garry Young assembled a richly diverse orchestra that sounded good once they settled in and overcame early intonation problems. In all fairness, it must be pointed out that those intonation problems only register because of Richard Rodgers’ intricate score. Though influenced by cowboy folk music, Rodgers’ score takes its cue from the sort of classical music Americana being written in the 1930s and 40s by the great master Aaron Copland. Like Copland, Rodgers embedded a lot of sophisticated touches in this populist music, and the orchestra coped gallantly with them, hitting their stride as the evening unfolded.
The production’s costumes smartly explored the range of patterns and colors that could be used to distinguish a large cast as individual characters, and the sets, backdrops, makeup, props, lighting and sound all contributed shrewdly to the impact of the show without drawing any undue attention to themselves.
This production happily proves that “Oklahoma!” isn’t truly that corny after all. For that, you’ll have to turn to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “State Fair.”
