After putting on a rock musical last year, Lawrence High School theater members have decided to slip back into the classic musicals in 2013 with their upcoming production of Oklahoma.
Lorie Baldwin, the theater director at LHS, said it’s a play that includes classic scenes and songs that viewers will enjoy, while following along with a story that Baldwin believes has a basic plot.
“It’s a really simple story. It’s the story of Laurey Williams, who lives on a farm with her Aunt Eller,” Baldiwn explained. “They have a big social event coming up, the box social, and she has to make a choice between going with the guy that works on her farm, Jud Fry, who she doesn’t have feelings for, and going with the guy she has a love/hate relationship with, Curly McLain.
“That’s basically the story: who will she go to the box social with?”
Beside the love triangle going on between Laurey (played by Alison Mark), Jud and the “smarmy” Curly (Chad Costa), there is also another trifecta of characters who must settle a love quarrel.
Ado Annie Carnes (Julianna Long) also falls in the middle of two men vying for her interest as Will Parker (Aaron Wilson-Watson), her long-time love, and Ali Hakim (Jared Stidles), a Persian peddler who is new to Oklahoma, both make a play for her. Ado Annie’s father, Andrew (Josh Dutko), prefers Hakim, but he is willing to give his daughter’s hand away to Parker in exchange for $50.
All the while, Ado Annie is just out looking to have a good time, according to Long.
“(Ado Annie) just has fun the whole time and she doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her,” Long said. “She’s kind of the more risqué one and she’s fun, really obnoxious and I’m going to perform her with a lot of smiles.”
Long said that she hopes to challenge past experiences in order to best play the role of Ado Annie.
“We’ve all had our relationships and I think that, if I think back and think about that kind of stuff, it will bring out the funness of her (character),” Long said.
The play is full of melodies, but the play’s top number is the “The Farm and the Cowman,” according to Baldwin.
“A really big, fun number is called ‘The Farmer and the Cowman’ and it’s a square dance,” Baldwin said. “It’s the actual party where Laurey is deciding who she wants to go to the (box social) with. It has everyone on stage and it’s a big, fun square dance.”
Baldwin also said there will be a big surprise for viewers at the end of play, after Laurey ultimately chooses who she wants to be with.
The play will be performed at 7 p.m. on three consecutive nights, starting on Thursday, March 7 and ending on Saturday, March 9. Tickets at the door will be $6 for children and senior citizens, while tickets for adults will be $8.
—Brandon Gould
