Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Oscar-winning 1955 film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions. Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.
This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play in which the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that evokes genuine emotions other than amusement. In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story. A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.
Background
By the early 1940s, Rodgers and Hammerstein were each well known for creating Broadway hits with other collaborators. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced over two dozen musicals since the 1920s, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Among other successes, Hammerstein had written the words for Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote musicals, songs and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good. By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, and he became unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him.
Conception
In 1931, the Theatre Guild produced Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, a play about settlers in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Though the play was not successful, ten years later in 1941, Theresa Helburn, one of the Guild's producers, saw a summer-stock production supplemented with traditional folk songs and square dances and decided the play could be the basis of a musical that might revive the struggling Guild. She contacted Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, whose first successful collaboration, The Garrick Gaieties, had been produced by the Theatre Guild in 1925. Rodgers wanted to work on the project and obtained the rights for himself and Hart. Rodgers had asked Oscar Hammerstein II to collaborate with him and Hart. During the tryouts of Rodgers and Hart's By Jupiter in 1941, Hammerstein had assured Rodgers that if Hart was ever unable to work, he would be willing to take his place. Coincidentally in 1942, Hammerstein had thought of musicalizing Green Grow the Lilacs, but when he had approached Jerome Kern about it, the latter declined. Hammerstein learned that Rodgers was seeking someone to write the book, and he eagerly took the opportunity. Hart lost interest in the musical; he preferred contemporary, urbane shows that showcased his witty lyric writing, and he found the farmers and cowhands in Green Grow the Lilacs corny and uninspiring. Moreover, spiraling downward, consumed by his longstanding alcoholism, Hart no longer felt like writing. He embarked on a vacation to Mexico, advising Rodgers that Hammerstein would be a good choice of a new collaborator.
Casting and development
Between the world wars, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose, conversely, to cast singers who could act. Though Theresa Helburn, codirector of the Theatre Guild, suggested Shirley Temple as Laurey and Groucho Marx as Ali Hakim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, with director Rouben Mamoulian's support, insisted that performers more dramatically appropriate for the roles be cast. As a result, there were no stars in the production, another unusual step. Expectations for the show were low; Hammerstein had written six flops in a row, and the show had no star power. Producer Mike Todd walked out after the first act during the tryout and wisecracked, "No girls, no gags, no chance." But Rodgers and Hammerstein were confident. The New Haven and Boston audiences were enthusiastic, although the reviews were only fair. Of the changes made before the show went to Broadway, two would prove significant: the dramatic restaging of the show-stopping musical number, "Oklahoma" and the decision to retitle the musical after that number.
Todd had been wrong; the show opened on Broadway to raves from the critics, sold out, and won a special Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable." The New York Post was the only major paper to give Oklahoma! a mixed review. Its critic felt that while the songs were pleasant enough, they sounded much alike. The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre. Laurey is upset when she sees Curly at the dance with Gertie. To rid himself of Ado Annie, Ali Hakim buys Will's souvenirs from Kansas City for $50. Jud also contributes to this by purchasing Will's Little Wonder, knowing of the blade concealed within it. The auction starts and Will bids $50 on Ado Annie's basket, not realizing that without the $50, he would not have the money to pay her father. Desperate to be rid of Ado Annie, the peddler bids $51 to get the basket so that Will can approach Andrew Carnes with the $50 and claim Ado Annie as his bride. The auction becomes much more serious when Laurey's basket comes up for auction. Jud has saved all his money so he can win Laurey's basket. Various men bid, trying to protect Laurey, but Jud outbids them all. Curly and Jud engage in a ferocious bidding war, and Curly sells his saddle, his horse, and even his gun to raise money. Curly outbids Jud and wins the basket. Jud discreetly tries to kill Curly with the Little Wonder, but his plan is foiled when Aunt Eller (knowing what is happening) loudly asks Curly for a dance. Later that night, Will and Annie work out their differences, as she reluctantly agrees not to flirt with other men ("All Er Nuthin'").
