Oklahoma ! Analysis

“There’s a moment you’ve been waiting all your life for. When you find the very reason you’re alive for.” This semester included a small moment in my life, which had an impact on my life. My love for musicals began to heighten beginning college. I have created a fifteen-hour musical soundtrack playlist, to paying $400 to watch “Hamilton: An American Musical” in Chicago. Musicals have a way of inspiring individuals and have increased my drive to work in the entertainment business. This semester, I casually looked at what musicals were playing in the Indianapolis area, and I came across the musical “Finding Neverland.” I ended up getting tickets for the October 20 show. Little did I know this show would have such an impact on me.

the audiences were excited to see, one of those being Oklahoma! by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

For this assignment. I will be talking about the original musical performance of 42nd street. I will present the conditions of the stage and setting for the original stage performance. In this, I will talk about the plot and the characters of 42nd street, how the plot progresses and how each character has their own purpose in the story in comparison to each other. I will talk about the underlying themes of 42nd street; how these themes are important

the rest of the century. As you watch these videos notice how musicals come to represent

While the events in Kansas spurred debates in Congress and in many ways added to the growing divide between North and South, the violence did not spread outside of Kansas and there were no large scale battles between proslavery and antislavery groups. Much of the credit for the maintenance of relative law and order is owed to the United States Army. The Army acted as a peace keeping force between the two opposing political factions, often called in by the Governor to assist in disbanding militias on both sides and prevent open war. Although the Army didn’t participate in the Wakarusa War, Governor Shannon recognized the Army as the instrument of the federal government to maintain law and order and to keep the peace in future confrontations. Under Colonel Edwin V. Sumner, commander of the First Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, the U.S. Army intervened in Kansas on multiple occasions. The Army served warrants, arrested criminals, and marched to stop both sides from slaughtering each other in large numbers. The First Cavalry accomplished its mission without firing a single shot. According to John Garver, in his doctorate dissertation The Role of the U.S. Army in the Colonization of the Trans-Missouri West:

Show: Oklahoma                         Date: 1930’s (Movie 1950’s) Music by: Richard Rodgers                    Book by: Oscar Hammerstein II Lyrics by: Oscar Hammerstein II               Choreography by: Agnes de Mille Location and time of story: 1930’s Oklahoma                Principal Characters: Curly – tenor Laurey – Soprano Ali Hakim – Speaking part Jud Fry –

Oklahoma! Is the first musical that was written by both Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers, or commonly known as the pair “Rodgers and Hammerstein”. Written in 1906 and produced in 1943 on Broadway; the pair wrote this musical revolving around the love stories of various people living in Oklahoma territory when there was a very firm grip on gender roles, especially the presence of male domination. Oklahoma! Supplies the audience with heavy acts of male domination in various dance numbers like “The Farmer and the Cowman” songs; such as “Poor Jud is Dea”, “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin” and even disputes between cowboys and farmers. Oklahoma’s patriotic love story seems as if it was made to be viewed by people as an act of recreation, but also for people who want to explore the time of frontier America where male dominance was heavily present.

Throughout the 1920’s, African Americans were also changing the scene of popular culture. With the rise in ragtime, black musicians began to form national identity, and what was originally African American developed into purely American. The harsh themes of black oppression and unequal treatment would not be present in American musical theatre until the time of Show Boat. Towards the end of the 1920’s, a combination of Jewish writers and lyricists along with the rhythms of African American musicians brought new ideas to the musical and created a story, an American story: Show

Jukebox musicals began in film and later shifted to theatre. They had begun to make theatre more popular with the public, which had begun to gravitate towards film and music. By combining the two, they gain some of the same as well as a whole new audience. I will discuss how this came to be by speaking of the shift that occurred.

Before the Depression, Americans prospered during the roaring twenties. This was an exuberant era in which traditional values made way for new morals. The 20s were known for the freewheeling spirits of the flapper, new dances like the Charleston, and new and legendary literary writers. Subsequently, “the Works Progress Administration enabled ‘fantastic’ new opportunities for black performers, artists, and writers to mobilize the popular front as an anodyne to the economic hardships of the 1930s,” (Johnson 354).

The Great Depression in the 1930s was a devastating blow to the American economy and peoples. In fact, it left 15 million people, more than twenty percent of the population, unemployed and without a source of income. Jobs were few and far between for everyone, but some of those whom the unemployment hit hardest were those involved in theater and the arts. That was where the Federal Theater Project (FTP) was intended to come into the picture; however, it did not do so successfully.

Oklahoma! by Trevor Nunn is a romantic musical that revolves around two characters, Curly (played by Hugh Jackman) and Laurey (played by Josefina Gabrielle), who are not as expressive about their love for one another as they should be. The setting of Oklahoma! occurs during the development of the west in the state of Oklahoma. Furthermore, as the story progresses, both Curly and Laurey remain distant from one another and try to provoke jealousy, in order to make the other admit their love.

The music that was present in World War II was extremely versatile and happy, which helped keep spirits high among everybody. Styles such as swing, blues, and jazz were popular music styles at the time. By the end of 1941, 96.2% of Americans owned radios. This granted greater access to music and information on the war. This is in contrast to World War I, where most citizens of the world were not as connected to the war through radio. In a way, the mass distribution of music was unifying for the American citizens and troops. However, many African-American musical artists used music to highlight the hypocrisy of the Americans fighting for freedom at that time because there was still a lot of segregation and discrimination in the United States and in it’s military.

Furthermore, Oklahoma was seen as a success in 1943 where the white people were able to prove their American identity. Although, the Native American belongs to the territory of Oklahoma we see the connection between land ownership and race even though they were removed they never were erased where they were absent on stage but were present in context of the history of the Wild West. Even in the song, "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin" we see this connection. The title of the story Oklahoma refers to the Indians and we see how in the song the White chorus chants the sons referring to the Indians as Red people which is seen as unpleasant. Oklahoma was developed during the time of World War II , and wee see how the Wild West was significant for American patriotism, American Spirit, and identity. Thus, we see how the identity and race of the Whites and the Native Americans were on the Western Frontier being more influenced by the war in America. The information in the interpretation was good where I was able to see the historical context of the musical understanding the story

Having heard of the movie, and many of its most endearing songs like "Some Enchanted Evening," and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair," I was somewhat prepared for the on-stage performance at the University of Miami Jerry Herman Ring Theatre. What I wasn't prepared for was to actually laugh out loud, and be completely riveted by the performances, the costumes, the acting, and the singing. The story of South Pacific was not one I was completely familiar with; before seeing the play, I had no idea it took place during World War Two. The setting is therefore a curious combination of tropical paradise and war. Thankfully, there is more of the former than the latter in this lighthearted comedy musical. South Pacific is not just a comedy, though. There are comedic elements, but it would be best described as a comedy-drama because it touches on some sensitive themes related to racism, relationships, and of course, the meaning of war.