‘Oklahoma!’ @ The Firehouse Theatre
Photos by Jason Anderson/Pendleton Studios
—Martha Heimberg
There’s not just “a bright, golden haze on the meadow,” but a lovely glow of youthful joy and sheer energy rising from the stage in The Firehouse Theatre’s vibrant production of the musical classic Oklahoma!
Director Jason Craig West harnesses a cast of eighteen talented actors to deliver the thrill of a live performance of the timeless songs and great dance numbers (every single one of them!) from the groundbreaking 1943 musical, the first collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. The show is based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play Green Grow the Lilacs, set in 1906 in the so-called Indian Territory shortly before Oklahoma became a state.
Cowboy Curly (swaggering bass Cooper Powell) loves Laurey (feisty, full-throated soprano Hanna Lovato-Swaim), the niece of the farming town’s matriarch Aunt Eller (stalwart Kim Harris in tough-love mode). Curly’s sure got the songs to win Laurey’s heart. What girl wouldn’t want to go out riding in “A Surrey with the Fringe on Top”? And it’s pretty clear the rumors are true about these two, when we hear them caution each other about excessive smiling and gazing in their soaring duet, “People Will Say We’re in Love.” Even Aunt Eller is taken by Curly’s charm and irresistible voice.
Still, not every girl is a one-man woman. A half-hour into the show, we’ve met Ado Annie (high-kicking, adorable Makenna Ostrom), a hopeless flirt who admits “I Cain’t Say No” to any guy who talks pretty, and that includes the traveling Persian peddler Ali Hakim (hilarious dead-pan hambone Preston Isham). What’s she gonna do when her fiancé Will Parker (tall, dark and determined Evan Christopher Arnold) returns from herding cattle with the cash to marry his ardent Annie?
But there’s darkness amidst all this playfulness and romance. To keep Curly intrigued, Laurey invites the spooky, troubled farmhand Jud Fry (touching, sinister bass Dylan Aaron) to the town’s big box social and dance. Before the hoedown even gets started in Act II, we feel the rising tension of jealousy and desire in this loaded triangle. Powell’s Curly is both tender and duplicitous in the duet “Poor Jud Is Daid” as he cozies up to Aaron’s skulking farmworker and almost convinces the deranged, lonely Jud how grand it would feel to commit suicide (and be mourned by the pretty girls). The first act closes with the exquisitely danced “Out of my Dreams Ballet.” The powerful and athletic 15-minute dream sequence, originally choreographed by Agnes De Mille, is beautifully interpreted by choreographer Jessica Deskewies and the ensemble.
The foreboding of violence is forgotten, and the fun and promise of community restored with “The Farmer and the Cowman,” as the entire company fills the stage in the packed 160-seat theater for a high-kicking square-dance opening the second act.
Romances are resumed, songs are reprised, frontier justice is served in a fast, no-jury-needed style, and the state’s surviving farmers and cowboys sing the famous title number that became Oklahoma’s state song in 1953.
Kudos all round for a rousing production. Co-music directors Molly Robinson and Pam McClain kept the recorded orchestral track used throughout the show within the vocal pacing of the singers. Once or twice I thought the orchestration might be leading a singer, but after the first few numbers, the live singers compelled all my attention.
Maggie Hearn designed well-fitted costumes, in muted homespun and bright checks and denim. Logan Uhtenwoldt designed the set, Caitlin Martelle painted a sky-filled prairie across the entire back scrim, and Owen Beans designed the lighting to reflect both the sunny and stormy aspects of the production.
I joined in the standing ovation as the ensemble sang “You’re doin’ fine, Oklahoma!” Totally. Theater is alive and kickin’ it big-time in Farmers Branch.
WHEN: June 26-July 13, 2025
WHERE: TFT, 2535 Valley View Lane, Farmers Branch TX
WEB: thefirehousetheatre.com
