Klarinet Archive - Posting 000488.txt from 1997/06

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: Oklahoma
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 23:44:51 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.34
> Subj: Oklahoma

> My high school is putting on a musical next year, and there's been some
> talk of doing Oklahoma, although I don't think it's yet set in stone. I
> don't know a *thing* about this musical, but I'm likely to be playing one
> of the clarinet parts... can anyone tell me anything about it?
>
> -> Terri <-

If there was ever a musical that turned the Broadway stage upside
down, it was "Oklahoma." Prior to that period, a musical consisted
of the thinnest possible plot that was connected by a great collection
of tunes. Gershwin was the chief exploiter of that kind of late
1930s broadway musical. He used to write tunes for one show and then
put them in another, so unrelated to the plot were his wonderful songs.
(A girl stands on a corner and is asked, "What are you waiting for?" by
a passing policeman. And she says, "I'm waiting for someone to
'Watch Over Me'" which was a terrific song and completely unrelated
to the drama of the moment and then she burst into the song.

But Oklahoma was the first musical in which the plot line was advanced
by the music. Not a tune in the show is irrelevant to the drama. You
will find it somewhat dated, of course, but so was Show Boat.

Not until West Side Story came along, did Oklahoma have a serious rival
for turning Broadway inside out. It is a wonderful book to play, though
it has to be 30 years since I did it last. Difficult keys, too.

If there is the slightest chance that you can do it, THEN DO IT!!

>
>
> --
> "It's like male geeks don't know how to deal with real live women, so
> they just assume it's a user interface problem. Not their fault. They'll
> just wait for the next version to come out -- something more 'user friendly.'
> - Douglas Coupland, _Microserfs_
=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================