Take a trip to Oklahoma!

Rodgers and Hammerstein invade campus theater in spring production.

Just shoot him. Go on. Do it.

Shoot him and take his girl, his horse, his boots, his hat and his maiden aunt Matilda. Then, sing and dance, because that’s what happens in flat places with long names like “Oklahoma,” evidently: everything settled neatly at gunpoint and with plenty of musical interludes, in case events start leaning a little too darkly.

No matter how one may feel about the movie/Broadway/high school/middle school/etc. version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! do not miss Clackamas’ own production of the musical.

It’s the story of Laurey, played by Emily Jackson, and the two men (both idiots in their own right) who want her.

Nick Jones takes on the role of Curly, the decent, bow-legged fellow who loves Laurey, despite likening her to a mule in the first scene. Michael Mitchell is Jud Fry, a squinty, evil, lecherous creeper who desires Laurey for his own vile – rather unholy – purposes.

The rest of the cast is made up of a mix of drama and music students and community members. Choir Director Lonnie Cline and Music Instructor Gary Nelson work as musical directors for the play.

“It’s wonderful how collaborative this production is,” said Director David Smith-English. “[There are] a number of people from the Music Department, the Theatre Department and some really good people from the community.”

“I think we’ll have an approach to the play that people haven’t always seen in the past,” he added.

Part of this approach involves how scene changes are handled. The curtain will never drop.

“Everybody’s involved in those scene changes,” said Smith-English. “There are units on the set that represent three very special changes. We’re sort of sketching the place.”

Also “there are some wonderful technical things that take place: windmills, a water pump that really works …”

There are challenges to every production, according to Smith-English, and Oklahoma! is not unique in this respect. One challenge for the cast has been to push the bounds on the script.

“One of the things that I was very interested in is that the characters be fully-rounded,” said Smith-English. “Laurey isn’t just this sweet, little cupcake … there are reasons why she’s motivated to do what she does.”

And what exactly does she do? Go see and find out.

by Katie Wilson
The Clackamas Print