OKLAHOMA
Thu, 18 Mar 2010, 12:53 amGreg Ross1 post in thread
OKLAHOMA
Thu, 18 Mar 2010, 12:53 amMusicals have just never been my bag – the words of Noel Coward always swirl around my brain – “Don’t put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington!” Sure, I love LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS and PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT and the current production of CHICAGO (at Burswood), is superb, however I take great pride in NEVER having seen SOUND OF MUSIC, although I did buy the album for my mum. But back to Noel Coward … sort of. Mr John-Michael Swinbank had kindly invited a friend of mine to the opening night of OKLAHOMA, at His Majesty’s Theatre and I tagged along as her Handbag (Veronica’s, not JM’s!).
OKLAHOMA (Rodgers & Hammerstein), is the first professional outing for a new theatre company, IAJ International, although there are some well-known names behind the production – Ian Westrip as Musical Director, Tim Cunniffe as Assistant Musical Director and John Senczuk as Director / Designer. Andrew Wong is the Producer.
The stage was minimalist, with the 20 piece orchestra set back to the left, several panels depicting rows of corn staggered on the right of the stage and a large vertical Oklahoma sign which became an integral part of the play. It all worked reasonably well, although at first I found the low-slung spotlights distracting.
The performance started with a medley of the show’s tunes and a slightly awkward walk on / walk off intro to the main characters. Drew Weston faltered a little in his first few bars, then grew vocally stronger, as his confidence grew and there were the usual First Night glitches – a wrongly cued voiceover, a chair misplaced for a curtain screen and a couple of the moves of the Oklahoma sign looked decidedly mistake- driven.
Although the orchestration was excellent, as was the singing, the first act was beginning to bore me – lot’s of cheesy music and grins, but no guts, I could feel myself beginning to nod-off. Then it all changed.
Ben Hudson came on, as Jud Fry, the hired hand and the whole play took a dark turn. I knew most of the music, but didn’t know the story. Ben’s character seemed to lift the game for everyone and I found myself sitting upright, listening to everything, genuinely laughing at the gags and thoroughly enjoying the characterisations. This was bloody good stuff – I can’t believe I’m saying it!
Penny Cook was excellent as Aunt Eller, as also was Meghan O’Shea as Laurey and they were backed by a very strong, capable cast, however the performances by Ian Toyne, as Ali Hakim, Marie Coles, as Ado Annie and Ben Hudson were quite stunning.
By the second half, I was waiting for the action to start, any thought of sleep had long since gone. I’ve written of the sparse set, however mention must be made of the fabulous dream sequence at the end of the first half, it is very clever, quite chilling in places, with excellent choreography, it was the moment I really began to think there was more to the musical than met the eye. This really is great entertainment and I have no hesitation in recommending it, even to non-musical theatre people like me.
It’s fantastic to see a new pro theatre company start in the west, their next production is THE BOY FRIEND, scheduled for 15 - 17 Jyly at the Bunbury Entertainment Centre and 21 -24 July at His Majesty’s and it will start Julie Anthony, with the same Directing/ production team, on the basis of this production of OKLAHOMA, if they can convert me, they’re on to something.
Musicals have just never been my bag – the words of Noel Coward always swirl around my brain – “Don’t put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington!” Sure, I love LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS and PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT and the current production of CHICAGO (at Burswood), is superb, however I take great pride in NEVER having seen SOUND OF MUSIC, although I did buy the album for my mum. But back to Noel Coward … sort of. Mr John-Michael Swinbank had kindly invited a friend of mine to the opening night of OKLAHOMA, at His Majesty’s Theatre and I tagged along as her Handbag (Veronica’s, not JM’s!).
OKLAHOMA (Rodgers & Hammerstein), is the first professional outing for a new theatre company, IAJ International, although there are some well-known names behind the production – Ian Westrip as Musical Director, Tim Cunniffe as Assistant Musical Director and John Senczuk as Director / Designer. Andrew Wong is the Producer.
The stage was minimalist, with the 20 piece orchestra set back to the left, several panels depicting rows of corn staggered on the right of the stage and a large vertical Oklahoma sign which became an integral part of the play. It all worked reasonably well, although at first I found the low-slung spotlights distracting.
The performance started with a medley of the show’s tunes and a slightly awkward walk on / walk off intro to the main characters. Drew Weston faltered a little in his first few bars, then grew vocally stronger, as his confidence grew and there were the usual First Night glitches – a wrongly cued voiceover, a chair misplaced for a curtain screen and a couple of the moves of the Oklahoma sign looked decidedly mistake- driven.
Although the orchestration was excellent, as was the singing, the first act was beginning to bore me – lot’s of cheesy music and grins, but no guts, I could feel myself beginning to nod-off. Then it all changed.
Ben Hudson came on, as Jud Fry, the hired hand and the whole play took a dark turn. I knew most of the music, but didn’t know the story. Ben’s character seemed to lift the game for everyone and I found myself sitting upright, listening to everything, genuinely laughing at the gags and thoroughly enjoying the characterisations. This was bloody good stuff – I can’t believe I’m saying it!
Penny Cook was excellent as Aunt Eller, as also was Meghan O’Shea as Laurey and they were backed by a very strong, capable cast, however the performances by Ian Toyne, as Ali Hakim, Marie Coles, as Ado Annie and Ben Hudson were quite stunning.
By the second half, I was waiting for the action to start, any thought of sleep had long since gone. I’ve written of the sparse set, however mention must be made of the fabulous dream sequence at the end of the first half, it is very clever, quite chilling in places, with excellent choreography, it was the moment I really began to think there was more to the musical than met the eye. This really is great entertainment and I have no hesitation in recommending it, even to non-musical theatre people like me.
It’s fantastic to see a new pro theatre company start in the west, their next production is THE BOY FRIEND, scheduled for 15 - 17 Jyly at the Bunbury Entertainment Centre and 21 -24 July at His Majesty’s and it will start Julie Anthony, with the same Directing/ production team, on the basis of this production of OKLAHOMA, if they can convert me, they’re on to something.