Dark Monday • Oklahoma!

Certainly by now we have all seen the pictures and videos of the devastation left in the wake of the tornadoes in Oklahoma a week ago. So I thought I would offer up a tribute of the state with a look at a great musical I think everyone must know. I thought I would visit 'Oklahoma!', the brilliant musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical first opened on Broadway 70 years ago, in 1943. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Joan Roberts, Celeste Holm, Howard Da Silva, and Lee Dixon, and was choreographed by the legendary Agnes de Mille. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, 'Green Grow the Lilacs'. The show is set in the Oklahoma Territory in 1906, and tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams, as well as the relationship between cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie. The show opened in London in 1947, and had Broadway revivals in 1951, 1979, and 2002. The musical was filmed for 20th Century Fox for a 1955 release, starring Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert. There was also a 1998 revival in London that featured Hugh Jackman as Curly.

With music by the iconic team of Rodgers and Hammerstein, there is so much excellent music available, it was tough to winnow it down to just a few songs. But I thought I would lead off with a magnificent song, "Oh What A Beautiful Morning". I remember growing up and this being a part of the cultural experience, and everyone could sing it, either for real, or in a mocking way. In the clip below, the song is sung by Gordan MacRae from the 1955 film version of the show.

I have to giggle for "I Cain't Say No" was also a part of the cultural zeitgeist for me, usually in a mocking sense. "I'm just a girl who cain't say no, I'm in a terrible fix," sung with a bad Southern accent, could work, and did work, in countless situations. Once again, I am relying on the film version, this time with the delicious Gloria Grahame as Ado Annie.

Once again, I can think of many different ways I would be able to hear people singing the lyrics for "Surrey With The Fringe On Top", for theater geeks, like myself, to people driving carriages when I was regularly attending Morgan horse shows in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. I decided to go with a clip featuring the 1999 London production, featuring Hugh Jackman, Maureen Lipman, and Josefina Gabrielle.

For my money, "People Will Say We're In Love" is the best song in this rather spectacular score. It allows the voices of both the romantic leads, male and female, to soar. When it is sung well, the song can carry the audience so far long this journey. Once again I am going with the 1955 film version, featuring Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae. This, by the way, was the first film appearance by a young Shirley Jones, who went on to have a great career. But I do laugh, for there are some I am sure remember her as the mother of 'The Partridge Family', never realizing she was an amazing singer.

And, finally, I could not possibly do this post without including the title song for the show. The song seems so very iconic to me, for who can't sing along with it. It was certainly a favorite at the piano bars in New York City in the 1980s, for I heard many a show queen singing it there. In fact, the more the merrier at The Duplex, or Marie's Crisis, or Don't Tell Mama. Enjoy the 1955 film cast singing "Oklahoma!"

One of the reasons I thought to do this post was because the show showed such a wonderful toughness and resilience of the people of Oklahoma, a people who face life on the frontier at the turn of the 19th Century. The people are still that strong, but that doesn't mean they must go through the terrible tragedies caused by the tornadoes last week. We can honor their strength by pitching in and giving what we can, and doing what we can to ease their burden, even if it is ever-so-slightly. You can donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting “Red Cross” to 90999. For other ways to donate or help in the relief effort, call 1-800-HELP NOW, or log onto the Red Cross official site.

Dark Monday - 65th Annual Tony Awards

By the 20 minute mark of the show, I knew I was watching something incredible. Neil Patrick Harris was proving to be the consummate showman, handling song, dance and comedy with a deft hand. His opening number, Not Just For Gays Anymore, should go down in history, and he did it so damn well. Give it a chance, and take a look.



It was not long before the first performance was given, by the cast of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Many were astonished the Broadway community refused to acknowledge the polished and powerful performance of Daniel Radcliffe, although when he & John Larroquette performed as part of the Brotherhood Of Men collective, I would say I forgot about Harry Potter and just registered a very talented young man!



In April of this year, a special concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Company hit the stage in New York with music my the New York Philharmonic and starring Neil Patrick Harris as Bobby, Craig Bierko as Peter, Stephen Colbert as Harry, Jon Cryer as David, Katie Finneran as Amy, Christina Hendricks as April, Aaron Lazar as Paul, Jill Paice as Susan, Martha Plimpton as Sarah, Anika Noni Rose as Marta, Jennifer Laura Thompson as Jenny, Jim Walton as Larry, Chryssie Whitehead as Kathy, and Patti LuPone as Joanne. It was filmed, and will go into limited release starting this week. The cast were together again at the Tony Awards, and performed Side By Side By Side.





I was also captivated by the brilliant use of puppetry in the Broadway production of War Horse. As someone who lives on a farm with horses, they had the mannerisms and movement down to a tee.



In yet another clever idea, NPH and Hugh Jackman had their own little Broadway Gypsy-style battle to see who was the better show host. Of course, my money sticks with NPH. But the real winner was the audience.



I was unsure what was going on when Paul Schaffer was out to speak of his own Broadway moment, but soon, as he began to play the opening bars of a song he wrote with Paul Jabara, the 1984 mega-hit, It's Raining Me, I knew it was time for a Priscilla, Queen of the Desert moment. However, special guest Martha Wash made it so very special!



I did wish I saw more of the cast of Priscilla, who got a bit lost in the "Weathergirl" shuffle, I fear. After all, the three leads, Tony Sheldon, Will Swenson and Nick Adams, are incredibly talented. That said, for me, those were the highlights of the show, most involving NPH. But it was an excellent show. OK, I was a bit put off that the technical and creative awards were tossed aside to make room for promotion of the anemic ballad from Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark and attempt to gain more attention for the 2010 Best Musical Tony winner, Memphis. At the end of the show, NPH proved to be versatile as could be, utilizing his impeccable sense of timing when he brought the show to a close with a rap written on the fly by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who shot to acclaim a few seasons ago for his work on The Heights.



NPH Out.