Will Parker (Karl Walden) describes city women to the cowboys during ‘Kansas City,’ at the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities Production of ‘Oklahoma!’ (photo by Alysa Brennan)
The Redondo Performing Arts Center is serving up a generous slice of delicious, homemade American musical theater.
“Oklahoma!” marks the first collaboration of the duo that ignited the golden age of Broadway. Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II would go on to write nine Broadway musicals; however, “Oklahoma!” marks the first successful attempt of synthesizing, music, movement, character and story.
Instead of a piecemeal story that awkwardly stitches a countless number of repetitious musical numbers together, Rogers and Hammerstein refined the genre so that it was story- and character-driven.
Since art is not created in a vacuum, the social and political events of the era define the show’s themes, particularly the sociological paradox of isolation and confinement in wide open spaces. The pioneering spirit of courage, community and stoicism exhibited by the men and women who ventured into the uncertainty of the American Southwest is mirrored by the same qualities displayed by a generation of Americans venturing into World War II.
The most poignant part of Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical is, ironically, the dream ballet which was originally choreographed by Agnes de Mille. The premise of fighting an oppressive, brute force for one’s own liberation and self-definition was not lost on a 1943 audience.
Though the show brilliantly captures, allegorically, those inherent American qualities in two separate eras, more importantly, the 66-year-old musical has some very strong and virile legs. In the hands of a company whose teeth-cutting formative years were spent presenting golden-era Broadway musicals with grace, sophistication and polish, this staging of “Oklahoma!” fits like hand and glove.
The Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities produced the show previously in 1994, the year when the company and executive director James Blackman realized that staging the American musical classic was not only the company’s fort/, but its box office bread and butter. Over the years, the company has only refined this ability.
Artistic Director Stephanie A. Coltrin has securely taken the reins of this show by hitching her surrey to some very strong horses. Coltrin has assembled a team of gifted performers who know how to find the hidden nuances and layered relationships that redefine roles that have been canonized within the annals of the American musical lexicon.
Sarah Bermudez, Damon Kirsche, Sam Zeller, Diane Vincent, Gary Lee Reed, Annie V. Ramsey, Karl Walden and Nathan Holland give the audience the feeling that they as performers are having a wonderful time behind the proverbial footlights. This feeling became magically contagious with the opening night audience. Both comedic and dramatic moments seamlessly hit the mark while finely tuned voices reverberated through the house.
The whole cast puts their collective heart and soul behind some timeless music and lyrics. “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “People Will say we’re in Love,” “Lonely Room” and “Oklahoma” were sung with passion and gusto. Bermudez, Kirsche and Zeller’s powerful vocal instruments effortlessly hit notes that collectively sent chills down the opening night audience’s spine.
The CLOSBC production team captured the era which produced the musical; every hand-painted drop to hand prop captured the midcentury production values of the golden era of Broadway, which gave the show a warm nostalgic feel. Musical director Alby Potts and the men and women in the pit made love to Rogers’ score.
Though the film version with Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones captures the vibrant images of the show beautifully, there is nothing like the vibration and feeling of a stage full of strong live voices singing Rogers and Hammerstein’s words and music.
