‘The cast are phenomenal’ – Musical Oklahoma! set for Stevenage stage
Musical Oklahoma! can be seen at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage - Credit: Gordon Craig Theatre
Great American musical Oklahoma! opens in Stevenage this week with producers promising a spectacular show.
The exploits of Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly and farmhand Jud Fry, can be seen on stage at the Gordon Craig Theatre from Tuesday, August 28.
Featuring well-known numbers Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, Kansas City and I Cain’t Say No, Oklahoma! was the first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II.
Based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play Green Grow the Lilacs, the musical celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, and director Catherine Lomax can’t wait for audiences to see the show in Stevenage.
Speaking on the day the set arrived at the theatre in Lytton Way, Catherine said: “We started rehearsing on Saturday, August 11 and the cast are phenomenal. They are in a league of their own.
“They’ve virtually all done stuff in the West End and national tours.
“The cast have some of the most amazing musical theatre voices you’ve ever heard.”
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As well as the top-notch cast, the production will be backed by an incredible 16-piece band.
“When I booked Oklahoma!, I booked it specifically being aware of the fact that it’s got this fantastic score,” said Catherine.
“I think it’s really important that if you are going to commit to a show as big as Oklahoma! that you commit to the thing that everybody knows.
“And everybody knows that the music is of a particular standard, and Rodgers and Hammerstein created this amazing musical arrangement. So we have an enormous band.”
This summer’s in-house Gordon Craig production follows in the footsteps of hit musicals Singin’ in the Rain and Mel Brooks’ The Producers.
And audiences are in for a treat, according to Gordon Craig artistic director Catherine.
She added: “People can expect the sassiest musical, a phenomenal band, the most breathtaking voices on stage and some of the most superb acting you’ll have the joy of seeing, not to mention some utterly fabulous dance routines.
“It ticks every single box that a proper musical theatre evening out should.”
• Oklahoma! plays at the Gordon Craig Theatre from Tuesday, August 28 to Saturday, September 8.
For tickets, visit www.gordon-craig.co.uk or call the box office on 01438 363200.
