Oklahoma!

*Oklahoma!*
Oklahoma!
	Original Broadway poster (1943)
Music	Richard Rodgers
Lyrics	Oscar Hammerstein II
Book	Oscar Hammerstein II
Basis	Green Grow the Lilacs; by Lynn Riggs
Productions	1943 Broadway; 1947 West End; 1951 Broadway revival; 1979 Broadway revival; 1980 West End revival; 1998 West End revival; 2002 Broadway revival; 2003 US tour; 2010 UK tour; 2015 UK tour; 2019 Broadway revival; 2021 US tour; 2023 West End revival;
Awards	1944 special Pulitzer Prize; 1993 Special Tony Award; (50th Anniversary); 1999 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival; 2019 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical; 2023 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival;

Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.

The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box office hit and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Oscar-winning 1955 film adaptation. It has long been a popular choice for school and community productions.^[1] Rodgers and Hammerstein won a special Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma! in 1944.

This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play in which the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than amusement.^[2] In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story.^[3]^{[page needed]}^[4] A fifteen-minute "dream ballet" reflects Laurey's struggle with her feelings about two men, Curly and Jud.

^ Time magazine reported in its May 26, 2008 issue, p. 51, that Oklahoma! tied (with Bye Bye Birdie) as the eighth most frequently produced musical by U.S. high schools in 2007.
^ Everett, p. 137, chapter by Riis, Thomas L., with Ann Sears and Everett
^ Wilk, Max. OK! The Story of Oklahoma!: A Celebration of America's Most Beloved Musical. Rev. ed. New York: Applause Books, 2002. ISBN 1-55783-555-1
^ Swain, Joseph P. The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey. Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002, pp. 103–06

[1] Time magazine reported in its May 26, 2008 issue, p. 51, that Oklahoma! tied (with Bye Bye Birdie) as the eighth most frequently produced musical by U.S. high schools in 2007.

[2] Everett, p. 137, chapter by Riis, Thomas L., with Ann Sears and Everett

[3] Wilk, Max. OK! The Story of Oklahoma!: A Celebration of America's Most Beloved Musical. Rev. ed. New York: Applause Books, 2002. ISBN 1-55783-555-1

[Swain-4] Swain, Joseph P. The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey. Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002, pp. 103–06

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