{"id":250724,"date":"2016-09-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/oklahoma-is-a-musical-extravaganza\/"},"modified":"2016-09-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-09T07:00:00","slug":"oklahoma-is-a-musical-extravaganza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/oklahoma-is-a-musical-extravaganza\/","title":{"rendered":"'\u00a1Oklahoma!' es un espect\u00e1culo musical"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Charlene Baldridge<\/p>\n

If opening night was any indication, New Village Arts has another musical hit on its hands, with Rodgers and Hammerstein\u2019s 1943 Broadway musical, \u201cOklahoma!\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only that, there are new theater seats, still ample legroom, and a new soundboard (balance was still being worked out Saturday evening by sound designer Chad Goss). All other elements are there, the casting (director is debuting Teddy Eck), costumes (Mary Larson) and choreography (Julio Catano) are well nigh perfect, and any rough spots are likely to be smoothed during the run, which lasts until Sept. 25.<\/p>\n

The action \u2014 based on the Lynn Riggs play, \u201cGreen Grow the Lilacs,\u201d is set in Oklahoma territory in 1903, just prior to statehood \u2014 involves a cowboy named Curley (Jack French, who opens the show with \u201cOh, What a Beautiful Mornin\u2019\u201d) and his love (\u201cPeople Will Say We\u2019re in Love\u201d) for a farm girl named Laurie (Charlene Koepf).<\/p>\n

\"org_img_1471297233_L-OKNVA1webtop\"<\/a>A parallel romance concerns (\u201cI\u2019m Just a Girl Who Cain\u2019t Say No\u201d) Ado Annie (Alexandra Slade, who takes the role\u2019s prize for subtlety and depth of understanding) and (\u201cEverything\u2019s Up to Date in Kansas City\u201d) Will Parker (Zackary Scot Wolfe) and his competition, a peddler named Ali Hakim (scene-stealing, wonderful Jonathan Sangster).<\/p>\n

The pivotal role of Jud Fry \u2014 the reclusive farmhand who threatens Laurie and Curley \u2014 is played by the vocally splendid actor Christopher Lesson, one of the best we\u2019ve ever seen. With customary warmth and reliability, Susan E.V. Boland (\u201cThe Farmer and the Cowman\u201d) portrays Laurie\u2019s Aunt Eller. The singing\/dancing ensemble comprising Chris Bona, Devin Collins, Kelly Derouin, Anton Maroun, Jillian Porter and Jacob Reiss, create characterful, titled roles.<\/p>\n

It would have shortened the length of the (nearly three-hour) evening to cut part of Agnes de Mille\u2019s original Dream Sequence, which makes explicit Laurey\u2019s dilemma, caught as she is between two types of fear.<\/p>\n

\"Ensemble<\/a>
Ensemble actors perform dance scene from \u201cOklahoma!\u201d (Courtesy of NVA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A word about Jack French, who plays Curley: He is tall, handsome and very young, having just graduated with a B.A. from Point Loma Nazarene College and is aimed towards a master\u2019s in opera performance. He has upcoming opera and operetta assignments with Point Loma Opera Theatre and San Diego Opera\u2019s Opera on the Track program.<\/p>\n

When he first enters as Curley, it\u2019s a surprise to hear such a well-trained, operatic, and carefully produced sound emanating from such a regular looking guy. Further stage experience under a variety of directors will help integrate the multiple facets of his talent, both vocally and dramatically. Right now he\u2019s a wow singer with an underdeveloped sense of Curley\u2019s place in the musical theater pantheon. He needs to put on a bit of non-innate swagger and shed the idea of perfectly rounded tones in order to find easeful matinee idol employment. Meanwhile, enjoy what you hear.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>Not much can be done about the meager orchestral forces \u2014 Music Director Tony Houck on piano, a particularly over-amped Nobuko Kemmatsu on percussion, and the wandering, onstage presence of singer\/dancer\/player Morgan Carberry, attractive as she is, on violin. One supposes that space and cost are factors, but two pianos sans percussion might have been better \u2014 it is impossible for one piano to play all the intended\/expected notes.<\/p>\n

For one with original orchestrations still lingering in her ears and memory, it was unsettling to say the least. And when is someone going to tell Charlene Koepf (Laurie) that she needn\u2019t sing so loudly and with such \u201cpoint\u201d to be understood?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Charlene Baldridge has been writing about the arts since 1979. You can follow her blog at charlenebaldridge.com or reach her at charb81@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Por Charlene Baldridge<\/p>","protected":false},"author":731,"featured_media":250725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018Oklahoma!\u2019 is a musical extravaganza","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/731"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}