Oklahoma! at the Liverpool Empire evokes real nostalgia for this spectacular musical of stage and screen and is a wonderful evening's entertainment for the whole family.
It was particularly pleasing to see Marti Webb leading the cast as Aunt Eller. (Who can forget her splendid performance in the West End's 'Tell Me on a Sunday' especially written for her by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black?) As Aunt Eller, she plays the stabilising force behind the whole story.
It is 1907 and we are in a territory which is about to become the State of Oklahoma. The musical celebrates the farms and cattle ranches which the early settlers had worked hard to create from the land.
These have become new communities which cannot wait to 'belong' and become part of the United States of America after Oklahoma City itself was established in 1889.
The story begins with Aunt Eller seated outside the farmhouse churning the milk into butter. Curly arrives to invite Laurey to the Box Social that evening. He is totally in love with her and she with him. Yet somehow the need to play hard-to-get and be whimsical gets in the way of their love story.
We hear the classic songs of 'Oh what a beautiful Morning' and 'The Surrey with the Fringe on Top' rendered beautifully and clearly by Curly (Mark Evans) and the fine voice of Laurey (Gemma Sutton) as they sing the duet to a dreamy version of 'People Will Say We're in Love.'
The stage is set with corn 'as high as an elephant's eye' and the ladies' dresses for the Box Social are to die for. The courting takes place by wide-open farm gates in contrast to the lonely smokehouse where the sinister Jud Fry (Pete Gallagher) hangs out.
It is all beautifully choreographed with dance routines in which the cowhands and farmboys leap about the stage as lithely and smoothly and gracefully as ballet dancers. The fight scene with Curly and Jud is very well done indeed.
The Box Social is an evening of dance and merriment where Aunt Eller will auction the ladies' food hampers to the highest bidder and the proceeds will go to build and equip a much needed schoolhouse for the children of the community.
The comic humour of the Pedlar Man (Vas Constanti) and the feminine wiles of his feckless ladyfriend, Ado Annie (Michelle Crook) helps to lift the show.
She is the girl who 'cain't say no' and she does this with great stage presence and a true sense of fun. They both have great comic timing and keep us amused throughout.
The Finale is fantastic and you won't be able to stop tapping your feet. It is a memorable night.
As the refrain says - 'You're doing fine, Oklahoma, Oklahoma! Ok!'
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