THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
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Music by Richard Rodgers; Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Catherine St, London WC2, August 19 & 20, 2024
www.lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/rodgers-hammersteins-oklahoma
This concert celebrated the 80th anniversary of Oklahoma! opening at this theater, where it brought a welcome blast of American post-war optimism and along the way changed the history of musical theater. It was the first modern musical, in that it fully integrated the music, lyrics, book and ballet sequences and where the musical numbers advanced the plot rather than stopping it.
West End veteran choreographer and director Bill Deamer is obviously a devotee and gave this a lavish, practically full staging, for a concert. He also cast it with the some of the best talent in the West End while having a flutter on Ted Lasso star Phil Dunster in the lead.
The show, of course, opens with Curly’s full-throated exhortation ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’’ and there’s no hiding place from those notes if you haven’t got the vocal chops. Dunster proved he had it, with a warm low tenor voice which he more than makes up for with old fashioned Leading Man charisma, as well as a gift for comedy which we already knew he had.
Opposite him Zizi Strallen (from that family of troupers) demonstrated exactly what is meant by the term ‘triple threat’. She combines a glorious soprano voice able to sing these great songs as they were originally intended, she dances divinely (having led, for example, Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man), and she also brings the acting heft needed to ride the emotional turmoil of young Laurey’s psychological journey into adulthood, which, of course, is so well expressed in the famous ballet sequence here.
In the supporting roles Jordan Shaw is a delightfully nimble and endearing Will Parker, trying to rein in his frisky Ado Annie (Christina Bianco playing it big for the laughs). West End doyenne and double Olivier winner Joanna Riding is perfectly dry and utterly commanding as Aunt Eller (and I remember her playing the ingenues!) and Tosh Wanogho-Maud is a stand-out as Jud Fry, a role which is often hard to pitch. Here the take is traditional, but theatergoers will recall the very recent and radical Broadway and West End version where Patrick Vaill made us totally reassess Jud as a persecuted outsider – a reading I’d still stick to.
The point of tonight, though, was the music, and what a joy to hear Robert Russell Bennett’s full original 28-piece orchestrations performed by the excellent London Musical Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Ben Glassberg. It reminds us, as if we need it, of how sublime and eternal this score is. The cast are also wonderfully supported by the LMT chorus particularly in the achingly beautiful ‘Many A New Day’.
Changes to performance schedules over the past few years mean that the theaters housing big musicals are now dark on Mondays and often on Tuesdays too, which presents an opportunity for concerts like this. They are real enhancements of the West End offer, giving performers a chance to stretch themselves and us a chance to enjoy productions which might not be viable currently as full shows. The producers Fourth Wall Live are to be commended for their ongoing work here especially in bringing over so much Broadway talent for showcase concerts.
