"Oklahoma!" at Ashland

[goodlead]

Posted: 8/18/18 at 10:38am

Has anyone here seen the same-sex version of "Oklahoma" at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival? What did you think of it, and what changes did they need to make in the script and score? For instance, I don't see how "It's a Scandal, It's an Outrage" would fit this version.

[A Director]

Posted: 8/18/18 at 5:22pm

It's the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  I saw the production and it is wonderful. For the most part, they changed a few pronouns.  The one lyric change I remember is in "Kansas City." Instead of a gal in the burleeque, it's a boy.  In "I Cain't Say No," the word girl has been replaced by boy.  Also, Ado Andy's parent is  Ma Carnes, played by a woman.

In this production, Ali Hakim is bi. The actor who plays Ali is an Iranian-American.  One of the running bits is the pronunciation of his last name.  "It's a Scandal, It's an Outrage" makes sense and it works.  Gertie Cummings is a woman.

A few things were changed in the Dream Ballet to reflect the production.  And Aunt Eller  is played by a trans woman.  She's wonderful.

During "The Farmer and The Cowman," fights break out, so the number becomes more than just a second act opener.

Even with these changes, it's still Oklahoma!  The direction, designs, choreography, singing and acting are very good.  The score was re-orchestrated for 8 musicians. The production is filled with joy and love.  The night, I saw it, the audience loved it.  During my four day stay at the OSF, I heard many favorable comments about the show.

The OSF is a real repertory theatre, so most of the Oklahoma cast are in other shows from Shakespeare to World Premieres.

[goodlead]

Posted: 8/18/18 at 9:49pm

Thanks for your report.

[CindersGolightly]

Posted: 8/19/18 at 7:20am

I’m seeing it in October! Will report back.

[BJR]

Posted: 8/19/18 at 9:02am

Such an incredible concept for the show. I wish I could make it over to OSF this year, or that the production would move on!

Not sure if it's been mentioned in another thread, but here's a great NYTimes article on the OSF production, as well as the one coming to Brooklyn.

"In This ‘Oklahoma!,’ She Loves Her and He Loves Him"

[A Director]

Posted: 8/19/18 at 2:59pm

Here's the trailer for the production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0V9MzpGoas

[edmundog2]

Posted: 8/19/18 at 4:26pm

A Director pretty much covered it, though I would point out that in "It's A Scandal", they did change "just one hen" to "just one cock". But how could you blame them? Really, it's the best Oklahoma I've ever seen. The show usually - and this is not a criticism, it's something that happens to a lot of pioneering shows - plays a little cheesy, a little trite. But this production really found the emotional core. And it wasn't just the "gimmick" of playing with gender. They made it a fully integrated part of the story.

My only complaint is at the end...

 

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During the fight, Jud attempts to kill himself with the Little Wonder and Curly tries to stop him, rather than him falling on his knife. This makes what was already a clear accident and case of self-defense even more so, and the whole kangaroo court trial is even more of a dragger than it usually is.

Also, Act One is long as hell, but that's not their fault, that's the script.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 8/20/18 at 3:57am

I saw it- the production was an incredible success and something that is a must see. However, I found there were issues with the same sex Laurie and Curly:

Curly was played as a woman playing a man rather than a woman playing a woman who is in love with a girl. The same sex concept is something truly revolutionary and fantastic all around, but it did not work here because the actress playing Curly played the role as too much of a male character. Obviously the role would be played with traits of masculinity no matter what, but the actresses”s portrayal felt like a woman playing a male role, not a woman playing a lesbian role. The keys were also too low for Curly in my opinion which just reinforced the problem of Curly being counter intuitively portrayed as a man instead of as a lesbian woman. The keys could have been higher so the actress could belt the notes or sing them in a strong country MT mix- instead they were too low and ruined some of the harmonies with Laurie. The performance felt forced in my opinion when it really should not have been.

Ado Andy and Will Parker were a terrific pairing though especially the former who nearly stole the show. Some of the production changes were a little too preachy, but it is an incredible piece of work that is definitely worth seeing. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is one of the greatest theatrical companies ever and is something that needs to be acknowledged on a national level even more then it has been already.

[Mr. Honey]

Posted: 8/26/18 at 12:26pm

Just saw this Friday night. Making the principal couples same-sex didn't come off so much as a gimmick, but more of an experiment. The characters didn't deal with issues modern day gay and lesbian couples often deal with, such as family/societal disapproval, internalized homophobia etc. They all lived in this alternate universe where a woman asking another woman to the box social was not out of the ordinary. Same for Will and Ado Andy (!)--all the other characters were very matter of fact about it. Jud, played as a man by and as a man as originally written, knew that Curly (a woman) was his main competition for Laurey, but that aspect of it was never commented upon. Same thing for race. The cast was multiracial, including both couples, and nobody batted an eye at that either (in turn of the century Oklahoma!). The setting was really a utopia we would all like to live in where there were no LGBT or racial "issues."  That in itself was the most striking part of the production for me.

The audience ate the whole thing up. I've never seen such an enthusiastic response to Oklahoma!. The actors really sold it and looked like they were having a great time.  And Oregon Shakespeare Festival makes a huge effort to have diverse casts (on Saturday I saw Sense and Sensibility and the three Dashwood sisters were all from different racial groups). If you get a chance to go to Ashland, go. Great town, great theater.

[goodlead]

Posted: 8/26/18 at 6:24pm

How do they treat the chorus?  Is it implied that the cowboys are all gay and the women are all lesbians?  And what about the "Kansas City" lyric "as round above as (s)he was round below"?  I guess that description could apply to a sexy man as well as to a woman, but it seems a stretch.

[Mr. Honey]

Posted: 8/27/18 at 12:31am

In the ensemble numbers there were same sex as well as opposite sex couples dancing. It really was this utopia in which there were homosexual and heterosexual couples, but no mention or even thought of "gay" or "lesbian." Characters just seemed to gravitate to whoever they wanted to and nobody else seemed to notice or care one way or another. 

I'm not sure about the Kansas City lyric, but it was kind of funny that Will Parker came back home and sang about all the hot male burlesque performers he saw in in the city.  They did change lyrics to let you know he was talking about men--but it was just a word or two like changing the word "girls" to "boys."

[A Director]

Posted: 8/27/18 at 1:59am

The multiracial  cast in this production reflects multiracial Oklahoma in 1906.

There has been diverse casting at the OSF for years.  It is not a huge effort.  Of the 11 productions this season only two did not have a diverse cast.  Destiny of Desire had an all Latinx cast  and Snow In Midsummer has an all Asian cast because both were written to be performed that way.