Interview: Ford Haeuser of OKLAHOMA! at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre
We talk to Ford Haeuser about Oklahoma at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre.
Broadway World was fortunate to engage with Ford Haeuser www.fordhaeuser.com, the director of Oklahoma! at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre (March 27th through May 10th). A choreographer, director, and educator based in New York City, his work in theatre and dance has taken him across the globe.
As a director and choreographer, his work has been seen at Maple’s Rep, Prather Entertainment, and Bigfork Summer Playhouse, among others, with productions including Disney’s Newsies, The Addams Family, A Christmas Carol, The Drowsy Chaperone, Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, Show Boat, and The Andrews Brothers. He has also created shows for Legoland New York and Idlewild theme parks in partnership with RWS Global. He recently was resident director for World Cruise Productions at Princess Cruise Lines and resident choreographer for the National World War II Museum’s Stage Door Canteen in New Orleans, LA. We are especially grateful that he took time out of his busy production schedule to answer a few questions.
BWW: Oklahoma! is a classic with a long history, what drew you personally to directing this show at this moment?
Haeuser: Oklahoma! has always been one of my favorite pieces of theatre, and I’m so grateful for my history with this show. This is my third time working on Oklahoma!, with my first production being right here at the Dutch Apple 11 years ago. Oklahoma! is considered to be the first piece of American musical theatre, and the opportunity to participate in that legacy is exciting. Every time I return to this show I find more depth, and more meaning, and more complexity. Being able to have a relationship with a show like that is deeply thrilling to me as a creative person. I also find the themes to be relevant to our modern audiences. The idea that these settlers were able to build this community from the ground up and still find moments of joy and celebration, despite the hardships of living in the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the century, is reflective of the relationships that I think we should all strive for in our communities today.
BWW: How do you balance honoring the traditional elements of Oklahoma! while bringing a fresh perspective to a contemporary audience?
Haeuser: In this production, we kept most of the traditional trappings you would expect from a golden age musical – period sets and costumes, and mostly traditional approaches to the music. However, I made it my goal to strip away the sentimentality that we sometimes assign to “classic” musical theatre. Instead of approaching Oklahoma! as some relic from our theatre past, I instead leaned into Oscar Hammerstein’s brilliant script to find clues as to who these people truly are, and how we can make them shine for today’s audience. All of the characters in Oklahoma! have agency – most significantly the women – and the show is driven by their wants and needs. I also reworked my concept of the dream ballet. In Agnes de Mille’s brilliant ballet, Laurey and Curly are represented by dancer versions of themselves while the performers who play those two leads get a break. In my version, Laurey is part of her dream ballet – acting as an observer and seeing all the things that she hopes and dreams for herself.
BWW: What themes in Oklahoma! do you think resonate most strongly with audiences today?
Haeuser: I think that the most relevant themes in Oklahoma! center around how each character is willing to fight for what they want, and how these characters build community. The box social in Act II is a perfect encapsulation of both of these themes. You get to watch the cowboys and the farmers come together and live in peace. You get to watch our characters pursue love, or economic success, and they challenge each other in ways that are really thrilling to watch.
BWW: Can you talk about your vision for this production in terms of tone, setting, or staging choices?
Haeuser: I decided early on that I wanted this production to live and breathe in an honest way. I wanted a show that drove forward and that felt relevant to today’s audience. At the beginning of my process I wrote myself a mission statement that reads as follows:
“At its core, Oklahoma! is a story about a community learning how to not only survive, but thrive in harsh conditions as they lay the groundwork for the creation of our 46th state. It is an honest look at a people who moved west to start a new life in a quickly changing world. Through hard work and an ever present sense of self-determination, these people were able to build a world insistent on endurance, where strong community bonds allow them to weather the hard times with love and joy.”
This statement became my launching point in my endeavor to build the world in which Oklahoma! exists. Instead of leaning into some campy interpretation of bygone musical theatre, I aimed to lean into the reality that the characters in Oklahoma! reflect communities that really existed in the Oklahoma Territory at the turn of the century. Oklahoma! isn’t just a giant in the lexicon of theatre history, but it is also a snapshot of a piece of American history itself.
BWW: The show blends lighthearted romance with darker undertones, how did you approach directing that emotional range?
Haeuser: Another theme I carried with me through this process was showing the brightest lights and the darkest darks. The idea that these people could live in a wildly harsh world while still finding love and joy was thrilling to me. I think that these characters feel wildly at times, and at other times show great restraint. They say things they don’t mean, and volley for position within their personal relationships. I was blessed with an absolutely fantastic cast who came in and supported my vision from the beginning. I think the emotional range is evident in the material – not just the script of the show, but in the music and dance as well. Bringing these three elements together to transport the audience along the emotional journey of Oklahoma! was such a joy!
BWW: How did you work with your cast to develop their characters, particularly iconic roles like Curly, Laurey, and Jud?
Haeuser: I am grateful to have brilliant performers in this cast. Connor Raposa, Jenna Willet, and Cody Howard – playing Curly, Laurey, and Jud respectively – are all incredible actors who were willing to jump headfirst into my vision of the show. We were all able to have in-depth conversations about who these characters are, and it was so much fun to collaborate with them to find characters that were fully dimensional and lived in the world we all created. Curly, although generally seen as the “hero” of Oklahoma!, generally is much more rambunctious and arrogant that perhaps he has been played in the past, and I think Connor does a fantastic job. As opposed to playing some kind of damsel, I wanted Jenna to approach Laurey as a woman with agency who takes her destiny into her own hands, and I think she delivered brilliantly. Cody, who plays Jud, and I had many conversations circling the idea that Jud can’t be just a monster. There must be a world where Laurey would pick him. There has to be at least the potential for redemption, and I think Cody’s nuanced performance does all that and more. Most importantly all of the characters in this show are willing to fight and even die for what they want. The stakes are incredibly high and every performer in this production rose to that expectation.
BWW: What do you hope audiences take away from this production after the final curtain?
Haeuser: I hope that audiences leave the theatre feeling hopeful, and that this production reminds them that they have the ability to work towards their goals. I hope they fall in love with our show as much as I have. I want them to come out of the theatre humming Richard Rodgers’ beautiful score. And most of all I want to fan the flame of their love for live theatre.
BWW: For community members who may be seeing Oklahoma! for the first time, what are you most excited for them to experience?
Haeuser: I’m honestly most excited for first time Oklahomans to experience the show as a whole. I want them to ride the wave of joy and sorrow and reckless abandon and terrible devastation. This cast is one of the best I’ve had the opportunity to work with, and each and every one of them are delivering fantastic performances. This production really came together – the dancing, music, acting, and design of the show are all beautifully executed. I can’t wait for our audiences to join us to experience this story during the creation of our 46th state!
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