Jud confronts Laurey about his feelings for her. When she admits that she does not return them, he threatens her. She then fires him as her farmhand, demanding that he get off her property. Jud furiously threatens Laurey before he departs; she bursts into tears and calls for Curly. She tells him that she has fired Jud and is frightened by what Jud might do now. Curly reassures her and proposes to her, and she accepts ("People Will Say We're In Love" (reprise)). He realizes that he must now become a farmer. Ali Hakim decides to leave the territory and bids Ado Annie goodbye, telling her Will is the man she should marry.
Three weeks later, Laurey and Curly are married as everyone celebrates the territory's impending statehood ("Oklahoma"). Ali Hakim returns with Gertie, whom he has recently married after being threatened by her father with a shotgun. A drunken Jud reappears, kisses Laurey and punches Curly, and they begin a fistfight. Jud attacks Curly with a knife, and Curly dodges, causing Jud to fall on his own knife. Jud soon dies. The wedding guests hold a makeshift trial for Curly, at Aunt Eller's urging. The judge, Andrew Carnes, declares the verdict: "not guilty!" Curly and Laurey depart on their honeymoon in the surrey with the fringe on top ("Finale Ultimo").
Principal roles and notable performers
Sources shown in Productions section except as stated here.
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{|class="wikitable"
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! style="width:100px;"|
! style="width:200px;"|Description
! style="width:500px;"|Notable stage performers in major market productions
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|Curly McLain ||A cowboy in love with Laurey ||Alfred Drake°, Harry Stockwell°, John Raitt, Howard Keel, Ridge Bond, Hugh Jackman, Patrick Wilson, Laurence Guittard, Damon Daunno, Sean Grandillo, Arthur Darvill
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|Laurey Williams ||Aunt Eller's niece||Joan Roberts°, Betty Jane Watson, Christine Andreas, Josefina Gabrielle, Florence Henderson, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Sasha Hutchings, Mary Hatcher, Isabel Bigley Barbara Cook,
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|Will Parker ||A young man in love with Ado Annie||Lee Dixon°, Harry Groener
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|Andrew Carnes ||Ado Annie's father ||Ralph Riggs°
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|Ali Hakim ||A Persian peddler ||Joseph Buloff°, Peter Polycarpou, Bruce Adler, Will Brill, Eddie Albert
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|Gertie Cummings ||A farm girl || Jane Lawrence°, Pamela Britton Church was replaced by Vladimir Kostenko. The production's scenic designer was Lemuel Ayers.
The production ran for 2,212 performances, finally closing on May 29, 1948. "The demand for tickets was unprecedented as the show became more popular in the months that followed" the opening. Oklahoma! ran for over five years, a Broadway record that "would not be bested until My Fair Lady (1956)."
Early U.S. tours
The first of several national tours began in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1943. A 1953 article in The New York Times reported that the show was "believed to be the only musical to have enjoyed a consecutive run of ten years. It ran on Broadway for five years and two months, grossing $7,000,000. The tour of the national company, which started late in 1943, has grossed $15,000,000." These tours reached 250 cities. Harry Stockwell was Curly. John Raitt played Curly in Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee, before joining the Broadway cast. The United Service Organizations sponsored a tour to U.S. military bases in 1945 that lasted for several years. The New York Times reported in 1953:
Original West End
Oklahoma! was the first of a post-war wave of Broadway musicals to reach London's West End. It starred Howard Keel (then known as Harold Keel) and Betty Jane Watson, opening at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on April 30, 1947, to rave press reviews and sellout houses, running for 1,543 performances. A pre-London run opened a day late at the Manchester Opera House on April 18, 1947, after the ship carrying the cast, scenery, and costumes ran aground on a sandbank off Southampton.
Original Australian
An Australian production opened at His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on February 19, 1949. Gemze de Lappe choreographed and played Dream Laurey. It transferred to the Theatre Royal, Adelaide, on September 17, 1949, the Theatre Royal, Sydney, on November 29, 1949, and His Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, on November 29, 1950. The production was choreographed by Matt Mattox who also played the role of Dream Curly.
