OKLAHOMA! (3/31/18)

Sing Along Show and Tell: 75th Anniversary Celebration
Music and Lyrics of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

Matt Gibson, Laura Darrell, Misy Singson, Jan Horvath, and Aram Tchobanian, with Jonathon Lynch, Music Director

This. Was. Fun. First off it occurred on the actual 75th anniversary of Oklahoma!’s opening Broadway performance—March 31, 1943 (and no, I was not there). We sang Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, I Cain’t Say No!, and People Will Say We’re in Love, as well as My Favorite Things (Sound of Music), Getting to Know You (The King and I), Some Enchanted Evening (South Pacific), You’ll Never Walk Alone (Carousel), and Oklahoma. D’oh! As they say on TV, though, but wait—there’s more.

The above-named performers were song leaders, though that wasn’t really explained beforehand. Were we supposed to just listen and then join in on the chorus? If so, that did not happen. We’re New Yorkers. We jumped in, feet first, from the get go. The first three went well, quickly, one right after the other. Then we got to the ‘Show and Tell’ portion. One of the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts’ calling cards is their vast holdings of ephemera—letters, opening night telegrams, collected papers, handwritten scores (including scratch-outs and edits); some of these were on display.

After the first three sing alongs, our host for the afternoon introduced a library theater historian who graciously accepted the challenge of a party game, against a trio of audience volunteers. The game was A-YIP-I-O -or- I Cain’t Say (that I K)No(w). Trite? Yes. Funny? Yes. Using an archived Theater Guild program, the audience volunteers were asked to name a musical based on Green Grow the Lilacs, with characters named Curly, Laurey, and Aunt Eller. Ding! They got it. The theater historian was asked to define obscure references from ‘Theater Glossary’ from the same Theater Guild program. Of course he couldn’t, but we were treated to some obscure theater history when the actual answers were revealed. There were two more rounds, with equally skewed results. You get the drift.

Then back to the singing with songs from Sound of Music, King and I, South Pacific, and Carousel. These had wider ranges and were a little less successful, but I sang out like the trouper that I used to be. In reality, the only Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals I ever performed in were Carousel and The King and I. The former at a now-defunct non-Equity dinner theater and the latter at a now-defunct Equity dinner theater. Yep, I had a string of defuncting (is so a word!) theaters in the 1980s—but I also helped reopen Paper Mill Playhouse (sorry, I digressed there).

The second game of the afternoon was Yall’s Favorite Things, which was a game that featured the theater historian (good sport that he was) guessing titles of songs while audience members called out clues or hummed the tune of the song. It was fun. There was also a segment where an audience member did the same, with really, really easy questions/answers. Lots of fun. Of note, Gerard Alessandrini (of Forbidden Broadway) was in the audience as was the daughter of the original Ali Hakim from Oklahoma, in 1943. All backed up, of course, with archival material from LPA’s vast resources. We also learned that Oklahoma! was awarded an honorary Pulitzer Prize. Who knew? Not me but now we all do.

What could top all of that? We sang Oklahoma, including O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A, Ok-la-ho-o-o-ma! Yeow!!

ConcertMeister