Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Music & Lyrics present a brand new production
Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Music & Lyrics present a brand new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Oklahoma!, which will tour the UK and Ireland, opening in the Derngate auditorium in Northampton from Thursday 19 to Saturday 28 February 2015.
As refreshing and thrilling as the day it was written, Oklahoma! is the original feel-good musical. From the award-winning producers of the highly successful tours of The King & I and Fiddler on the Roof, this new production of one of the great classic American musicals will feature a large cast and chorus, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and with new choreography by Drew McOnie.
Playing Aunt Eller is Belinda Lang, perhaps best known for long-running BBC sitcom 2point4 Children and last seen at Royal & Derngate in Ladies in Lavender, and taking the role of pedlar Ali Hakim is Gary Wilmot (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). The cast also includes Ashley Day (The Book of Mormon, The Wizard of Oz,) as Curly, Charlotte Wakefield (The Sound of Music, Mamma Mia!) as Laurey and Nic Greenshields (Guys and Dolls, Billy Elliot, The Phantom of the Opera) as Jud Fry, all accompanied by a live orchestra.
Oklahoma!, with music by Richard Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, was based on the Lynn Riggs’ play Green Grow the Lilacs and was the first musical written by the duo. It was originally produced on Broadway in 1943 and the Academy Award-winning film was released in 1955.
Set in the Oklahoma territory in the early 1900s, the musical tells the story of two sets of star-crossed lovers. Cowboy Curly loves Laurey, Aunt Eller’s niece, but Curly’s rival is the mysterious and dangerous hired hand Jud Fry. Meanwhile, Ado Annie is torn between cowboy Will and peddler Ali Hakim. Their stories are told with the help of some of the best-loved songs in musical theatre history, including Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, I’m Just a Girl Who Cain’t Say No, Surrey With a Fringe on Top, Kansas City, People Will Say We’re in Love and, of course, the rousing title song itself.
Celebrating the vigour of America’s pioneering spirit with classic tunes and boot-stomping dances, Oklahoma! bursts onto the Derngate stage from Thursday 19 to Saturday 28 February, with evening performances at 7.30pm and matinees at 2.30pm on Wednesday and both Saturdays. Tickets – priced from £13 to £35* – can be booked by calling Box Office on 01604 624811 or online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk.
* A transaction fee of £2.80 applies to telephone and website bookings only. Does not apply in person, or to Groups and Friends, and is per-transaction, not per-ticket.