1951 and 1979 Broadway revivals
A 1951 revival produced by the Theatre Guild opened at The Broadway Theatre on May 9, 1951, and ran for 100 performances. Ridge Bond played Curly, Patricia Northrop played Laurey, Henry Clarke was Jud, and Jacqueline Sundt played Ado Annie. Mamoulian and de Mille returned to direct and choreograph, and the production was restaged by Jerome Whyte. In 1953, a 10th anniversary revival opened on August 31 at the New York City Center Theatre. It ran for a limited engagement of 40 performances before going on tour. The cast included Florence Henderson as Laurey, Ridge Bond as Curly and Barbara Cook as Annie. Mamoulian and De Mille directed and choreographed.
A 1979 revival opened at the Palace Theatre on Broadway on December 13, 1979, and closed on August 24, 1980, running for 293 performances and nine previews. William Hammerstein (Oscar's son) directed, and Gemze de Lappe recreated Agnes De Mille's choreography. The show starred Laurence Guittard as Curly, Christine Andreas as Laurey, Mary Wickes as Aunt Eller, Christine Ebersole as Ado Annie, Martin Vidnovic as Jud Fry, Harry Groener as Will Parker and Bruce Adler as Ali Hakim. Andreas and Groener both received Tony Award nominations for their performances, and Vidnovic won a Drama Desk Award. This production started as a cross-country national tour, beginning at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles on May 1, 1979.
1980 West End revival
The following year, James Hammerstein directed a production at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, in January 1980, produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Emile Litler. The De Mille choreography was again adapted by de Lappe. A UK tour followed, and it eventually settled in the West End, opening at the Palace Theatre, London, on September 17, 1980, and running until September 19, 1981. This production starred John Diedrich as Curly and Alfred Molina as Jud Fry, both of whom were nominated for Olivier Awards. Rosamund Shelley played Laurey, Madge Ryan was Aunt Eller and Linal Haft was Ali Hakim. The production was Maria Friedman's debut in the West End, initially in the chorus role of Doris, but she was eventually promoted to the leading role. Sets and costumes were designed by Tim Goodchild.
1982 Australian revival
John Diedrich reprised his role as Curly for the national 1982–1983 tour of his native Australia. Again presented by Cameron Mackintosh, the tour was produced by the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust, Edgley International and The MLC Theatre Royal Company. It opened at the Adelaide Festival Theatre on April 30, 1982, transferred to the Theatre Royal, Sydney on June 5, 1982, then to Her Majestys Theatre, Melbourne on November 8, 1982, and concluded at Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane in April 1983. The cast included Henri Szeps as Ali Hakim and Neil Melville in an ensemble role. Direction was again by William Hammerstein, the De Mille choreography again adapted by de Lappe, with sets and costumes again by Tim Goodchild. This was the musical theatre debut for Caroline O'Connor as an ensemble player and swing/understudy.
1998 West End revival
thumb|[[Hugh Jackman on the cover of the DVD of the London revival]]
A dark-themed production of the musical was presented by the National Theatre in London at the Olivier Theatre, opening on July 15, 1998. The production team included Trevor Nunn (director), Susan Stroman (choreographer) and William David Brohn (orchestrator). The international cast included Hugh Jackman as Curly, Josefina Gabrielle as Laurey, Maureen Lipman as Aunt Eller, Shuler Hensley as Jud Fry, Vicki Simon as Ado Annie, and Peter Polycarpou as Ali Hakim. Musical director John Owen Edwards, Brohn and dance arranger David Krane adapted Robert Russell Bennett's original orchestrations and extended some of the dance sequences. A new Dream Ballet was composed for Susan Stroman's new choreography, and the dances to "Kansas City", "Many a New Day" and "The Farmer and the Cowman" were all redesigned. The overture was also altered, at the request of Nunn. Jackman and Gabrielle performed the ballet themselves.
The production received nine Olivier Award nominations, winning for Outstanding Musical Production, supporting actor (Hensley), set design (Anthony Ward) and choreography (Stroman). According to the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, the limited engagement was a sell-out and broke all previous box office records, and so the show was transferred to the Lyceum Theatre in the West End for a six-month run. Eventually a U.S. cast was selected. The London production was filmed live and issued on DVD, as well as being broadcast on US public television in November 2003. The live recording was given a limited theatrical re-release on July 16 and 19, 2023, celebrating its 25th anniversary and the musical's 80th anniversary.
