Oklahoma casts a magical spell making it very difficult to "just say no!"
"Oklahoma" stars Jessica Knudsen as Laurey and Zachary Franczak as Curley (photos courtesy of CCMT)
I eagerly anticipated the opening this week of “Oklahoma!”, one of my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musicals, especially the movie version in 1955, starring Gordon MacRae as cowboy Curley and Shirly Jones as farm girl Laurie Williams, Rod Steiger as the evil Jud Fry and Gloria Grahame as Ado Annie, the oversexed farm girl who simply “Cain’t Say No!”
The original Broadway version opened in 1943 and was a smash hit running for an unprecedented 2,212 consecutive performances and was the first collaboration between Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers. The musical version was based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play entitled “Green Grow the Lilacs” about settlers in the Oklahoma Territory, which was not overly successful. Then, ten years later, Theresa Helborn, a member of the Theatre Guild, saw a summer-stock version that had been enhanced with traditional folk-songs and square dances. She thought the play now had potential as a musical and she contacted Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Guild. Rogers liked the concept but Lorenz Hart was not interested. Rodgers subsequently contacted Hammerstein II and one of the greatest musical creation teams was born.
Then in 1955, after becoming a highly popular theatrical production with national tours, foreign productions and many revivals, the musical branched into the theatrical media and the movie version was born. What was unique about the movie version was that the producers took a big risk by changing the trend at that time of engaging well known actors who were capable of singing and this time employing largely unknown singers, who could also act, to populate the cast in the movie version.
This marvelous musical has once again returned to excite and invigorate local audiences with an outstanding production crafted by the Contra Costa Musical Theatre Company in partnership with the Center Repertory Company. This same musical was the inaugural production of the CCMT in the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in 1990, when CCMT first began to use the new Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
Director Jennifer Perry has captained this highly successful production effort in concert with Choreographer Renee DeWeese, Musical Director and Conductor Karl Pister, Costumer Melissa Davis and Scenic Consultant Kelly Tighe, to bring to the theatrical table, a superbly cast and perfectly executed musical. There are plenty of familiar faces on this stage, including the frequently engaged Keri Shawn (as the effervescent Aunt Eller, on whose farm the lovely Lauri Williams lives), Jeffrey Draper (as Jud Fry, the ranch hand with a dark past and an even darker present), and Joel Roster (as the scene stealing traveling huckster and Persian peddler, Ali Hakim), in principal roles. In addition, you will be introduced to some really stellar new faces as this musical story embraces Jessica Knudsen (as Laurey), Zachary Franczak (as Curley), Steve Rhyne (as cowboy Will Parker), and Elise Youseff (as the outrageously naïve, sexy and outgoing girl who just “cain’t say no!”, Ado Annie Carnes).
Set in the Oklahoma Territory, outside the town of Claremore (the birthplace of Will Rogers) in 1906, the story tells of a cowboy named Curley McLain and his romance with Laurey Williams. There is a second sub-romance involving the flirtatious Ado Annie and her long-suffering boyfriend, cowboy Will Parker. The community is preparing for a box lunch fund raising social effort which will be the highlight of an evening of dancing and bidding for a box lunch prepared by every single lady in the community. The winning box lunch bidders win not only the highly desired gastronomical goodies in the box lunches, but then also get to enjoy the full attention and companionship of the food preparers as well.
Curley stops by Aunt Eller’s farm to ask Laurie to go to the box social with him, but Laurie, put off by Curley’s somewhat arrogant assumption that Laurie will jump at the chance to attend the dance with him, surprisingly accepts an offer by her admiring and brooding ranch hand, Jud Fry, to spite Curley and to go to the social with Jud, instead. Curley attempts to entice Laurie by telling her (musically) that he will take her in a grand and glorious “Surrey with a Fringe on Top”. She assumes the promise of a grand arrival in a grand carriage to be simply Curley spinning a fanciful yarn, not believing that he has actually hired such a fine carriage after all.
At the same time, cowboy Will Parker has returned from a rodeo in Kansan City where he has won the first prize for steer roping ($50) and excitedly searches out his long time love interest, Addo Annie Carnes, whom he has wanted to marry for a long time. Addo’s daddy, Andrew Carnes (played superbly by Michael Berg) has told Will that until he has been able to accumulate a few bucks to demonstrate his financial stability, he cannot wed his daughter. Apparently he has told Will that when he can show him $50 in his possession at one time, he can marry Addo Annie. Well, Will won the money, but quickly spent it on gifts for his girlfriend, believing that money in the form of gifts was just as good as money in hand, but daddy doesn’t quite see it that way!
