REVIEW: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma at Chichester Festival Theatre
THERE is no doubt that the enduring stars of Oklahoma are Rodgers and Hammerstein.
With numbers like 'Oh, what a beautiful mornin'' and 'The Surrey with the fringe on top' the show is a classic musical rollercoaster.
The original Broadway production opened in 1943 when much of the world was consumed by war and it proved a smash hit - helped, no doubt, by the sheer exuberance of the score and its uplifting storyline.
For that reason alone, it was a good choice for Chichester Festival Theatre in the depths of economic recession.
But many consider its strengths to be its weaknesses, too. It is frequently dismissed as lightweight and is now performed more by community groups than significant theatres like Chichester.
Yet despite its apparant lack of substance - a mere romance based on who will take who to the dance - the frivolity conceals a more serious story of the shaping of a state.
This latest production was a musical triumph with some superb cameo roles, not least from the agile Michael Rouse (as Will Parker), Natalie Casey (Ado Annie) and Michael Matus (Ali Hakim) embroiled in their own mini romantic triangle and tangle, and Craige Els as the sinister Jud.
The stars Michael Xavier as Curly and the stunning Leila Benn Harris as the love of his life Laurey are vocally brilliant and theatrically commanding.
However, overall the show does not quite achieve the sparkle that one might expect from Chichester.
The bland backdrop of white disappoints, and the costumes, although authentic, would have benefited from a splash more colour.
To take a musical now more commonly staged by amateurs and make it a professional treat required a special injection of magic which this performance nearly but does not quite achieve.
GS
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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