Playwright: Richard Rodgers ( music ) , Oscar Hammerstein ( book and lyrics )
At: American Theatre Company, 1909 W. Byron
Phone: 773-929-1031, $30-$35.
Through: March 4
By: Catey Sullivan
In paring Oklahoma! down to its scruffy, folk-strummed musical roots and simple, vibrant storytelling, Damon Kiely has created a whole new—and wholly wonderful—state for the musical that celebrates the settlement of the heartland territory.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic will perhaps always be associated on a certain level with Shirley Jones, who played feisty farming gal Laurey in the movie version of the groundbreaking musical. But while Jones imbued the role with her golden soprano and porcelain-doll beauty, she never looked for an instant like she'd last a day on the frontier. For his Oklahoma!, Kiely casts actors who might not be vocal powerhouses but who are absolutely believable as folks tough enough to carve a state from the frontier. There's a scrappy strength to this cast, a beauty of earthy rather than ethereal power. Kiely overdoes it a bit by literally smearing dirt on his actors' faces: These pioneers look like they don't so much till the soil as roll around in it all day. But overall, the concept invigorates Oklahoma! with thrilling honesty and exuberance.
The mood is set from the start, when a single guitar string is plucked, sending out an ember of sound that launches music director Malcolm Ruhl's masterful re-orchestration. Instead of giant swoops of symphonic grandeur, the on-stage band ( fiddler Billy Oh, banjo player Mike Przygoda, guitarist Scott Sedlacek and bassist Cody Siragusa ) creates a soundscape that evokes the intimate flicker of campfires and—as it crescendos layer upon glorious layer—the foot-stomping boisterousness of a hard-earned hoedown.
That sets the stage for Matthew Brumlow's Curly, and his revelatory rendition of Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'. You can all but hear the sun coming up in his voice. Nobody could ever accuse Hammerstein of overwriting the part of Curly. It's all too easy for the character to become Frontier Ken—little plastic man on the prairie. Brumlow's no Ken. He's made a flesh-and-blood presence of the smooth-singing cowboy, an impetuous, sometimes cruel, often joyous and mule-stubborn feller firmly anchored in a deep, abiding love of both the land and his gal.
Just as astounding is Marty Higginnbotham's tragic Jud, the outcast who smolders with bitterness at his undeserved status. Instead of being a mere counterpart to Curly, Higginbothanm's Jud is a stark, empathetic reminder that the American dream doesn't reach all people equally. Finally, there's stellar comic work from Casey Campbell as Will Parker, a steer-roping wonder who will never be mistaken for the sharpest hoe in the barn.
The whole thing plays out on Jacqueline and Richard Penrod's marvelous set, a massive covered wagon that unfolds like a great swath of sky arching over the land.