While Will has been off discovering that everything is up-to-date in Kansas City, Addo Addie (Elise Yoseff) has fallen under the charms of a traveling wares peddler of Persian descent, Ali Hakim (played in delightful fashion by Joel Roster, who actually received applause for one of his scenes while still in the middle of the show). Addo Annie is now very confused with the return of an amorous Will Parker and the attention paid her by the traveling peddler, Ali Hakim. What’s a girl supposed to do, she asks the audience, continuing with the memorable words “I’m just a girl who cain’t say no!” Elise is absolutely delightful and delivers a performance that will be long remembered as a true gem of a performance! The story takes an ugly turn as the dark side of Jud Fry (Jeffrey Draper) becomes frighteningly apparent. Jeff is an excellent actor and he is truly outstanding in this characterization.
I am sure that most of my readers will remember the movie version, probably with great fondness, but if you have never seen the musical, “live”, then the experience cannot quite be complete. You now have that opportunity to relive the experience as this great musical continues Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with performances at 8 p.m., and with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. in the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts at 1601 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek. If you haven’t purchased your tickets yet, call (925) 943 – SHOW (7469), or visit their website at http://www.lesherartscenter.org/ and make your reservations now. Tickets range between $40 and $45 each. Senior tickets are $3 less per ticket ($37) and students ($34). I will report more next week after seeing the show myself.
Wicked still wow's everyone and casts its magical spell at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco!
If you have not seen the brilliant musical, “Wicked”, a fanciful deconstruction of the famous “Wizard of Oz” story by L. Frank Baum, then you simply must find the time to see this show before it leaves town. Before the show went to Broadway, where it became one of the highest gross income productions, it opened originally in San Francisco. Then in August of 2005, it returned again to play an extended run, a run so successful that it seems to have taken root here in the Bay Area and is still selling out to full houses night after night.
Karen I and missed the show the first time around as we were out of town when it opened, so we opened our pocket book and purchased the premier orchestra seats to take in the wonderful spectacle. It is all that it is advertised to be, a perfectly marvelous and spectacular musical with catchy music and lyrics created by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell and Pippen) that are still driving us nuts! We loved it!
Before Dorothy dropped in on Munchkin Land with her Kansan farmhouse, a lot was going on in Oz reminiscent of our own corrupt societies around the world today; greed, manipulation, petty jealousies, taking advantage of ethnic groups and wealth control by the wealthy! What we learn is that the Wicked Witch of the East (Elphaba) was really (according to author Gregory Maquire) a creature and victim of “Bad Press”, in part promoted by a not-so-good, Glinda-The-Good Witch.
The principal lead roles of Elphaba and Glinda are still being played by Eden Espinosa and Kendra Kassebaum who really own the roles! I personally cannot imagine anyone else being able to deliver these characters with the charm and depth that these two actresses are capable of. They have terrific voices, stage presence and skill that simply takes your breath away!
Basically, Wicked tells of two girls who meet in a girls’ school in the Land of Oz. Elphaba is tall, dark haired and has skin of a different color (green). The other girl, Glinda, is blond, petite, cute, self-absorbed, spoiled almost beyond belief, comes from a wealthy family and is very “pop-u-a-lar!” The two total opposites eventually become friends and when one, Elphaba (who is a hard working student), is invited to become an apprentice to the Wizard of Oz, she insists on taking her friend, Glinda, along with her. While with the Wizard, it is discovered that Elphaba, in addition to her special powers, has the unique ability to interpret an ancient book of spells, which not even the Wizard himself can interpret. When Elphaba discovers that her talents are to be exploited by evil interests, she rebels and disappears. Her knowledge of the inner-workings of the Wizard’s inner-circle are deemed dangerous and a threat to those in power, who then spread rumors of her “evilness” to assist in their capture of her. This delightful new take on the “not-always-so-wonderful” Land of Oz is a fun-filled adventure with an intriguing story, great music, special effects, lighting, great costumes, great staging, in fact, every aspect of the production is pure perfection! You will not come away disappointed!
