Oklahoma! (2016) – Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Music by

Richard Rodgers

Book and Lyrics by

Oscar Hammerstein II

Original Dances by

Agnes de Mille

Based on Lynn Riggs’ “Green Grow the Lilacs”

The blockbuster show that set the standard for Broadway musicals and opened Riverside Center Dinner Theater in 1998 returns to our stage following its recent Broadway revival. The high-spirited rivalry between cowboys and farmers in early-1900s Indian territory provides a colorful background for love between Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl. Add in farmer Andrew Carnes’ impatience to marry off daughter Ado Annie (the girl who can’t say “no”) with the reluctant peddler Ali Hakim, a determined but naïve suitor Will Parker, the reclusive and menacing farmhand Jud Fry, and a country-fresh mix of pioneer-spirit early Americana, and you have one of the most heralded and time-honored musicals of all time. This initial collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein blends song, ballet, and “hoe-down” stepping and features among its musical highlights Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, People Will Say We’re in Love, The Surrey with the Fringe on Top, Many a New Day, Kansas City, and the triumphant song of the brand new state, Oklahoma! Whether or not you’ve seen it before, bring the kids and experience its unbridled joy again!

OKLAHOMA!

is presented through special arrangement with Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals, Inc. (R&H).

All authorized performance materials are also supplied by R & H Theatricals.

www.rnh.com