‘OKLAHOMA!’ forces cart before the horse

By Shari Goldstein Stern

If it doesn’t look like a duck or quack like a duck, it simply ain’t no duck. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein must be rolling over in their graves. Dallas audiences are ambivalent about a show that shares the name the artists gave their 1943 acclaimed, endearing hit Broadway musical, “OKLAHOMA!” But does this version quack like the original? The current production is entering its final weekend at the Winspear Opera House in the Arts District, presented by Broadway Dallas (BD) with remaining evening and matinee performances through June 12. 

First, on the bright side: Sasha Hutchings as Laurey sings a “People will say we’re in love” with Sean Grandillo’s Curly that can take your breath away. A standout is Barbara Walsh as Aunt Eller. The seasoned, LA Ovation Award-winning actor has received nominations for Tonys and Drama Desk Awards, and has a cache of Broadway, off-Broadway and roles in TV series to her credit. 

An audience could enjoy an entire evening of the music alone from the seven-piece orchestra, which includes solos from Will Parker’s Hennessey Winkler and Grandillo’s vocals and acoustic guitar.

For this story, set in the old west, prop guns are central to the theme of this 1943 blockbuster musical by the talented musical icons Rodgers and Hammerstein. Lust, love, big fight scenes and even killing described a wagon load of gun-slingin’ cowpokes, hired hands and gunfighters going after the same land and the same cowgirls in town.

In the 1940s and 1950s, teens and adults weren’t entering schools unnoticed holding AR-15 assault rifles with the sole purpose of randomly murdering children and teachers. 

Only a week before “OKLAHOMA!” opened at the Winspear, 19 elementary school students and two teachers were shot and killed, 57 wounded in Uvalde, Texas. The town is less than 300 miles from Houston, where the National Rifle Association (NRA) held its annual meeting and exhibit three days following the Uvalde elementary school massacre.

Patrons who walked out on Wednesday night’s opening press performance of “OKLAHOMA!” a few minutes into the first act didn’t have the stamina of those waiting for intermission to make their getaway with a sigh of relief.

“Dark and thought provoking?” Disturbing. “Deep and enlightening?” Wrong place and time. How about a hearty rendition of a beloved, old musical when you need to escape the horrific news of the day through a kickin,’ entertaining show like “back in the day?” Not gonna’ happen.

Every lyric and every note in the current production is an exact match to the original, but when performed with a 7-piece band, the effect isn’t the same. Dances without trained dancers, some of the singers with only borderline musical theater voices, odd casting and bizarre projections turned the anticipated energy into “OKLAHOMA! on Valium.”

Are the half a dozen gunracks on the stage left wall, storing 38 easily accessible long guns, intended to be period décor? Are the amplified gunshots in lieu of brilliant orchestral music meant to replace frou-frou country dresses, apple pie, covered wagons and overalls? Costumes for the show are current styles, mostly denim, and include short skirts and hoodies, each with the requisite Western boots.

Undoubtedly, there are those patrons who loved and more who will adore the show. When you read the reviews, you will notice polar opposite opinions. Some are grateful for a show that examines the motivations of characters who are based on the originals. 

That would include the abysmal Jud, whose dark, angry side is apparent in the original show. But in this version Jud is a dark, bizarre, angry rocker.

The show’s fans may think a stage filled with high school lunchroom tables and chairs filled with most of the cast most of the time is an artsy interpretation. They must forgive the scarcity of big production numbers, besides a square dance. And then there are the “old school” purists like this writer, who feels cheated without the traditional bells and whistles in one of these favorite classics.

Replacing a colorful, three-dimensional backdrop with rows of corn as high as an elephant’s eye, a stack of corn on the cob on a table is a prop, with some of the women shucking away.

Earlier this year, DB’s production of “Come from Away” was brilliantly set and executed on a sparse stage with only rows of chairs — representing airliner seats. The scene was surprisingly effective with chairs replacing any props and used cleverly and rhythmically in movement and dance numbers. The set was significant to the story. This is a newer musical. There’s no vintage production for comparison, giving audiences an opportunity to experience the show on its own merits, and decide to like the contemporary style or not. 

Historically, while Dallas’ most legendary pawn shop loaned prop guns to Dallas Summer Musicals (now Broadway Dallas) throughout the decades for their entertaining productions like “OKLAHOMA!,” “Destry Rides Again,” “Annie, Get your Gun” and even “West Side Story,” no special license or background check was necessary to weed out the crazies. In transactions, there weren’t references to violence associated with guns or the inherent dangers when they fall into the wrong hands. That’s different in 2022. 

Two hours after there was another shooting in a Tulsa, Okla. hospital killing five, the following disclaimer appeared in the “OKLAHOMA! Playbill:”

“Prop Gun Use Warning”

“In the wake of the recent tragedy in Uvalde [May 24], we want to make audiences aware of the deliberate use of guns in the production of “OKLAHOMA!” Guns are fired four times during the show and are loudly amplified. The guns used and displayed on stage during the show are all prop guns. No live ammunition is kept on site.”

Tell that to actor Alec Baldwin, who accidentally fired a prop gun that injured the director and killed the cinematographer while on set filming his movie, “Rust” in October. That gun met all the same safety requirements, and yet it was inexplicably loaded.

When this final weekend’s performances take stage, another five documented shootings will have stunned the country over the past weekend, including another in Texas.

Thanks to dependable, generous Dallas audiences, “OKLAHOMA!” received a hearty, standing ovation.

For information and tickets, visit broadwaydallas.org/shows/Oklahoma.