2002 Broadway revival
The London production was repeated on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre on March 21, 2002, with direction by Nunn. The production closed on February 23, 2003, after 388 performances. Only two of the London cast, Josefina Gabrielle as Laurey and Shuler Hensley as Jud, were in the production, which also featured Patrick Wilson as Curly, Andrea Martin as Aunt Eller, Jessica Boevers as Ado Annie and Aasif Mandvi as Ali Hakim. It was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (which was awarded to Hensley). The musical was also nominated for nine Drama Desk Awards, with Hensley winning as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and Susan Stroman winning for choreography.
Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times: "At its best, which is usually when it's dancing, this resurrection of Rodgers and Hammerstein's epochal show is dewy with an adolescent lustiness, both carnal and naive, exuberant and confused." The review stated that "Anthony Ward's harmoniously curved set, in which the sky seems to stretch into eternity, again pulses with the promise of a land on the verge of transformation." The New York Daily News review commented that "Visually, this one is stunning – at times, Anthony Ward's sets have a pastoral, idyllic quality, like Thomas Hart Benton's paintings. At other times, especially in lighting designer David Hersey's lustrous palette, they convey the bleakness of the frontier." The review also stated that the Royal National Theatre "brought it back to us in a way that makes it seem fresh and vital." However, USA Today gave the production a tepid assessment, its reviewer writing: "A cold breeze blows through this beautiful mornin', and that golden haze is never quite bright enough." The production went on to tour nationally from 2003 to 2005.
2019 Broadway revival; 2022 London transfer
Following a 2015 workshop at Bard College and a 2018 run at Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse, a 75th anniversary staging of Oklahoma! transferred to Broadway at Circle in the Square Theatre. The production was directed by Daniel Fish in an intimate, immersive in-the-round style, set in a community hall, with chili and cornbread served to the audience at intermission. The production's most important tonal change involved the character of Jud Fry. Instead of the sinister brooding and threatening Jud of the original production, in the revival he was described by Elisabeth Vincentelli in The New Yorker as "a proto-incel", and his death came not as an accident but as an intended act at the hands of Curly, followed by a sham trial to clear Curly of the blame.
The production began preview performances on March 19, 2019, and officially opened on April 7 for a limited run through January 19, 2020. It starred Damon Daunno as Curly, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Laurey, Ali Stroker as Ado Annie, James Davis as Will Parker, Will Brill as Ali Hakim, Patrick Vaill as Jud and Mary Testa as Aunt Eller. The production featured choreography by John Heginbotham and music arrangements by Daniel Kluger, performed by a seven-piece band. The production was nominated for eight Tony Awards and won Best Revival of a Musical and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Stroker, making her the first wheelchair user to win a Tony.
For the 2021–2022 national tour, Fish rethought the presentation, which remained expressionistic but substituted a proscenium back-drop, which "renders the original authorial intents far more in balance with the radical ideas of the production", allowing the cast to play their parts with a contemporary naturalism, according to Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones. The cast included Sasha Hutchings as Laurey, Sean Grandillo as Curly and Barbara Walsh as Aunt Eller.
In May 2022, the production reopened at the Young Vic in London for a seven-week limited run, starring Arthur Darvill as Curly and Anoushka Lucas as Laurey, with Marisha Wallace as Ado Annie, Liza Sadovy as Aunt Eller, and James Davis and Patrick Vaill reprising their roles as Will Parker and Jud, respectively. The production transferred to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre in February 2023. It received positive reviews and won the 2023 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.
Other noteworthy productions
Discoveryland
Oklahoma! was presented nightly except Sundays each summer at the Discoveryland amphitheater, an outdoor theatre in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, from 1977 until 2011. In 1993, Mary Rodgers (daughter of Richard Rodgers) and William Hammerstein (son of Oscar Hammerstein II) designated Discoveryland the "National Home of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!"
