Will Parker News

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature MATILDA, OKLAHOMA, CHICAGO, and more!

When Oklahoma! was first produced on Broadway in 1943 it became the first smash hit for  the newly formed collaborating team Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and was also the first real book musical, preceded only by Showboat. It was a breakthrough musical, which when given a first-class production, is still, some 74 years later, without question, one of the greatest American musicals ever written. 'The Farmer and the Cowman' truly represents the philosophy of what America is all about, a unity and pride that is unmistakable. Oklahoma! is currently onstage in Redondo Beach, directed byT.J. Dawson, artistic director of 3-D Theatricals. He has beautifully succeeded in reimagining Oklahoma! for the 21st century. In the 40s it was not appropriate to portray racism onstage the way it clearly existed. Modern audiences, however, demand that musicals go a giant step further and explore life in all its complexities. I can thruthfully state that this Oklahoma! is quite unlike any production you have ever seen....and that means you should put it at the top of your must-see list. Our country has always been referred to as a melting pot culture. The expression rings in this produciton of Oklahoma! There's Ali Hakim (Drew Boudreau), the traveling pedlar, who sets his eyes on Ado Annie (Kelley Dorney). He is Persian. And in this production Jud Fry is African American (played by Rufus Bonds, Jr.). His hidden affections for Laurey (Julia Aks) are not only difficult for her to accept because of his low class, rough and cruel behavior, but being black in 1906 made you ... intolerable. Casting Fry as black adds a whole other dimension to the story. Fry seems beleaguered by previous war inju

The Old Globe today announced the full cast for Guys and Dolls, a musical fable of Broadway.

'People will say we're in love' with this wild western cast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's beloved Oklahoma! Having directed last summer's hit Bye Bye Birdie Jenn Thompson returns to The Goodspeed to take on the show that changed American musicals forever. For the first time at Goodspeed, this country classic will welcome city slickers, cowboys and everyone in between! So kick up your boots and join us for this lively and legendary musical which runs July 14-September 23 at The Goodspeed in East Haddam, Conn [Official Press Opening will be August 2, 2017].

Known for stylish award-winning productions and their signature flair for bringing to the stage thoughtfully reimagined interpretations of musical theatre spectaculars, 3-D Theatricals of Los Angeles and Orange County takes on Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!... with a new point of view.

The Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival (FLMTF) launches its 2017 season with the blockbuster musical comedy, Guys and Dolls. The show runs June 7 through June 28 at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Emerson Park.

As one of the nation's leading professional theaters and recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director) has a well-earned reputation for launching both performers and shows to Broadway.

Yesterday, high school theatre students and instructors across metropolitan Kansas City and in neighboring communities received the good news that they had received nominations for the 15th Anniversary Blue Star Awards from Starlight Theatre. Starlight leaders, staff and board members personally delivered 132 nominations to 42 area high schools. On Thursday night, May 25, winners of the 2017 Blue Star Awards will receive their honors in a public ceremony on Starlight Theatre's Cohen Community Stage.

The John W. Engeman Theater announces the cast and creative team for OKLAHOMA! Performances begin on Thursday, May 11 at 8:00pm and run through Sunday, June 25, 2017.

I am incredibly proud of all my kids and Ryan is pursuing his dream as a performer. He has been performing for quite awhile now as a professional and I have had the idea that this would be so since about his Junior year in High School. I have always taken the time to include my kids (when they have shown an interest) into the shows I was doing. Ryan and his older sister, Kaitlynn, were able to be more inundated with it at a young age as I was more active as a professional performer and they got to be backstage and at rehearsal, and often in shows with me. Whenever I was in a show that needed kids, I got them an audition and, since they were talented, often got cast, so we were able to share the stage. Sound of Music, South Pacific, Music Man, Secret Garden, A Christmas Carol, all shows that my kids been able to share with me.

A 20-year anniversary production of the famed Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! comes to Roleystone Theatre this May. Last staged at the theatre in 1997, directors Paul Treasure and Bree Hartley are bringing it to life again with a new cast, celebrating the groundbreaking musical that ushered in the golden age of musical theatre. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!

The Monmouth Community Players are excited to present Rodger and Hammerstein's premiere musical collaboration "Oklahoma!" This production is directed by Josie French of Lewiston, musically directed by John Neal of Greene, and choreographed by Melissa Guimond of Auburn. Cindy Dunham of Winthrop is the musicals producer.

When the Broadway stage introduced an exuberant rendition of the song "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" during the opening moments of "Oklahoma!," audiences saw a new form of musical theater unfolding. As the first musical to fully integrate songs and dances into a well-made story, it forever changed the structure of musical theater.

Manhattan Concert Productions (MCP) has announced additional casting for their concert performance of Gershwin's Tony Award-winning musical comedy Crazy for You in its 25th Anniversary year.

Pittsburgh CLO is proud to announce casting for the Pittsburgh premiere of PUMP BOYS & DINETTES, January 26 - April 15, 2017 at the CLO Cabaret.

Come join us for our fall production of Oklahoma! Set in a Western Indian territory just after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story. Although the road to true love never runs smooth, with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love's journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road. That they will succeed in making a new life together we have no doubt, and that this new life will begin in a brand-new state provides the ultimate climax to the triumphant OKLAHOMA!

Little Theatre of Manchester closes its 2016 with one of the most beloved and iconic musicals of all time, Rodgers & Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA! OKLAHOMA! runs November 4-6, 11-13, and 18-20, 2016, at Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Rd, Manchester. 

Drury Lane Theatre brings romance and warmth to Chicago this winter with the song-and-dance extravaganza Crazy for You, featuring music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and book by Ken Ludwig, directed and choreographed by the Jeff Award-nominated director/choreographer Matt Crowle.

Little Theatre of Manchester closes its 2016 with one of the most beloved and iconic musicals of all time, OKLAHOMA!

Drury Lane Theatre brings romance and warmth to Chicago this winter with the song-and-dance extravaganza Crazy for You, featuring music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and book by Ken Ludwig, directed and choreographed by the Jeff Award-nominated director/choreographer Matt Crowle.