Oklahoma! by Tim Carter

Author:Tim Carter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press (Ignition)
Published: 2007-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

New York

When Oklahoma! opened at the St. James Theatre on Wednesday, 31 March 1943, Lady in the Dark, with Gertrude Lawrence, was in revival (its second) at the Broadway Theatre (eighty-three performances from 27 February to 15 May) before going on tour; the Ziegfeld Follies opened on 1 April at the Winter Garden; and By Jupiter was still playing at the Shubert Theatre. Broadway theatergoers could also see Michael Todd’s revue Star and Garter; Fred K. Finklehoffe’s revue Show Time; Cole Porter’s Something for the Boys, chiefly a vehicle for Ethel Merman; Thorton Wilder’s play The Skin of Our Teeth; S. N. Behrman’s still popular The Pirate, with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne; Clifton Webb in Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit; F. Hugh Herbert’s hit comedy Kiss and Tell; or Chekov’s The Three Sisters. Johann Strauss’s Rosalinda (a version of Die Fledermaus, with Shelley Winters as Fifi) ran from 28 October 1942 to 22 January 1944 (611 performances); and the revue Sons o’ Fun was in its second year, having just transferred to the 46th Street Theatre. This was quite a distinguished list.

While Oklahoma! was playing in New Haven and Boston, the Guild Press Office in New York was busy drumming up business for the Broadway opening. On 16 March the New York News contained the report that if “Away We Go” was successful, the Guild would produce two musicals per season. On 18 March the New York Times noted that the show would open on 31 March and that it “is in such good shape that it does not need any more time on tour for polishing.” Given the changes currently under way in Boston, this was grossly untrue. All this was presumably a result of the regular series of press releases issued from the Guild’s press office. One received on 16 March noted the change of title from “Away We Go!” to “Oklahoma” (no exclamation point)—so it was also announced on that day in the New York Times and elsewhere (such as the Chicago Tribune)—and Heidt reiterated it in another release dated 19 March:

Oklahoma, new Theatre Guild musical comedy formerly known as Away We Go! which is currently playing at the Colonial Theatre, Boston, will have its Broadway premiere at the St. James Theatre on Wednesday evening, March 31.

Oklahoma has music by Richard Rodgers with book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2d, and is based on the Lynn Riggs stage comedy, Green Grow the Lilacs. Rouben Mamoulian is directing, and the cast is headed by Betty Garde, Alfred Drake, Joseph Buloff, Joan Roberts, Lee Dixon, Howard da Silva and Celeste Holm.

Designating Green Grow the Lilacs a “stage comedy” seems to have been an attempt to assuage fears of something too serious. On 22 March, Heidt issued another release for “Oklahoma” (again, no exclamation point), which “features a most unusual cast in that all its principals are actors as well as singers and dancers.” Here the information is mostly factual concerning the cast (Eric Victor is mentioned among the dancers), although Heidt notes yet again that a twenty-eight-piece orchestra is large for musicals.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.