2009 Chichester Theatre Festival
In the summer of 2009, British director John Doyle directed the musical at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The production was dark in concept and featured new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. On a spare stage, decorated only with blue sheets, "Confetti of rose petals stains the floor like drops of blood, and a nightmarish dream-dance sequence has Freudian overtones as Laurey's bridal gown becomes her shroud." It received mixed reviews. The Times reviewer wrote: "This is a very stylised, overdrilled production, no friend of intimate moments or quiet depth of emotion." The Guardian liked it the most, stating that "it's a delight, with one brilliant tippy-tappy-toed song after another and a nugget of darkness lodged in its sweet heart." A review in The Telegraph commented, "Doyle uses shadow and silhouette to bring out the musical's nightmarish aspects but doesn't over-labour them. There are enough sunny spots – no more so than in Act 2's rousing title song – to keep the tone evenly textured."
2010 Washington, DC Arena Stage
Oklahoma! opened in October 2010 at the Arena Stage to critical acclaim. Artistic Director Molly Smith cast African-American actresses as Laurey and Aunt Eller to mirror both modern Washington, D.C., demographics and the diverse population of the musical's 1906 Oklahoma territory setting. The production received ten 2011 Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning as Outstanding Resident Musical (tying with Shakespeare Theatre's Candide) and for choreography (Parker Esse), lead actor (Nicholas Rodriguez as Curly) and musical direction (George Fulginiti-Shakar). The production returned to the Arena Stage for a second run in 2011.
2012, Seattle, Washington, 5th Avenue Theatre
The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2012 production, directed by Peter Rothstein, included African-American dancers and an African-American actor as Jud. The choice was intended, as in the Arena Stage production, to reflect the historical presence of African Americans in the Oklahoma territory, but it "has some audience members squirming in their seats ... they're seeing on stage one of the ugliest stereotypes in our history: an imposing black man ravaging a petite white woman [and] the white hero ... all but urges Jud to hang himself – and even pantomimes the act. Some see a clear reference to lynching." The "Dream Ballet" had a sinister, sexual tone and ended with Jud dragging Laurey away to be raped. One critic noted the historical "license taken when an African-American farmhand is allowed to escort a white woman to the box dance. ... Maybe some people ... left with not so much a song in their head, but a question in their heart. And isn't that part of what theater is supposed to do?"
2026 Carnegie Hall concert
A concert of the musical was given on January 12, 2026, at Carnegie Hall in New York City, accompanied by the Orchestra of St. Luke's and conducted by Rob Berman using the original Bennett orchestrations. Shuler Hensley directed, with Emmett O'Hanlon as Curly, Micaela Diamond as Laurey, Jasmine Amy Rogers as Ado Annie, Andrew Durand as Will, Ana Gasteyer as Aunt Eller, Jonathan Christopher as Jud, Parvesh Cheena as Ali Hakim and David Hyde Pierce as Andrew Carnes,
1955 film adaptation
The 1955 film adaptation starred Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert. It was the only musical film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and Agnes de Mille choreographed. It was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations, such as interpolating new songs by others. The film followed the stage version more closely than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation, although it divided the long first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs. For example, "Kansas City" is performed at the train station, where Aunt Eller and other cowboys meet Will Parker just after he returns from Kansas City. Lyrics in the song about a burlesque stripteaser were slightly changed to pass film censorship.
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Recordings
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra both recorded versions of "People Will Say We're In Love" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in 1943. Due to the 1942–1944 musicians' strike, however, these recordings featured no instrumental accompaniment and instead "were lugubriously weighed down by a cappella backup." Producers of Oklahoma! lamented the lack of high-quality official recordings, with Theresa Helburn writing to a colleague in August 1943: "There are no records of Oklahoma! that we can send you. As you know, the Petrillo ban on the union musicians still holds. They cannot play for broadcasting so the only record that has been made is a singing of "People Will Say We're in Love" with Frank Sinatra, which if it sounds anything like his radio singing of the same must be terrible." Although some tunes were not included due to time and cost constraints, most of the songs from Oklahoma! were released on a record album by Decca Records in 1943 containing six 10-inch double-sided discs in 78 RPM format. It sold more than one million copies, prompting the label to call the cast back into the studio to record three additional selections that had been left out of the first set. These were issued as Oklahoma! Volume Two. In 1949, Decca re-released the first set on LP but not the second set, which soon became a very rare collector's item. All subsequent LP releases were similarly incomplete. Finally in 2000, Decca Broadway went back to the original glass masters to generate a new high fidelity transfer of the complete song program and released it on CD, utilizing the original 78 album artwork.
