In preparation of the production of Oklahoma!, our Dramaturg, Skylar Westberg, thoroughly researched the not only history of the musical, but also the time period in which the story takes place. Here, we provide you with insider access to her findings.

About the Play

It all started with a song.

“Green Grow the Lilacs” was a common folk song sung by Irish immigrants in the mid-19th century. There are many versions of the songs, but most commonly they all begin:

Green grow the lilacs, all sparkling with dew

I’m lonely, my darling, since parting with you;

But by our next meeting I’ll hope to prove true

And change the green lilacs to the Red, White and Blue.

I once had a sweetheart, but now I have none

She’s gone and she’s left me, I care not for one

Since she’s gone and left me, contented I’ll be,

For she loves another one better than me

This song proved the inspiration for and was featured in Lynn Riggs’ play of the same name, which premiered on Broadway in 1930, produced the the Theatre Guild. The play featured three other songs by Tex Ritter who played the role of Cord Elam, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Thirteen years later, the Theatre Guild commissioned famous songwriting duo Rodgers and Hart to adapt it into a musical. Due to Hart’s failing health, Rodgers was forced to find a new partner, and thus the famous pairing of Rodgers and Hammerstein was born.

The pair agreed that they would not bend to genre conventions and just stick songs into a plot, but instead would write songs that arose out of and furthered the plot, thus ushering in the age of the “book musical”. The writing pair changed very little about the plot; the only difference between the play and the musical is the circumstances of Jud’s death. In Green Grow the Lilacs, Jud lights a stack of hay on fire in an attempt to kill Curly and Laurey, and ends up falling on his own knife. Due to staging conventions, the musical is staged so that Jud Fry and Curly struggle in hand-to-hand combat which culminates in Jud’s death.

In 1955, the stage musical was adapted into a film. It was shot primarily in Nogales, Arizona, and was filmed with a new widescreen process called the Todd-AO. Because some movie theatres were not compatible with the new technology, the film version of Oklahoma! was actually filmed with two cameras; the new Todd-AO and CinemaScope. The film adaptation is true to the original staged version, with only a few small changes in location, except for the ending. Rodgers and Hammerstein decided to give an homage to Green Grow the Lilacs and change the circumstances of Jud’s death back to what it had originally been in the play.

 

Production History

Original Broadway

• Premiered March 31st, 1943 at the St. James Theatre
• Commissioned by the Theatre Guild
• Directed by Rouben Mamoulian
• Choreography by Agnes de Mille
• Cast: Alfred Drake (Curly), Joan Roberts (Laurey), Celeste Holm (Ado Annie), Howard Da Silva (Jud)
• Ran for 2,212 performances (closed 1948)
• The first Tony Awards was in 1947, so Oklahoma!’s premiere was not eligible

Original West End

• Premiered April 30th, 1947 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
• Used original de Mille choreography
• Cast: Howard Keel (Curly), Betty Jane Watson (Laurey)
• Ran for 1,543 performances

Film Adaptation

• 1955
• Choreography by Agnes de Mille
• Directed by Fred Zinnemann
• First feature film photography in Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen
• Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film
• Many nods to Lilacs; Jud’s death is true to the play rather than the musical, etc.

1951, the Broadway Theatre

• Revived by the Theatre Guild
• Cast: Ridge Bond (Curly), Patricia Northrop (Laurey), Henry Clarke (Jud)

• Mamoulian and de Mille returned

1953, New York City Center Theatre

• 10th anniversary
• Cast: Florence Henderson (Laurey), Ridge Bond (Curly)
• Mamoulian and de Mille returned

1979, Palace Theatre (London)

• Directed by William Hammerstein (Oscar’s son)
• Choreography by Gemze de Lappe (in the spirit of de Mille)
• Nominated for two Tony Awards and a Drama Desk Award

1998, Olivier Theatre (London)

• Directed by Trevor Nunn
• Choreography by Susan Stroman (new choreography)
• Cast: Hugh Jackman (Curly), Josefina Gabrielle (Laurey), Shuler Hensley (Jud)
• Hensley won an Olivier Award
• Filmed, shown on Public TV in 2003

2002, Gershwin Theatre

• Repeated 1998 London production on Broadway
• Cast: Patrick Wilson (Curly)
• Nominated for seven Tony Awards
• Hensley won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical

Rodgers & Hammerstein

Richard Rodgers

• June 28th, 1902 – December 30th, 1979
• German Jewish family in Queens, New York
• attended Columbia University, then transferred to the Institute of Music and Arts (now Juilliard)
• married Dorothy Belle Feiner in 1930worked with Lorenz Hart (the team’s breakout song was “Manhattan”) until Hart’s death in 1943
  • daughter Mary Rodgers composed Once Upon a Mattress
  • grandson Adam Guettel composed The Light in the Piazza, won two Tony Awards
• composed 43 Broadway musicals
• first to win the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony)
• one of two people to win EGOT and a Pulitzer Prize (Marvin Hamlisch is the other)

Oscar Hammerstein II

• July 12th, 1895 – August 23rd, 1962
• Jewish father, Scottish and English mother in New York City
• father produced vaudeville shows, would not let Hammerstein participate in the arts
• quit law school at Columbia to pursue theatre after his father’s death
• worked with many great composers, but met his greatest success in his early career with Jerome Kern and Show Boat
• close family friend and influence on Stephen Sondheim
• co-wrote 850 songs
• won 8 Tony Awards
• on the day of his death, the lights in Times Square were turned off for one minute

Agnes de Mille

• September 18, 1905 – October 7, 1993
• originally wanted to be an actress, but was told she “wasn’t pretty enough”; her love of acting influenced her choreography
• opportunities were limited as a child due to lack of flexibility and technique; instead, she was self-taught
• worked for the American Ballet Theatre in 1939 when it had first opened
• first significant work was Rodeo (1942) by Aaron Copland
• her choreography for the staged version of Oklahoma! was so successful that she was brought on to choreograph the 1955 film

Below is a video of the original 1979 choreography.

The World of the Play

Timeline