Which OKLAHOMA recording should I buy?

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 8:26am

Anyone have a recommendations as to which revival I should buy? Or is the movie version better? Thanks!

[followspot]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 10:13am

I don't know if it's just because I grew up on it, but the movie soundtrack is still my favorite recording of OKLAHOMA, just nudging out the original Broadway cast recording, which is terrific. The 1979 revival recording is beautifully produced and well sung, but for my taste, not particularly well acted (especially Christine Ebersole's cringe-worthy Carol Burnett sketch-level Ado Annie).

Updated On: 6/1/13 at 10:13 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 10:14am

1979 Broadway Revival. No others need apply.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 11:04am

The one with Hugh Jackman has the ballet music. I prefer that one.

[sondheimfan2]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 11:10am

I agree with Smaxie hands down.

[Nickhutson]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 11:12am

The RNT/Mackintosh production - wonderful performances, lots of incidental music (with some great dance breaks).

Have a listen on Spotify first.

[Owen22]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 11:24am

Smaxie's.

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 11:27am

If you go to youtube and search "Oklahoma 1979 Revival", you'll find six or seven clips. True gems!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 12:06pm

I admite the truncated songs and not great sound, the OBCRs of those early R&H shows are essential for me.

The only secondary recording one needs is the 1979 one, as others have said. Basically has all the score you need (Yes, it doesn't have the ballet but, as much as I love DeMille's ballet it's basically just a medley, and Rodgers didn't do the arrangement--not that composers usually do dance arrangements anyway unless they're Bernstein...) and brilliant performances.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 12:10pm

Just use Spotify. They have everything.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 12:25pm

I always assumed the '79 revival wasn't a success due to its hit run--was it a limited engagement?

Gotta love the audience reaction standing for the encore of the title song here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCYoHt0sWzQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCYoHt0sWzQ

(And Christine Ebersole as Ado Annie here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCYoHt0sWzQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCYoHt0sWzQ )

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 4:27pm

Without a doubt the 1979 recording is the one to have, Ms. Andreas is wonderful!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 5:58pm

1979 Broadway Revival. No others need apply.

One hundred percent agreed. It's a flawless recording that is so vibrant and exciting, it sounds like a fresh new musical rather than a revival.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 6:08pm

I don't know the year, but I ended up going with the Original New York Cast Recording. I couldn't find 1979 on iTunes.

[Copperfield2]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 7:23pm

I agree the 1979 recording is the best. And that revival was wonderful.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 9:50pm

You got the 1943 original? Like I said I love it, but it doesn't give the best sense of the score...

[Wynbish]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 9:55pm

You could have ordered the 1979 version and imported it to iTunes

Heck, amazon has the mp3 album of it. Those could have gone into iTunes Updated On: 3/6/13 at 09:55 PM

[sondheimfan2]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 10:10pm

The '79 Revival began my love affair with the Broadway musical. I saw the national tour in Philadelphia when I was 14 and the played Curly in my high school production two years later. That production as well as the cast recording holds a special place in my heart.

Oh, and Smaxie, thanks for posting the artwork. That show card still hangs in my teenage bedroom at my parents'home. That illustration always makes me smile. Hilary Knight?


Updated On: 3/6/13 at 10:10 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/6/13 at 10:22pm

>Hilary Knight?<

Yes indeed.

[chinto1984]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 12:02pm

I own OBC, studio cast with Florence Henderson, 1979, and the one with Hugh Jackman. I really only listen to 1979.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 1:08pm

Interesting that this question is asked now...on March 31 we mark the 70th anniversary of the premiere of OKLAHOMA! on Broadway.

My preference is the 1943/44 original cast albums on Decca. Yes, the soudn quality is a bit flat and there are trims in some of the songs but the ability to have the original cast performances more than compensates. Recorded within 6 months of the show's premiere it is fresh and exciting. The current CD combines both Volume One and the rare Volume 2 (2 extra records issued with "It's a Scandal!", "Lonely Room" and "The Farmer and the Cowman." "Lonely Room was recorded by Alfred Drake instead of Howard Da Silva - no one seems to know why. One theory is that Decca wanted one of the main stars to appear in the 2nd volume, another is that Richard Rodgers wanted a more "musical" voice to sing the song.)

For the current Decca Broadway issue they went back to the master discs and achieve sound quality that compares with an early 1950's mono LP.

Columbia Records brought out an LP of OKLAHOMA in the early 1950s with Nelson Eddy. He's a bit nazal-sounding (a bit old for Curly) but the album was more complete than the original Decca set.

The movie soundtrack would be my second choice after the original. The album was an early stereo release with big lush sound and terrific singers. Angel now offers an expanded CD release with all the dance and ballet music BUT the extra material is dubbed from film prints and includes footsteps and other noises from the sound stage. The original album (on CD from Broadway Angel) is a bit short - about 42 minutes - but 42 minutes of pure pleasure.

The 1979 Broadway revival is the most theatrical but some of the line readings come off as way overdone ..like a badly acted high school production. It is very well sung and it does provide almost the complete musical score (the ballet is cut) but it does make the show sound like one of Cap'n Andy's "mellerdrammers" instead of a musical play.

I wish the Hugh Jackman album was better than it is. Someone decided the production needed new orchestrations (WHY? The originals were just fine!) and while Jackman is in great voice, I am not too pleased with the Laurey or Ado Annie on this disc. Get teh DVD instead so you can see what a well staged revival it was. When it came to New York (with Patrick Wilson) it got great reviews but didn't sell a lot of tickets, adn was not recorded. It's too bad John McGlinn never got to do his own restoration of the original. It was announced but never recorded.

Columbia Records offered a second studio cast recording - this time in stereo - with John Raitt and Florence Henderson, It is also marred by new (not improved) orchestrations and the supporting cast seem to be playing for volume instead of character.

Beware of CD editions not on the original labels. Because of varying mechanical copy-write laws, the original LP's and 78's have been bootlegged in a number of small European labels. (Legally they can do this..but ethically if Decca (or EMI) have gone to the expense and effort of preparing new masters with better sound why settle for a pirated copy of someone's old scratchy records? The PD releases of the original Decca set generally ignore the songs issued in Volume Two, and are often taken from later LP releases when Decca had re-recorded everything in a horrible hollow-sounding"fake" stereo. Spend the extra few bucks and get the genuine article.

Also, beware of the early MCA CD issue. These were deleted in 1993 an replaced by the 50th anniversary remastering. The current edition on Decca Broadway has the best sound.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 7:39pm

One more to avoid..the 1979 revival played London in1 980 with a British cast and a label called STIFF released an album taped live in the theatre. It's a no-name cast and the performances are unexceptional.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 7:45pm

A good summary of the various recordings--I would place the '79 above the soundtrack, but I agree with you that the original is required in any collection.

(Marc can you PM me? I can only reply to PMs, and not send them due to my weird account...)

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 8:10pm

ERIC - PM sent.

I grew up with the Capitol album of the movie cast (it isn't actually taken from the film track) and I like teh smoother vocals of MacRae an Jones. But for a representation of OKLAHOMA! on stage the 1979 cast is indeed preferable.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 8:14pm

I agree with you about the voices on the soundtrack. I also think the 79 recording suffers from a few of Shephard's quirks--some of the line readings are forced, and I could do without things like having Curly's opening of Beautiful Morning come from one speaker only (even though I get that this is a recreation of how it is on stage,) but for me, it's the most satisfying, even if it's not quite as exciting as the original (I don't think anyone can sing I Cain't Say No the wal Holm can.)