The success of the original Oklahoma! cast album set a precedent for the production of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which became an essential part of a musical's dissemination and endurance in popular culture. Later cast recordings of Oklahoma! include the 1979 Broadway cast recording, the 1980 London cast recording, the 1998 Royal National Theatre cast recording, the 2019 Broadway cast recording, and a soundtrack album of the 1955 film. There have also been more than 20 studio cast recordings of the show, featuring stars such as Nelson Eddy, John Raitt and Florence Henderson in the leading roles.
Reception
The original production of Oklahoma! was an unprecedented critical and commercial success. John Anderson of the New York Journal American pronounced the musical "a beautiful and delightful show, fresh and imaginative, as enchanting to the eye as Richard Rodgers's music is to the ear. It has, at a rough estimate, practically everything". William Zinsser observed that Oklahoma! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot. The show "became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma!" Oklahoma! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form. ... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own".
Theater historian Ethan Mordden points out that, although Oklahoma! has been called "the first integrated musical, the first American folk musical", Show Boat "got there first on both counts." Even earlier, the Princess Theatre musicals, following Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe, began the reintegration of song and story after decades of thinly plotted British and American musicals, paving the way for Show Boat and Oklahoma! by showing that a musical could combine popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs. These Princess Theatre shows, which featured modern American settings, "built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." Mordden also notes that Oklahoma! was called the first great dance musical, but other musicals had earlier focused on dance, among them Gay Divorce and On Your Toes. He concludes: "But Oklahoma! was the first American musical with an ethnic sound, words and music entirely in the folk idiom."
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
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! width="5%"| Year
! width="25%"| Award ceremony
! width="40%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
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| align="center"|1944
| Pulitzer Prize
| Pulitzer Prize Special Awards and Citations
| Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
|
|-
| align="center"|1947
| colspan=2|Theatre World Award
| Dorothea Macfarland
|
|-
| align="center"|1993
| Tony Award
| colspan=2|Special Tony Award (50th anniversary)
|
|}
1979 Broadway revival
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
! width="5%"| Year
! width="25%"| Award ceremony
! width="40%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
|-
| rowspan=5 align="center"|1980
| rowspan=2|Tony Award
| Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
| Christine Andreas
|
|-
| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
| Harry Groener
|
|-
| rowspan=2|Drama Desk Award
| rowspan=2|Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
| Martin Vidnovic
|
|-
| rowspan=2|Harry Groener
|
|-
| colspan=2|Theatre World Award
|
|}
1980 West End revival
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
! width="5%"| Year
! width="25%"| Award ceremony
! width="40%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
|-
| rowspan=2 align="center"|1980
| rowspan=2|Laurence Olivier Award
| Actor of the Year in a Musical
| John Diedrich
|
|-
| Most Promising Newcomer of the Year in Theatre
| Alfred Molina
|
|}
1998 West End revival
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
! width="5%"| Year
! width="25%"| Award ceremony
! width="40%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
|-
| align="center"|1998
| Critics' Circle Theatre Award
| colspan="2"|Best Musical
|
|-
| rowspan="9" align="center"|1999
| rowspan="9"|Laurence Olivier Award
| colspan="2"|Outstanding Musical Production
|
|-
| Best Actor in a Musical
| Hugh Jackman
|
|-
| Best Actress in a Musical
| Josefina Gabrielle
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Supporting Performance in a Musical
| Jimmy Johnston
|
|-
| Shuler Hensley
|
|-
| Best Director