I eagerly anticipated the opening this week of “Oklahoma!”, one of my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musicals, especially the movie version in 1955, starring Gordon MacRae as cowboy Curley and Shirly Jones as farm girl Laurie Williams, Rod Steiger as the evil Jud Fry and Gloria Grahame as Ado Annie, the oversexed farm girl who simply “Cain’t Say No!”
The original Broadway version opened in 1943 and was a smash hit running for an unprecedented 2,212 consecutive performances and was the first collaboration between Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers. The musical version was based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play entitled “Green Grow the Lilacs” about settlers in the Oklahoma Territory, which was not overly successful. Then, ten years later, Theresa Helborn, a member of the Theatre Guild, saw a summer-stock version that had been enhanced with traditional folk-songs and square dances. She thought the play now had potential as a musical and she contacted Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Guild. Rogers liked the concept but Lorenz Hart was not interested. Rodgers subsequently contacted Hammerstein II and one of the greatest musical creation teams was born.
Then in 1955, after becoming a highly popular theatrical production with national tours, foreign productions and many revivals, the musical branched into the theatrical media and the movie version was born. What was unique about the movie version was that the producers took a big risk by changing the trend at that time of engaging well known actors who were capable of singing and this time employing largely unknown singers, who could also act, to populate the cast in the movie version.
This marvelous musical has once again returned to excite and invigorate local audiences with an outstanding production crafted by the Contra Costa Musical Theatre Company in partnership with the Center Repertory Company. This same musical was the inaugural production of the CCMT in the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in 1990, when CCMT first began to use the new Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
Director Jennifer Perry has captained this highly successful production effort in concert with Choreographer Renee DeWeese, Musical Director and Conductor Karl Pister, Costumer Melissa Davis and Scenic Consultant Kelly Tighe, to bring to the theatrical table, a superbly cast and perfectly executed musical. There are plenty of familiar faces on this stage, including the frequently engaged Keri Shawn (as the effervescent Aunt Eller, on whose farm the lovely Lauri Williams lives), Jeffrey Draper (as Jud Fry, the ranch hand with a dark past and an even darker present), and Joel Roster (as the scene stealing traveling huckster and Persian peddler, Ali Hakim), in principal roles. In addition, you will be introduced to some really stellar new faces as this musical story embraces Jessica Knudsen (as Laurey), Zachary Franczak (as Curley), Steve Rhyne (as cowboy Will Parker), and Elise Youseff (as the outrageously naïve, sexy and outgoing girl who just “cain’t say no!”, Ado Annie Carnes).
Set in the Oklahoma Territory, outside the town of Claremore (the birthplace of Will Rogers) in 1906, the story tells of a cowboy named Curley McLain and his romance with Laurey Williams. There is a second sub-romance involving the flirtatious Ado Annie and her long-suffering boyfriend, cowboy Will Parker. The community is preparing for a box lunch fund raising social effort which will be the highlight of an evening of dancing and bidding for a box lunch prepared by every single lady in the community. The winning box lunch bidders win not only the highly desired gastronomical goodies in the box lunches, but then also get to enjoy the full attention and companionship of the food preparers as well.
Curley stops by Aunt Eller’s farm to ask Laurie to go to the box social with him, but Laurie, put off by Curley’s somewhat arrogant assumption that Laurie will jump at the chance to attend the dance with him, surprisingly accepts an offer by her admiring and brooding ranch hand, Jud Fry, to spite Curley and to go to the social with Jud, instead. Curley attempts to entice Laurie by telling her (musically) that he will take her in a grand and glorious “Surrey with a Fringe on Top”. She assumes the promise of a grand arrival in a grand carriage to be simply Curley spinning a fanciful yarn, not believing that he has actually hired such a fine carriage after all.
At the same time, cowboy Will Parker has returned from a rodeo in Kansan City where he has won the first prize for steer roping ($50) and excitedly searches out his long time love interest, Addo Annie Carnes, whom he has wanted to marry for a long time. Addo’s daddy, Andrew Carnes (played superbly by Michael Berg) has told Will that until he has been able to accumulate a few bucks to demonstrate his financial stability, he cannot wed his daughter. Apparently he has told Will that when he can show him $50 in his possession at one time, he can marry Addo Annie. Well, Will won the money, but quickly spent it on gifts for his girlfriend, believing that money in the form of gifts was just as good as money in hand, but daddy doesn’t quite see it that way!
