'Oklahoma!' to be performed on revolving stage
Photo by Kelsea Snyder – Preservation Photography Curly, played by Nick Szoeke (appears courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association); Laurey, played by Amy D’Orazi; Will Parker, played by Tristan Berg; and Ado Annie, played by Aimee Paxton, are among the characters featured in the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s presentation of ‘Oklahoma!’
Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre will present “Oklahoma!,” the play that set the standard for all musical theater, using a revolving stage at the Kroc Center.
“This is a theatre technique that you rarely see at the regional level here because it requires specific engineering and is difficult to pull off. This production has a top-notch revolve that will bring a whole new level to the storytelling,” said Tracey Vaughan, CDA Summer Theatre executive director.
Set in a Western Indian territory just after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story.
Although the road to true love never runs smoothly, with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love’s journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road. That they will succeed in making a new life together we have no doubt, and that this new life will begin in a brand-new state provides the ultimate climax to the triumphant Oklahoma!
??Rodgers & Hammerstein’s first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative, having established the rules of musical theatre still being followed today.
“The history of American musical theatre often can be divided into two eras, ‘pre-Oklahoma!’ and ‘post-Oklahoma!’; that is how significant this piece is,” said Chuck Ethridge, music director and CDA Summer Theatre artistic associate. “The appeal to audiences is the true to life relatable characters, the gorgeous music and the dancing that so beautifully serves to tell the story.”
The show runs July 11–28, at the Kroc Center Theatre, 1765 W. Golf Course Road.