| Trevor Nunn
|
|-
| Best Theatre Choreographer
| Susan Stroman
|
|-
| Best Set Designer
| Anthony Ward
|
|-
| Best Lighting Designer
| David Hersey
|
|}
2002 Broadway revival
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
! width="5%"| Year
! width="25%"| Award ceremony
! width="40%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
|-
| rowspan="17" align="center"| 2002
| rowspan="7"| Tony Award
| colspan="2"| Best Revival of a Musical
|
|-
| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
| Patrick Wilson
|
|-
| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
| Shuler Hensley
|
|-
| Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
| Andrea Martin
|
|-
| Best Direction of a Musical
| Trevor Nunn
|
|-
| Best Choreography
| Susan Stroman
|
|-
| Best Lighting Design
| David Hersey
|
|-
| rowspan="9"| Drama Desk Award
| colspan="2"| Outstanding Revival of a Musical
|
|-
| Outstanding Actor in a Musical
| Patrick Wilson
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
| Shuler Hensley
|
|-
| Justin Bohon
|
|-
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
| Andrea Martin
|
|-
| Outstanding Director of a Musical
| Trevor Nunn
|
|-
| Outstanding Choreography
| Susan Stroman
|
|-
| Outstanding Set Design
| Anthony Ward
|
|-
| Outstanding Lighting Design
| David Hersey
|
|-
| colspan="2"|Theatre World Award
| Justin Bohon
|
|}
2019 Broadway revival
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! width="5%" | Year
! width="25%" | Award ceremony
! width="40%" | Category
! width="20%" | Nominee
! width="10%" | Result
|-
| rowspan="28" align="center" |2019
| rowspan="8" |Tony Award
| colspan="2" |Best Revival of a Musical
|
|-
|Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
|Damon Daunno
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
|Ali Stroker
|
|-
|Mary Testa
|
|-
|Best Direction of a Musical
|Daniel Fish
|
|-
|Best Scenic Design in a Musical
|Laura Jellinek
|
|-
|Best Sound Design of a Musical
|Drew Levy
|
|-
|Best Orchestrations
|Daniel Kluger
|
|-
| rowspan="12" |Drama Desk Award
| colspan="2" |Outstanding Revival of a Musical
|
|-
|Outstanding Actor in a Musical
|Damon Daunno
|
|-
|Outstanding Actress in a Musical
|Rebecca Naomi Jones
|
|-
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
|Patrick Vaill
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
|Ali Stroker
|
|-
|Mary Testa
|
|-
|Outstanding Director of a Musical
|Daniel Fish
|
|-
|Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical
|Laura Jellinek
|
|-
|Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
|Scott Zielinski
|
|-
|Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical
|Drew Levy
|
|-
|Outstanding Orchestrations
|Daniel Kluger
|
|-
|Outstanding Projection Design
|Joshua Thorson
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |Drama League Award
| colspan="2" |Outstanding Revival of a Musical
|
|-
| Distinguished Performance
| Ali Stroker
|
|-
| rowspan="6" |Outer Critics Circle Award
| colspan="2" |Outstanding Revival of a Musical
|
|-
| Outstanding Actor in a Musical
| Damon Daunno
|
|-
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
| Ali Stroker
|
|-
| Outstanding Director of a Musical
| Daniel Fish
|
|-
| Outstanding Orchestrations
| Daniel Kluger
|
|-
| Outstanding Sound Design
| Drew Levy
|
|-
| align="center" |2020
|Grammy Award
|Best Musical Theater Album
|Damon Daunno, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ali Stroker, Mary Testa & Patrick Vaill <small>(principal soloists)</small>; Daniel Kluger & Dean Sharenow <small>(producers)</small>; Richard Rodgers <small>(composer)</small>; Oscar Hammerstein II <small>(lyricist)</small>
|
|}
2023 West End revival
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
! width="5%" | Year
! width="25%" | Award ceremony
! width="40%" | Category
! width="20%" | Nominee
! width="10%" | Result
|-
| rowspan="7" align="center" |2023
| rowspan="7"| Laurence Olivier Award
| colspan="2" |Best Musical Revival
|
|-
| Best Actor in a Musical
| Arthur Darvill
|
|-
| Best Actress in a Musical
| Anoushka Lucas
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
| Liza Sadovy
|
|-
| Marisha Wallace
|
|-
| Best Sound Design
| Drew Levy
|
|-
| Best Original Score or New Orchestrations
| Daniel Kluger
|
|}
In popular culture
Oklahoma! has frequently been quoted or parodied in films, television and other media. The following list includes some of the more noteworthy references.