While Will has been off discovering that everything is up-to-date in Kansas City, Addo Addie (Elise Yoseff) has fallen under the charms of a traveling wares peddler of Persian descent, Ali Hakim (played in delightful fashion by Joel Roster, who actually received applause for one of his scenes while still in the middle of the show). Addo Annie is now very confused with the return of an amorous Will Parker and the attention paid her by the traveling peddler, Ali Hakim. What’s a girl supposed to do, she asks the audience, continuing with the memorable words “I’m just a girl who cain’t say no!” Elise is absolutely delightful and delivers a performance that will be long remembered as a true gem of a performance! The story takes an ugly turn as the dark side of Jud Fry (Jeffrey Draper) becomes frighteningly apparent. Jeff is an excellent actor and he is truly outstanding in this characterization.
I am sure that most of my readers will remember the movie version, probably with great fondness, but if you have never seen the musical, “live”, then the experience cannot quite be complete. You now have that opportunity to relive the experience as this great musical continues Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with performances at 8 p.m., and with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. in the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts at 1601 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek. If you haven’t purchased your tickets yet, call (925) 943 – SHOW (7469), or visit their website at http://www.lesherartscenter.org/ and make your reservations now. Tickets range between $40 and $45 each. Senior tickets are $3 less per ticket ($37) and students ($34). I will report more next week after seeing the show myself.
Wicked still wow's everyone and casts its magical spell at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco!
If you have not seen the brilliant musical, “Wicked”, a fanciful deconstruction of the famous “Wizard of Oz” story by L. Frank Baum, then you simply must find the time to see this show before it leaves town. Before the show went to Broadway, where it became one of the highest gross income productions, it opened originally in San Francisco. Then in August of 2005, it returned again to play an extended run, a run so successful that it seems to have taken root here in the Bay Area and is still selling out to full houses night after night.
Karen I and missed the show the first time around as we were out of town when it opened, so we opened our pocket book and purchased the premier orchestra seats to take in the wonderful spectacle. It is all that it is advertised to be, a perfectly marvelous and spectacular musical with catchy music and lyrics created by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell and Pippen) that are still driving us nuts! We loved it!
Before Dorothy dropped in on Munchkin Land with her Kansan farmhouse, a lot was going on in Oz reminiscent of our own corrupt societies around the world today; greed, manipulation, petty jealousies, taking advantage of ethnic groups and wealth control by the wealthy! What we learn is that the Wicked Witch of the East (Elphaba) was really (according to author Gregory Maquire) a creature and victim of “Bad Press”, in part promoted by a not-so-good, Glinda-The-Good Witch.
The principal lead roles of Elphaba and Glinda are still being played by Eden Espinosa and Kendra Kassebaum who really own the roles! I personally cannot imagine anyone else being able to deliver these characters with the charm and depth that these two actresses are capable of. They have terrific voices, stage presence and skill that simply takes your breath away!
Basically, Wicked tells of two girls who meet in a girls’ school in the Land of Oz. Elphaba is tall, dark haired and has skin of a different color (green). The other girl, Glinda, is blond, petite, cute, self-absorbed, spoiled almost beyond belief, comes from a wealthy family and is very “pop-u-a-lar!” The two total opposites eventually become friends and when one, Elphaba (who is a hard working student), is invited to become an apprentice to the Wizard of Oz, she insists on taking her friend, Glinda, along with her. While with the Wizard, it is discovered that Elphaba, in addition to her special powers, has the unique ability to interpret an ancient book of spells, which not even the Wizard himself can interpret. When Elphaba discovers that her talents are to be exploited by evil interests, she rebels and disappears. Her knowledge of the inner-workings of the Wizard’s inner-circle are deemed dangerous and a threat to those in power, who then spread rumors of her “evilness” to assist in their capture of her. This delightful new take on the “not-always-so-wonderful” Land of Oz is a fun-filled adventure with an intriguing story, great music, special effects, lighting, great costumes, great staging, in fact, every aspect of the production is pure perfection! You will not come away disappointed!
Tickets, which range between $30 and $99, can be obtained by contacting the Orpheum Box office at 1192 Market Street or by calling Ticketmaster at (415) 512-7770 or by going to http://www.shnsf.com/ and purchasing tickets on line. No closing date has yet been announced.