Oklahoma!
Wyndham's Theatre
Date: 17 August 2023 (Thursday), 7:30
Seats: AA 8-9 (Front row!)
(Seen with Jess!)
Notes: This show is a classic - but not as you know it! This show was a last minute pick, and the only show I managed to fit into my summer break due to the few little trips that we took (home to Oz, overnight trip to the Cotswolds, and the 70.3 World Champs in Lahti, Finland!) over my summer holiday. I had grand plans of a matinee every week but that just did not happen... sadly.
But Jess and I decided on the Wednesday to try a show on the Thursday. My list of shows to catch over the summer was long, but my top 3 picks were Oklahoma, We Will Rock You and Spongebob. Jess picked Oklahoma, so on Thursday morning we went for the rush. Jess got upstairs seats and I could not believe my eyes when I was STALLS AA on mine! It had to be front row so we pounced on it!
When we arrived I saw the set and had a mild panic. There were steps going down to the audience... So I asked and was told that there MIGHT be some mild audience interaction and that it MIGHT involve us. So I steeled myself as we sat down. I've seen Oklahoma once before - in a semi-staged prom early in our time here in London. I think it may even have been 2017? So I know the show - it's a classic anyway so I knew all the big songs, and knew that it was Hugh Jackman's big break back in the 90s (not that I was old enough to see it then).
This production has come over from Broadway and it had SUCH a buzz. There was a lot of talk about it being very different and much more modern and edgy. I wasn't sure how they could update the show for a more modern audience but they totally managed it and did it SO WELL. One thing that has stayed the same is the music - I believe some of the orchestrations are different but the lyrics and melodies that you all know are totally there, which for me made the modernisation even more intriguing.
The staging was very bare which I felt really put the focus on the actors and the music. There were definitely no distractions with only a large table and some chairs on the stage, with a few smaller props. It means you have to picture some things but I didn't find that an issue at all. When they were in the smokehouse where Jud Fry sleeps, they did something amazing - they turned all the light off! Every single one, including the exit lights in the auditorium. And they whispered directly into a handheld mic. It was creepy and made it so much more intense and intimate. They even had one gunshot go off in the dark, which I'm glad I saw coming because I'm sure it made a lot of people jump! I was hanging onto Jess' arm at first panicking slightly because I've never been in a theatre so dark and intense before, but funnily enough I adjusted and it became more home-like. The acting was also more intense - the romance was super played up in a sexual way and everyone was just heightened. It really transformed what I had thought of as an old-fashioned, slightly stuffy show into one more thrilling and tense. The ending as well (SPOILERS!!!) was really dramatic, with the shooting of Jud Fry and a violent spray of blood up onto Curly and Laurey. They then sang the final reprise of Oklahoma in a completely different tone, Laurey beginning to melt down as she sung. And then it was over and they were bowing - no curtain music, no bow choreo, no happy ending. It makes sense but it was so shocking that at first nobody was clapping. And then we all were once we realised what had just happened and how it had been done!
They also completely restaged the dream ballet, re-orchestrated using a guitar and more modern instruments and danced by a solo ballet dancer. It was modern ballet, which I found a bit confronting (probably was the point!) but it was really interesting to see that. They also during that and some other points, a handheld camer for extreme close ups which they live projected onto the backdrop so that we could see every tiny thing to bump up the impact even further!
There were a few standout members of the cast for me. Most of them had solo songs, and nobody is really a background performer in this show! I was excited to see one name I knew in the cast - Sally Ann Triplett, who I haven't seen in anything personally, but she's kind of a legend. Her Aunt Eller was really gutsy and just the right amount of coarse and I loved the energy she had. But energy - Paige Peddie as Ado Annie was phenomenal. Her 'I Cain't Say No' was something else! It gave more depth of meaning to the song with her movements and phrasing throughout, and her voice was KILLER. She even came down the stairs in the second verse, moved a lady in the front row out of her seat, and sang to the lady's partner while playing with his hair. His face and the way she did it was priceless. They also added an extra reprise of the chorus using the handheld mic at the end which had a more rock-y vibe that I really liked. She is supposed to be a quite promiscuous character so I liked that she was much less restrained in this version. And then there was Stavros Demetraki as Ali Hakim. He was crazy - very intense and over the top the whole way through, but in the best way. At one point in the dance scene he came right up to the edge of the stage, sculled a beer, then splattered some over us all in the front row. He really seemed upset by the events that befall him throughout the show and made intense and funny eye contact with several audience members at various points, including us! We were hysterical watching him.
The main 3 were also excellent. Patrick Vaill (Jud Fry) was an amazing actor - and reading later, he has played this role in this interpretation of the show in every staging since it was created at a university (including Broadway) and I can see why. He has these intense eyes and serious manner that really does creep you out a little bit. His acting, even in the mostly dark, was really wide-ranging and I really felt for Jud in a way I hadn't before. Sam Palladio played Curly and he was cocky and perfect... And while Jess knew him from a TV show and I then had mild reservations, his voice was incredible. But not as good as Anoushka Lucas (Laurey Williams). She was acting her heart out, and from the front row we could see every little expression and the way she folded in towards Curly in the intimate moments. Her voice was warm and expressive and beautifully controlled through all the emotions and especially through the end.
In the end I'm glad I went to this over Spongebob. It is a classic musical and this adaptation just turned it up to 11 in every way. It was like watching it in bold colour - maybe too intense for some, but it gave this show from 1943 (literally!) a whole new lease of life and showed a modern audience that the material really is a classic. Incredible.
