Ridgefield Playhouse to Screen OKLAHOMA! in HD, 11/1

Academy Award-winning Hollywood musical "Oklahoma!" returns to select theaters for the first time in 60 years, fully restored in High Definition and with extended pre-show featurette featuring Okie native Kristin Chenoweth singing songs from the classic musical based on the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II stage production. The limited theatrical re-release, a partnership between BY Experience and Rodgers & Hammerstein, An Imagem Company, will be shown at The Ridgefield Playhouse as part of the AAA Northeast Live in HD Series, on Sunday, November 1 at 2pm and 7pm. The theatrical re-release marks the first time theater goers will see the fully restored film on cinema screens. More than 50 professionals spent more than 3,500 hours restoring the film's 275,678 frames. The nine-month process was completed early in 2014 by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. "Oklahoma!" was released October 11, 1955, but its origins date back a dozen years earlier when legendary musical writing team Rodgers & Hammerstein staged their first Broadway production "Oklahoma!." The stage production inspired the classic movie, which was the first feature film shot in the Todd-AO 70 mm process. Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Rod Steiger and Eddie Albert starred in the Academy Award-winning film, which was inducted into the prestigious National Film Registy in 2007. Memorable songs from the film include "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "People Will Say We're in Love," "I Cain't Say No" and the iconic title song "Oklahoma!."

"When Rodgers and Hammerstein produced the movie version of their musical, they opted to be the first motion picture filmed in Mike Todd's then brand new Todd-AO technology," explained Ted Chapin, president and chief creative officer, Rodgers & Hammerstein. "That was incredibly exciting for the movie industry at the time. The fact that Fox's technical crew could restore the original so brilliantly is equally exciting."

For tickets ($15), call or visit the box office at The Ridgefield Playhouse, (203) 438-5795. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a not-for-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT; ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

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