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1955 Oklahoma Theatre Guild Original Cast Rodgers & Hammerstein Vinyl LP Record VG+
Record Grade per Goldmine Standard: VG+
OKLAHOMA! Music by Richard Rodgers BOOK and LYRICS by Oscar Hammerstein II Featuring Members of the Original New York Production ALFRED DRAKE JOAN ROBERTS CELESTE HOLM HOWARD DA SILVA LEE DIXON Oklahoma Orchestra and Chorus directed by Jay Blackton OKLAHOMA OVERTURE.................................. Oklahoma Orchestra Act 1—Scene 1 OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNIN' . . THE SURREY WITH THE FRINGE ON TOP KANSAS CITY.................... I CAIN'T SAY NO.................... MANY A NEW DAY..................... PEOPLE WILL SAY WE'RE IN LOVE . . ................__ .Alfred Drake ................... Alfred Drake Comedian—Lee Dixon and Male Chorus . . . . Comedienne—Celeste Holm . . . Joan Roberts and Girl Chorus . . . Alfred Drake and Joan Roberts Act 1—Scene 2 PORE JUD IS DAID...................................Alfred Drake and Howard da Silva Act 1—Scene 3 OUT OF MY DREAMS........................................Joan Roberts and Girl Chorus Act 2—Scene 1 ALL ER NOTHIN' .... Comedy Duet—Celeste Holm and Lee Dixon, Alfred Drake and Chorus Act 2—Scene 2 OKLAHOMA I........................................Alfred Drake, Joan Roberts and Chorus FINALE j When the idea for ‘"Oklahoma!” was first broached, no one was aware that an American classic was in the making. Everything about it was uncertain. It was the first time that Richard Rodgers and Oscar Kammerstein II had collaborated. Rodgers had sup- plied many brilliant melodies for Lorenz Hart's equally brilliant words, but the essentially bucolic nature of “Oklahoma!” pre- sented a new challenge. Kammerstein had written dozens of successful librettos, but it was questioned whether his unaffectedly simple lyrics could please a public brought up on Hart’s nimble and sophisticated light verse. The very title was considered too plain—it took some time before its creators decided to relinquish the fancier “Away We Go” in favor of a bare state name. It was a cold night outside—the last night of March in 1943— when “Oklahoma!” opened on Broadway. But inside, the Okla- homa&sun shone with ever-increasing radiance. The gay overture glowed with warmth, and the opening tune, “Oh, What A Beauti- ful Mornin',” made everyone recognize that a new folk-song had been added to our native lore and that the combination of Rodgers and Kammerstein would give a new lustre to musical Americana. Founded on Lynn Riggs’ “Green Grow the Lilacs," a play about the feud between the ranchers who had staked out the territory for cattie-grazing and the farmers who wanted the land for their crops, “Oklahoma!” retained the spirit of the original. It was bright and fresh and “folksy.” Its chief quality was its unity. Most musical comedies were composed of a thin plot, irrelevant dances, feeble humor, and more or less appropriate songs. “Oklahoma!” presented an absorbing story from which everything flowed naturally — logical lyrics, simple but unfor- gettable music, imaginative ballets, colors and costumes of the period, all blended into one magic-making unit. Certain changes were made in the development of the story. The part of Ado Annie, delightfully interpreted by Celeste Holm, was built up considerably.- So was the role of Jud, played by Howard da Sylva. Curly (Alfred Drake) and Laurey (Joan Roberts) were left alone —they were perfect as young lovers. “Then,” said Kammerstein, “we had a first draft of the book, but no music and lyrics. Before I did anything else, I wrote the lyric for the first song in the first act. It was strictly for Dick and me—to set the mood of the show for us.” When it came to setting the words, Rodgers said, “I just put the lyric on the piano and the music wrote itself.” After the play began to assume shape, other artists entered the picture. Agnes de Mille took over the problem of integrating the dances with the drama, for “Oklahoma!” was not to be done in the conventional manner. “I got a group of girls and men,” said Miss de Mille, “who could also act. We didn’t want a ‘chorus line’. We wanted people—boys and girls you’d remember when the show was over, friends you’d hope to meet again sometime.” Next Rouben Mamoulian arrived to take charge of tfie produc- tion. “It has always been my conviction,” he explained^ “that the ideal theater should combine drama and music interwoven to compose one rhythmic pattern. That was the guiding principle— the principle that the show itself is the star.” The feel and color of “Oklahoma!” survived countless presen- tations— the strong sun of the southwest, the vigor of the freshen- ing wind, the good smell of the earth had been steadily main- tained. Its original production established a run of five years with some twenty-two hundred performances. Road companies rotated about the country — they played in England and New York’s City Center to equally enthusiastic audiences. In 1956, a motion picture version featured such stars as Gordon McRae, Shirley Jones, Gloria Graham, Gene Nelson, and Rod Steiger. It is a long way back to 1931, when Lynn Riggs started the whole thing by. writing a play that seemed to be purely regional. Its earthy humor, however, was translated with such common humanity and such uncommon music, that its appeal became national and then universal. Far from being a merely skillful adaptation or just another musical comedy, “Oklahoma!” is the kind of opera that only America could produce. Louis Untermeyer








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