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SVU Theater Offers ‘Oklahoma!’ Starting Friday
Opening this Friday, March 7, Southern Virginia University’s theater program will present the landmark musical “Oklahoma!” The production will also be performed this Saturday and next Thursday and Friday, March 13-15, all starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center on SVU campus.
Written by the iconic Broadway team Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, “Oklahoma!” tells the story of a confident cowboy who competes with a surly, mysterious farmhand for the honor of taking a lovely young farm woman to a dance. The score features several Broadway favorites, including “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” “Kansas City,” “People Will Say We’re in Love,” and the titular anthem “Oklahoma!”
Director, Broadway performer and SVU theater professor Dallyn Vail Bayles said the musical’s importance in Broadway history can’t be overstated.
‘“Oklahoma!’ was groundbreaking in that it broke all the rules of what should make an entertaining show and wound up being more entertaining than anything else before it,” Bayles states. “It literally invented the modern Broadway musical.”
While on the surface “Oklahoma!” appears as a lively, entertaining musical full of cowboys, farmers, romance and fearless optimism, it also shares the truly American story of a diverse people at the turn of the 20th century preparing to join the Union as a new state.
“The people of the Oklahoma territory represent all of us who eagerly strive to build a home, find belonging, establish a unified community, and achieve a better life,” Bayles said. ‘“Oklahoma!’ is about keeping our hopes alive for a brighter future in spite of the extraordinary obstacles we face. It is a symbol of the indomitable American spirit.”
Joining Professor Bayles on the production team are Jessie Moala (choreographer), Lisa Knudson (rehearsal pianist), Amaree Cluff and Leigh Stoddard (costume design), David Dwyer (technical director, set and lighting design), and SVU theatre senior student Martha Zimmerman (stage manager).
Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite.com. General admission is $12, and senior tickets are $10. Concessions will also be available for purchase.