Films
- In the film When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Harry and Sally sing a karaoke version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top".
- In Dave (1993), the title character sings the song "Oklahoma!"
- In Twister (1996), Beltzer and Haynes sing the song "Oklahoma!"
- In I Can Only Imagine (2018), Bart Millard performs "Oklahoma!" for his school play.
- The songs "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Oklahoma!" were spoofed in the animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999). One of the spoofs is the song "Uncle Fucka", which parodies the spelled-out O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A of the musical's title song. A similar spoof is heard in the musical Curtains, concerning the title song of the Oklahoma!-like musical performed within the show.
- I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) contains several references to Oklahoma! and a performance of the song "Lonely Room".
- In Highest 2 Lowest (2025), Norm Lewis sings "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin" during the opening credits.
- In Blue Moon (2025), the opening night of "Oklahoma!" serves as the film's framing event, including Hart's evening at Sardi's.
Television
- In The Simpsons episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", the character Milhouse imagines himself and Bart singing "The Farmer and the Cowman". Another episode, "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh", begins with Llewellyn Sinclair directing a production of Oklahoma! with Marge as Ado Annie. Llewellyn is frustrated every time Marge tells him "no", since Ado Annie "cain't say no".
- Sesame Street featured Kermit the Frog directing the film "Oklahoma"; Forgetful Jones sing the title song imperfectly. In 1977, Ray Charles performed "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" on the show, while Oscar the grouch sings "Oh what a rotten old morning...". On episode 317 of The Muppet Show, Fozzie Bear, dressed as a cowboy, begins to sing "Oklahoma", but large Muppets dressed as Samurai warriors parody the number.
- Tiny Toon Adventures spoofed the musical as "Ducklahoma", which heavily featured anvils.
- In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, "Frozen Dick", Dick sings a rendition of "Oklahoma!" in a diner; the patrons in the diner sing along with him.
- In the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night", Polly sings "I Cain't Say No".
- In episode 9 of Band of Brothers, "Why We Fight" (2001), several soldiers sing the show's title song.
- The Watchmen series, set in Tulsa, frequently references the musical in its score and character names, and integrates its themes and plot points in the episodes, including a fully-staged performance of the title song.
- In the Euphoria episode "Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys", Lexi writes a play to compete with the school's production of Oklahoma!; Cassie's attempt to dress fashionably is mistaken as an audition outfit.
Other media
- On April 4, 1944, comedian Fred Allen performed a parody of "Oklahoma!" on his CBS radio show. In Allen's version "Oklahoma!" became "North Dakota", "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning" became "Oh, What a Miserable Morning", and "Surrey With the Fringe on Top" became "Union Suit with the Hinge on the Back".
- The title song became the official state song of Oklahoma in 1953. (Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.)
- In Truman Capote's 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly sings music from Oklahoma! while accompanying herself on her guitar.
Notes
References
- Carter, Tim. Oklahoma!: the making of an American musical. Yale University Press, 2007,
- Everett, William A. and Paul R. Laird. The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, Cambridge University Press, 2002,
- Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007,
- Jones, John B. Our Musicals, Ourselves. Hanover: University Press of New England, 2003
- Kantor, Michael and Maslon, Laurence. Broadway: The American Musical. New York: Bullfinch Press, 2004.
- Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical, Oxford University Press (1988)
- Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Applause Books, 2002,
- Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010,
Further reading
- Block, Geoffrey. The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
- Ewen, David. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
- Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Random House, 1977; Decapo Press, 1995.
- Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 1980.
- Mordden, Ethan. Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992.
- Purdum, Todd S. Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018.
External links
- Information from the Theatre History website
- RNH Theatricals site
- Plot and production information, guidetomusicaltheatre.com
- Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #8 – Excerpts sung by original cast; commentary by Rodgers and Hammerstein