Don Shirley – Angeles Stage ‘Animal Farm’. ‘Sanctuary City’. ‘Everybody.’ ‘Oedipus.’ ‘Jagged Little Pill.’ ‘Oklahoma!’ How ya gonna keep ‘em down on the ‘Farm’, after they’ve seen…Pasadena? Yes, I’m paraphrasing the lyrics of an ancient pop song to make the point that Pasadena and nearby neighborhoods constitute the hottest cluster of locally-produced theater right now. … Read more
Steven Leigh Morris – Stage Raw Composer-lyricists Rodgers and Hammerstein were Jewish immigrants to New York and understood very well both the American pressures of assimilation and the spurning of outsiders that culminates in the sacrifice of those who don’t belong. (The stream of victims is endless and ever-changing.) Their musical Oklahoma! opened on Broadway in 1943; … Read more
Dany Margolies – Arts In LA Oh, what a beautiful show. From curtain rise to curtain call, this production looks and sounds like a national tour. First produced on Broadway in 1943—with music by Richard Rodgers, and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II—Oklahoma! ushered in the Golden Age of American musicals. Its lush melodies and … Read more
Oklahoma! by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers Written in 1943 by musical titans Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Oklahoma! was a theatrical milestone that changed the face of musical theater forever. Read more… David C. Nichols – LA Times A bright golden haze of timeless musical theater invention suffuses Oklahoma! at the Carpenter Center. It carries Musical Theatre West’s affable, fleet-footed 70th … Read more