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April 19, 2002
The Susan Stroman/Trevor Nunn production
The Susan Stroman/Trevor Nunn production of "Oklahoma" on Broadway...well, it is one weird show. The play itself (the Story Of America, says the NY Times) has a lot of dark subject matter anyway, but the themes of this show were pretty much loneliness and alienation. When the villain Jud Fry sings "I'm awake in a lonely room", with a forebodingly dark sky setpiece behind him, an audience identification with his character, that is absent in other productions, and in the movie, is undeniable. Also, Laurie's character in this production is basically the story of a young butch lesbian in overalls freaking out and finally caving to convention and agreeing to marry Curly the Cowboy, who opportunistically proposes right after Laurie is almost raped. During the Dream Ballet sequence, she actually runs away from all the men pursuing her, chases after these two twin sisters, and carouses with some sexy burlesque-dancing ladies. Shirley Jones never did anything like that.
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posted by amy at 11:30 AM | #
